BJJ black belt and professional competitor Nick Salles recently shared his thoughts on traditional Jiu-Jitsu behaviors – including bowing to the coach.
He challenged some of the formalities often seen in academies, drawing comparisons to other sports:
When you go to basketball practice you don’t have to bow to the coach.
Among the customs he called into question were the practice of turning to face the wall while adjusting one’s belt and the expectation of addressing instructors with formal titles like “professor”:
Some of my students are like: “No no, I want to call you professor…” (And) that’s fine, that’s your freedom, you want to.
But I’m not gonna instil that and reinforce that.
Salles believes these formalities can create an unnecessary hierarchy, especially considering that many students may be far more accomplished in other areas of life:
You could literally be doing better than you in life in every other aspect.
If we’re gonna go and reinforce the title professor, let’s make sure that we’re referring to everyone by their doctor or whatever.
Watch the video on the following link for Salles’ thoughts on the topic…
Do you agree with them?
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