In a revealing conversation on Jake Shields’ podcast, elite grappler and MMA fighter Garry Tonon offered a candid critique of the modern jiu-jitsu culture, particularly the shift toward treating martial arts training as merely a transactional service.
Tonon, widely regarded as one of the most exciting grapplers in the world, expressed concern about how the new generation of jiu-jitsu practitioners approaches the martial art compared to when he and Shields began training.
“It’s interesting the way different generations of people doing jiu-jitsu treat martial arts these days,” Tonon observed. “When I got involved from the beginning, I didn’t look at it as just a fun little thing or just a sport. I got involved thinking it was going to help prepare me to potentially have a fight against somebody at some point.”
According to Tonon, the growing popularity of BJJ has brought with it a shift in mentality. As the martial art is marketed to the average person, many newcomers approach training without the same combat-oriented mindset that characterized earlier generations.
“It’s created a generation of athletes who I think are very uncomfortable with getting roughed up a little bit,” he said. “Back then, sometimes we’d get in an argument and start slapping each other – this is normal stuff. Now the culture of jiu-jitsu is very not okay with something like that happening.”
The conversation then turned to how this mentality extends to the business relationship between students and academies. Tonon criticized the notion that BJJ schools should function like any other consumer business where payment guarantees certain entitlements.
“People want to treat jiu-jitsu gyms the way they would just treat the average business,” he explained. “They want it to be ‘I paid my $200 a month, I get this in return. It’s a transactional relationship. If I want to train somewhere else, if I want to wear whatever color gi, I’m allowed to do whatever I want because I’m paying my $200.'”
“This isn’t Burger King, bro. And at the end of the day, you don’t want it to be Burger King.”
He elaborated that if students insist on purely transactional relationships, then instructors could respond in kind:
“When you go to compete and want somebody to corner you, guess who’s not going to be there? This guy. Because are you paying me extra to corner you? Are you paying extra when you send me a video of your match and want me to comment on it?”
Tonon emphasized that jiu-jitsu academies should function more like families than businesses because of the inherent trust required when training involves potential physical danger.
“In jiu-jitsu, it really kind of is a family because you have to have that level of trust,” he said. “When you add violence into what you do, you can’t just have a transactional relationship because the guy you’re training with could break your arm or hurt you. You have to trust each other. You have to have some level of loyalty.”
Shields agreed, noting that while loyalty must be a two-way street, the community aspect of training remains essential:
“Sometimes that’s how you guys jump ahead and become masters at something. You put it all together.”
