I've just realized that the man who is doing the most to destroy gi jiu-jitsu is also an apparently passionate supporter of the current president. I've enjoyed watching him over the years - the martial artist, not the president - and have felt increasingly uneasy about his mission to make gi jiu-jitsu almost totally unwatchable.
Like being an Eddie Bravo fan, I've had to do some deft picking and choosing from what's worthwhile for me in his game and what's better left alone - though I'll admit to having just learned - twice over - that one of my favorite moves of "his" is something BJ Penn was doing decades ago ...
So I'll further confess that seeing him go almost obsequiously MAGA over the past few months has been uncomfortable, if enlightening. I'm not going to pretend there is any correlation between being a Trump supporter and thinking that the strategic insight into the heart of jiu-jitsu lies in what we wear when we do jiu-jitsu. But, truth told, knowledge of the former makes me feel a bit freer at expressing my bewilderment at the latter.
