John Danaher has shared his thoughts on the rule set for the upcoming Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) 2.
He has shared his thoughts on the trade-off between preserving the essence of the sport and making it accessible to a broader audience:
There’s a basic dichotomy in jiu-jitsu as a spectator sport…
Do we go entertainment route or do we go who’s the best jiu-jitsu player route?
Danaher emphasized that while no time limit matches on large mats might reflect the purest form of grappling, they’re not realistic for modern promotions trying to attract viewership:
Only a diehard jiu-jitsu fan would enjoy watching a 2-hour match of two guys who are really good going at each other.
The sport, he noted, must contend with what he called “tremendous tension in jiu-jitsu promotion” – the need to uphold jiu-jitsu’s foundational principles while also growing the sport through entertainment:
If jiu-jitsu only did no time limit matches, I believe jiu-jitsu would not grow as a sport because in order to grow, you need spectators, you need interest.
Danaher also addressed CJI’s quintet-style team format, predicting that it will lead to the kind of unpredictability that keeps audiences engaged:
You could have someone who’s incredibly good at jiu-jitsu, but he might lose to someone who’s much less skilled in jiu-jitsu to him, just because he’s already fought three guys in a row and he’s exhausted.
That, he suggested, is part of the appeal:
The things we find most entertaining are the things where the outcome is the least expected.
We like upsets, we like chaos.
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