The more successful Jiu-Jitsu has become, the more greed and politics have infected it. Those at the top  have monetized all aspects of it without recognizing the efforts of those who actually do all the work.

There is no democratically elected international organization representing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The closest is the IBJJF, a for-profit business that has a reputation for greed and bullying its members into submission. They aren’t interested in recognizing the amateur side of the martial art because there’s no profit in it. We do follow some of the IBJJF’s common sense guidelines.

Instead, we prefer to remain independent and to promote affordable Jiu-Jitsu in our communities. Perhaps in the future there will be a global organization that represents all of us, not just the world’s elite teams.