Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Ricardo “Franjinha” Miller recently shared his thoughts on BJJ potentially becoming an Olympic sport.
Miller explained that he does not currently see traditional BJJ reaching the Olympics because of how the sport is structured today:
I don’t think it’s gonna be Olympic. It’s too much private companies running the show right now.
To be Olympic, I think to be something a lot more like, you know, organization, no profit organization, different countries.
However, Miller believes no-gi grappling has a more realistic path:
I can see the no-gi be more Olympic than the gi first.
He pointed to wrestling’s existing Olympic structure as the biggest reason why submission grappling could eventually fit into the Games:
Because they already have the wrestling, they have the freestyle, they have the Greco.
There’s going to be one more style they could put. If they’re smart, they’re going to do that first.I think that would be the way to go to the Olympic. If they want to put jiu-jitsu no-gi, like the submission wrestling.
That would be, I think, the way to go for the Olympics.
The Paragon BJJ founder also discussed the differences between gi and no-gi competition:
The gi is a lot more details that you need to pay attention to. They can use your gi against you.
There’s a lot more technique involved.
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