What’s been one of the biggest driving forces for the modern development of Jiu-Jitsu?
Not just when it comes to techniques and popularity, but also in terms of the sports’ professionalism?

Well, legendary coach Vinicius „Draculino“ Magalhães believes that it’s been the Internet:

I think that the main and number one difference is the gift of the Internet.

Jiu-Jitsu grew way bigger, got way more organized and is spread world-wide nowadays because of it. And that is a great thing.

Draculino also thinks that BJJ will keep on growing… Which is a great feeling:

You can see whole countries where Jiu-Jitsu is a mandatory discipline in schools and universities…

And for us, coming from a time when BJJ was almost marginalized – when people used to think that we were thugs, that we had a gang mentality, that we were bad guys and when the only press we received was negative press…
To witness this is really amazing, and I am very proud to be a part of that.

For example, one of the best things that came out of Jiu-Jitsu’s evolution has been that athletes can now make a living from BJJ itself:

One thing that changed a lot, I believe, is that the sport’s evolution made it possible for a lot of kids to make a living completely out of competing solely in BJJ.

There’s some kids that really live off of competitions in grappling and Jiu-Jitsu events.
They didn’t need to make a transition to MMA, which was the case before.

And, of course, this is still the case nowadays as well; but what’s different today is that you see a lot of professional competitors putting 100% of their efforts into grappling and Jiu-Jitsu.

Read our entire interview with Draculino on the following link.

 

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