Brazilian jiu-jitsu has picked up an unusual reputation online in recent years – with the sport sometimes joked about as something for “divorced dads”.
On the Mostly Wise podcast, divorce lawyer James Sexton addressed the stereotype and offered an explanation for where it comes from:
When a girl has daddy issues, you end up with a stri**er. And when a guy has daddy issues, you end up with a guy who does BJJ.
The line got laughs, but the conversation quickly shifted toward what Sexton, who’s practiced divorce law for decades, believes actually draws men to the sport:
Because it is really like an opportunity for men to be together, have physical contact with each other, and then once you’ve rolled with someone, like you these six-minute rounds
Once you roll with somebody you’re like buddies.You’re physically like right there. You’re just next to each other.
You’re comfortable touching each other because you’ve just been grappling.
He pointed to the trust built into the sport itself as central to that appeal.
Two people grapple at close range, test each other’s strength and skill, and depend on one another to respect a tap, an exchange that Sexton argued creates a form of connection many men – especially after divorce – struggle to find elsewhere:
It’s physical intimacy between two men and a tremendous amount of trust in each other physically.
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