It is widely believed that Jiu-Jitsu is fast growing worldwide. Some even claim that it is the fastest growing martial art in the world.
Digital marketing specialist Tyler Bishop evaluated trends and data to determine the growth of Jiu-Jitsu.
he did this using Google Trends.
What he found was surprising, and he wrote about his excellent blog BishopBJJ:
The evidence that suggests jiu jitsu’s growth is relatively flat.
Not growing at all?
Jiu Jitsu really hasn’t seen a dramatic rise in popularity in the last 10 years. Although tournaments and organization may have improved, the influx of popularity and new growth simply doesn’t seem to be there. It makes sense too. When someone starts jiu jitsu, they may do it for the rest of their life, or they may quit tomorrow, who knows. Over time there will certainly be more practitioners, but that doesn’t really mean that growth is increasing. Jiu Jitsu’s growth is relatively steady.
Based on subjects of similar scope, it is my opinion that this is likely going to remain fixed. Given all of the cultural and technical innovations that have occurred over the last 10 years, jiu jitsu’s growth rate has held very flat. That leads me to believe it is likely to remain this way.
So what does that say about jiu jitsu long term?
It’s unlikely that we see some grand explosion in popularity soon. That would require a spike, and based on the environment of the last 10 years, it’s hard to imagine something significant coming along and changing that. That’s not to say that the jiu jitsu population may grow; leading to greater innovation of services, tournaments, and practitioners, but it’s unlikely to see the mainstream jiu jitsu growth that many are clamoring for.
