ADCC star Keith Krikorian says Jiu-Jitsu gyms undercut the values martial arts claim to hold when higher ranks look down on lower ones.
He made the case on the Jits and Giggles podcast, comparing it to wider society:
I just think in general it’s silly that we live in a kind of a world where rich people think they can treat poor people poorly…
Like we kind of have this inverted triangle kind of thing, you know?
It was maybe a regular pyramid actually but where you know from top down, the elites look down on the people below them – and I think that’s it should be the opposite.
In practice, he said, newer students should get encouragement:
You should be encouraging them to train to build confidence to better themselves, rather than put them down or treat them different because they haven’t done Jiu-Jitsu as long.
On crowded mats, Krikorian offered a simple rule for who moves when pairs collide:
If the person who’s in a more static position was there originally, the people in the group that rolls into them have to move, right… That’s just general safety. It’s also like common courtesy, you know…
Like my rank doesn’t matter, my gender doesn’t matter.
Krikorian sees incidents as a leadership issue:
It’s indicative of like the culture of the gym, you know, and if the head coach doesn’t say like hey, if you run into someone, obviously say sorry, but then move and then maybe just sit down.
Your competitive roll is not as important as another person’s safety.
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