Photo via Mike Calimbas
For a long time calling bjj matches fights has been disputed because of the whole thing where a fight is typically associated with strikes.
Joe Rogan has been the utmost authority for all things martial arts. He’s recently piped in about something that’s been grating him for quite some time – Jiu Jitsu matches are not fights (in spite of what AJ Agazarm would have you believe):
“Jiu-jitsu is not fighting because you’re not hitting each other, So, you’ve got a jiu-jitsu match, for sure. Not really a fight because you can’t get leg kicked, you can’t get elbowed in the face, you’re not going to get kneed into a coma, it’s a totally different experience than a fight, and it’s almost disrespectful, in some ways, to call a jiu-jitsu match a fight. But other people like to refer to it as a fight. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
But it seems as tho bjj ace from ATOS Josh Hinger disagrees:
Is jiu-jitsu a “fight” or a “match” … the dumbest argument ever. Metaphors exist everywhere in everyday speech. The basis of this petty little argument is that it is not a fight because there are no punches, no kicks, no strikes of any sort. Yet, there’s no problem with people saying that they had to fight traffic. Or how about when you fight with your parents? Or fight with your spouse? How about fighting a sickness? Are you running around kicking the cars on the freeway? Punching your girlfriend or striking your parents? I bet not. Furthermore, these same people have no problem calling an MMA bout a “war” or a “battle.” I wonder if our combat veterans are offended by the soft ass usage of the words “war” and “battle.” MMA fights literally are not wars. Now if two MMA fighters go at it in the cage and one takes the other down and chokes the other without a single strike being thrown, is it still a fight? Or is it just a match? It’s a fight. Fights are relative. Fights, struggles, bouts, battles, are all relative to the individual. We fight with internal demons (oh look, another metaphor), and that doesn’t mean you are running in circles and punching yourself in the face. Call it what you want. Use which ever word makes you happiest. But when you cry about someone else’s usage of match or fight, really you’re just revealing your own insecurities. As David Goggins once said, people want to put a title (or a label) on you because it makes it easier for them to accept their own limitations. You’re a “fighter” because you punch people. Okay, good for you big fighter person. But so is the 10 year old cancer patient who is FIGHTING for their life. .
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