BJJ Scams in India and how to Avoid Them: Part 2 – Jitendra Khare

THE Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Scams making rounds in India have cast a dark shadow over the BJJ community in the nation. The scam, which saw people being ‘gifted’ blue belts after a one-day seminar had captured the attention of combat sports fan. 

In the second part of our series which aims to spread awareness regarding the on-going BJJ scams, we will be talking to Team Relentless head coach Jitendra Khare.

Jitendra, who is one of the most respected coaches in the nation, is a BJJ Blue Belt 4 Stripes under Shane Suzuki. He was also fortunate enough to receive his stripes from Marcio Garcinha and Thomas Fan. A multiple time medal winner at the Bangkok Open, Jitendra is also the technical director of the Jiu-Jitsu Association of India. Below is what he had to say:

The Money Motive behind the scams:

Jitendra Khare: It's obviously sad to see such a state of BJJ in the country. This puts a question mark on so many legit BJJ practitioners that we have in India. But I'm not surprised with such things because sadly people giving out fake belts and creating certifications within sports to make quick money is quite the norm in the country. These so called associations are sadly also supported by legit guys who see this as an opportunity to make money.                       

Don’t run behind Quick Results:

Jitendra Khare: Education is the key to protecting people from such scams. A large fault also lies with the culture in our country of belts and certificates. In this digital day and age people can easily read on the credentials of people in question, find out more about the sport but instead, we chase Belt colors and certificates that we can frame on our walls to generate more business. BJJ as a sport is a vast ocean of knowledge and techniques and it can take years to go through the ranks. Everyone wants quick results and such people are the ones that get attracted towards such fakes.

The Associations that cause the problems:

Jitendra Khare: Also most so called Associations are run by people with no prior knowledge of BJJ. These are Karate/Taekwondo/Judo guys with no grading in BJJ and they carry the culture of their martial arts over to BJJ. It's a business of Martial Arts for these people.

I personally don't know how we can stop this politics in sports but I feel that true martial artists always will thrive and sustain in the long run.                       

How to choose your trainer and a good place to train:

Jitendra Khare: I think checking on the credentials of the instructors is the key. What is their lineage? Research on the instructor and claims they make. I know it sounds like a lot of work but with the amount of time people spend of social media and posting selfies I feel this worthy investment of time. 

Also one should find a place to train that has the right atmosphere and be conducive to learning and growth of the individual as a martial artist. What is the culture of the place you train in? Does that suit you? Is it welcoming to all genders, levels? Is the instructor able to break down a technique into simple workable steps? Is one patient to people who are slower at picking up things? Are the instructors able to troubleshoot your challenges and deal with that?          

The Team Relentless head coach added that forming more associations is never a good idea to tackle the issue and the change should come at grassroots levels.

Tune in for the last part of the series where we featured Rama Reddy from Combat Carnival. 

You can read the first part here: BJJ Scams in India and how to Avoid Them: Part 1 – Siddharth Singh

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