Nate Diaz recently spoke about why introducing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into school systems is the right decision.

When asked whether fighting should be taught in schools, Diaz didn’t hesitate:

I think jiu-jitsu should be.

As the conversation shifted toward law enforcement training, Diaz explained that earlier exposure would change everything:

But if they did it in school, then by the time they get to law enforcement, they would know.

And then if you’re going to do law enforcement, you be like: “Well, I better step up my game”, because you would be conscious and aware of it because you learned it in school.

For Diaz, this isn’t just about fighting:

Just for self-defense in general, I think people should know how to defend themselves a little, how they be a little more stable walking around.

I think it helps with everything, you know, kind of like common sense type of thing.
I think people get hurt less and think a little more about what they do.

He compared jiu-jitsu to a fundamental life skill:

Jiu-jitsu, I think is necessary for everybody. It’s like learning how to swim.
Like, I think everybody should learn how to swim. What if you fall in some water? So that’s what I think about, too.

Diaz also pointed out what he sees as a dangerous gap in self-awareness among the general public:

People don’t even think about it or consider it though.

“Oh, I could defend (myself).” When’s the last fight you got in? You don’t even know that you can’t fight.
And I know that you don’t know that. And people aren’t even conscious or aware of that.

So I think that’s a scary situation.

Beyond self-defense, Diaz highlighted the personal growth he experienced through training:

I learned how to talk to people and understand people and communicate. So it helps with just falling into the social pipeline.

Especially after training, you’re getting endorphins, you’re high, and they’re asking you something you know about.
So you explain, you go here, you pass a guard like this, and then they’re going: “Hey, what do you do in the daytime?”

Now you got a friend.

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