BJJ is apparently a team sport now.

**CrackFox** · Posted On: 5/02/2012 9:54am

One of the best bits of martial arts comedy I've seen in a while was a thread on a local forum where the BJJ guys are trying to convince each other that they are involved in a team sport. (I'm not sure why they think being in an individual sport is a bad thing.)

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...p?t=2056621126

Anyway, is this a localised thing or has anyone here come across this kind of thing elsewhere?

**Colin** · Posted On: 5/02/2012 10:01am

Well, not all the guys in the thread are complete lunatics.
I can understand the way they rationalise it.

In Golf, for example - you can theoretically go from beginner to world champion simply by practising on your own. (although obviously very unlikely) The same isn't possible with BJJ.

**CrackFox** · Posted On: 5/02/2012 10:03am

The same could be said of many individual sports, a lot of them require training partners.

**CrackFox** · Posted On: 5/02/2012 10:07am

A proper BJJ team event might be cool though. And I'm not talking about some bullshit judo style "team" event where it's just five individual matches in a row. I'm talking about a full on orgy.

**Colin** · Posted On: 5/02/2012 10:11am

Originally Posted by CrackFox

The same could be said of many individual sports, a lot of them require training partners.

Yes, but you're now harping on the same point without specifically addressing the counterexample.

**CrackFox** · Posted On: 5/02/2012 10:15am

Sorry, I think missed the counter example. Was it supposed to be golf?

**Colin** · Posted On: 5/02/2012 10:24am

I don't have a horse in this race - I'm specifically referring to the thread you linked - and yes, obviously I'm talking about golf.

All I'm saying here is that there is definitely a difference between 'individual sports' that require a training partner, and individual sports that do not. Should it still be called an individual sport? This is a semantic argument.

It's pretty clear that once you are actually competing, it's just you, on your own, right? But how do you claim that victory alone, when your success largely boils down to the level of competition in training? If all the guys in your dojo are garbage - there is no way to hone your game.

For this reason, I can understand why people like to think of themselves as part of a team, since it's quite literally a team effort to raise people up to competition level - it simply can't be done without training partners.

So, does it have to be so black and white? Individual sport or team sport? If you ask me, I would say that BJJ doesn't fit either of those classifications.

**CrackFox** · Posted On: 5/02/2012 10:28am

Originally Posted by Colin

So, does it have to be so black and white? Individual sport or team sport? If you ask me, I would say that BJJ doesn't fit either of those classifications.

Hardly anything would be classed as an individual sport using those criteria.

**CrackFox** · Posted On: 5/02/2012 10:32am

Running is an individual sport, but here's an article about how important team camaraderie is if you want to win.

http://www.michigandaily.com/content...dividual-sport

Furthermore, someone who has never trained a single session of BJJ could legitimately enter a BJJ competition. A single person couldn't enter a rugby tournament even if they'd been training with a team for years. Who you train with is not relevant to the classification.

**Colin** · Posted On: 5/02/2012 10:44am

I'm just not sure what point you're trying to make here.
I don't think that anybody is disputing that when you compete, you compete individually, and therefore it is an individual sport.

It simply looks like this crew of "BJJ bros" like to think of themselves as a team. Honestly I don't see the harm.