Few voices carry as much weight as Gordon Ryan‘s in modern BJJ. The decorated grappler recently sparked controversy with his pointed comments about what he perceives as a fundamental issue within the sport: a lack of loyalty among the newer generation of athletes.
“The fact that this generation just forgets where they came from immediately the second they get an ounce of fame is just the most insane thing ever,”
Ryan stated in a recent video that has circulated widely in BJJ circles.
Ryan’s comments have ignited a passionate debate within the community, with practitioners and fans divided on whether modern jiu-jitsu truly has a loyalty problem or if the sport’s evolution demands a new understanding of the athlete-coach relationship.
This is an interesting take considering New Wave now consists of Nicholas Meregali, Giancarlo Bodoni and others who came up under completely different lineages. Arguably the biggest success after Ryan in New Wave is Bodoni. Yet Bodoni has a Bernardo Faria black belt (aliance).
Many in the comments section of Ryan’s viral post questioned the complexity of loyalty in professional sports.
“Respect and loyalty aren’t things you can force. They’re a result of people’s experiences with you. If people aren’t showing you either, there’s probably a reason for that,”
wrote one user.
“Respect and loyalty make sense only when it’s reciprocated,”
highlighting the two-way nature of these values.
Some gym owners have chimed in with their perspective on the loyalty debate.
“A lot of gym owners demand loyalty and respect but the day you can’t make a payment will kick you out or if you disagree with something they impose,”
noted one academy owner who claimed to have maintained a 12-year relationship with his coach based on mutual respect rather than blind loyalty.
Adele Fornarino, a respected voice in the grappling community, recently shared her insights on the Partizan Grappling Podcast about the psychology behind these emotional separations between athletes and coaches.
“As a coach, you have to understand what you’re good at and where you have gaps and understand that you may not necessarily be able to fill those gaps and not feel resentful at an athlete for trying to fill those gaps in other ways,”
Fornarino explained.
According to Fornarino, this resentment is precisely what fuels the tension when practitioners decide to train elsewhere.
“That’s what builds some of these really big explosive split ups between athletes and coaches and athletes and gyms,”
she noted.
Fornarino advocates for a more mature approach, suggesting that coaches should prioritize athlete development over ego.
“It’s important that coaches learn how to deal with other coaches and recognize that it’s beneficial for the athlete. And at the end of the day, that’s the whole point. That’s the job, right?”
She draws comparisons to other sports where multiple coaches working with athletes is normalized rather than viewed as betrayal.
“Is the athlete going to achieve what they want to achieve? How can we best do that? And you see it in other sports,”
she added.
Further complicating the loyalty discussion is what some see as an increasingly transactional approach to training. Garry Tonon recently expressed his concerns about this shift.
“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.'”
Tonon’s blunt assessment:
“This isn’t Burger King, bro. And at the end of the day, you don’t want it to be Burger King.”
He traces this mentality shift to BJJ’s growing popularity and how the martial art is marketed to the average person. Many newcomers, according to Tonon, 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.”
For now, the conversation Ryan has initiated serves as an important reflection point for practitioners at all levels to consider what loyalty means in today’s BJJ landscape and how the community can preserve its core values while embracing necessary change.
