Roger Gracie is one of the biggest legends in Jiu-Jitsu history and he recently shared his thoughts on one of the most contentious topics in the sport; whether or not it should be included in the Olympics. It’s been a topic of conversation for quite some time, particularly during the rapid growth of the sport over the last few years. The community is pretty split on this too, as there are undeniably plenty of pros and cons in being a part of the Olympics. Roger has a wealth of experience both as a competitor and a coach, giving him very valuable insight into the debate.
It’s not as if anyone should be going into the debate blind though of course, as there are plenty of other martial arts that have become a part of the Olympics. For Roger, he looks at how those sports have developed since their inclusion and he doesn’t think they set a good example:
“If you ask me, I think it’s not a good thing to go to the Olympics. You will kill the sport… Look at karate. Look at taekwondo. When you look at that in the Olympics, do you think that’s a martial art? In taekwondo, you cannot even strike your opponent hard. If you strike too hard, you’re disqualified. Is that a martial art? Your opponent can just touch.”
It isn’t just those striking sports either, Judo has been an Olympic sport for over 60 years now. That inclusion has brought a ton of investment from governments all around the world and many countries now have an incredible development system for talented young Judoka. The rules have changed dramatically in that time though and many Judoka have expressed their unhappiness with that process. Roger also hinted at this problem and explained exactly why it happens:
“It becomes 100% commercial. All the rules adapt to make them more popular.”
The full interview with Roger Gracie where he gives his thoughts on Jiu-Jitsu being in the Olympics was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of Men’s Health UK:
