A large group of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in Sao Paulo Brazil have marched in the street in their BJJ Gis protesting against the closing of BJJ academies during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sao Paulo (12.8 million inhabitants) has 1,345 of 3,313 Covid 19 deaths in Brazil .
Almost 100 BJJ practitioners and instructor requested governor Joao Doria to allow for BJJ academies to open.
The Brazilian government had announced that from May 11th, many vital businesses would start to re-open however BJJ academies were not included…
UFC fighter and BJJ black belt Anderson dos Santos was also at the protest and told MMAfighting.com that “many gyms declared bankruptcy” and fighters couldn’t teach private classes to make ends meet.
“We sell health and sports in the gym, and it’s important that people continue practicing physical activities, and trainers and gym owners can keep their businesses alive,”
“We know we can’t have a gym with 10, 15, 20 training at the same time at the moment,” he said. “But we can [be flexible] a little bit and have two or three students per class. We know it’s too much to ask for wrestling, MMA, and jiu-jitsu classes for now, because there’s too much physical contact. But boxing classes, muay thai, hitting pads, it’s doable. That’s what we’re asking.”
The current COVID-19 situation in the world is a very serious one; people are getting sick, oftentimes critically, and countries are attempting to fight the disease by going through extreme lockdown procedures. These procedures have, unfortunately, changed the BJJ landscape as well – the academies are closed and training has, for the most part, come to a sudden stop.
As the coronavirus continues to spread, fitness & Martial arts gyms around the country are shutting their doors and adjusting to a new reality.
The fitness industry which includes Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academies, is most exposed to coronavirus-related revenue.
Many will have to adapt by following these changes:
BJJ Academies Will Need To Adapt & Evolve in Post-Virus Life
