Am I calculating this correctly? Harassers' belt ranks as compared to what % of practitioners hold that rank. I used the statistics from Beltchecker of how many people hold each rank and yes, I know that is not necessarily an accurate representation, but it's probably the best numbers we have to work with here and now :) Feel free to use/share/whatever you want.

Thanks for putting together these numbers, Christian. They definitely tell a story. Harassment is disproportionately weighted towards higher belts, and those who do it are predominantly preying on lower belts.

What was the sample size and how was the data collected, Bridget?

What was the sample size and how was the data collected, Bridget?

Instructors need to be held to a higher standard. Academies are not and should not be pickup bars.

I think part of the problem is how people venerate black belts like they are all knowing gurus. The black belts start to believe in their own hype and importance. I have seen this so many times. They will begin to act and speak like they really are gurus. It is a recipe for disaster.

From the PDF: '1583 people responded to the survey. From that group 17 responses were not considered due to blatant trolling or outrageous claims. Of the remaining 1566 responses, 69% of them were men, 30.6% of them were women and 0.4% identified as gender non-binary.' I know for a fact that the survey was posted to both r/bjj and the Women's Grappling Network Facebook group last year (which has over 10K women in it) as I remember seeing it get posted to both groups; I don't know whether it was posted anywhere else. I would say one flaw in the survey is that respondents were self-selected. I know enough about sociology to know that self-selected surveys are generally a no-no as they might skew results (for example, women might be more inclined to fill out the survey if they've had sexual harassment / assault experiences). A better measure would be, for example, to compile a list of 5000 male practitioners and 5000 female practitioners, then let a computer randomly select 1000 of each to be approached to fill out the survey. Who knows; maybe someday the BeltChecker database could help with carrying out such a survey. But, allowing for that flaw, this is otherwise a thorough and in-depth report. (BTW I'm a historian, not a sociologist, so take what I say on sociology with a grain of salt.)

Bridget, That wouldnt be truly representative either since women dont make up 50% of BJJ practitioners. I'm guessing they make up like 10 to 20% . So to he truly representative of at least the male to female ratio it would be 800 males and 200 females.

I think part of the problem is how people venerate black belts like they are all knowing gurus. The black belts start to believe in their own hype and importance. I have seen this so many times. They will begin to act and speak like they really are gurus. It is a recipe for disaster.

I think part of the problem is how people venerate black belts like they are all knowing gurus. The black belts start to believe in their own hype and importance. I have seen this so many times. They will begin to act and speak like they really are gurus. It is a recipe for disaster.

Did you check out the actual survey PDF? It's quite detailed documented :)

From the PDF...

That's why I'm considering getting a 'Married and Unavailable' tattooed across my forehead cos I get hit on all the time by lower belts, cos y'know I only marry super models or multi-billionaires- that's my minimum standard.

I have known a number of instructors who have dated students and while not technically harassment I have always been troubled by it. I feel instructors should hold themselves to a higher standard as it is easy for someone in a position of power/ respect to abuse the position. The most troubling part for me is that the instructors tended to be dating much younger students. At times I have seen married instructors destroy marriages doing this and I lose respect for the person doing it bit that's just me

PS, I have a B.S. and 2 years of graduate school in sociology, but I haven't worked in that field since 2005, so we're pretty much on the same level, most likely.

I have known a number of instructors who have dated students and while not technically harassment I have always been troubled by it. I feel instructors should hold themselves to a higher standard as it is easy for someone in a position of power/ respect to abuse the position.

...but history and religion interact with sociology a lot, so I've picked up a few things.

You are (or were?) Mormon, right? I bet you have!

Sounds like you're a total stud! Totes jealous over here. At our gym, we just try and keep a positive atmosphere and never forget that in the end we're all just a bunch of grown folk wrasslin' in pajamas. No forehead tattoos necessary!

This> https://tim.blog/2013/01/[...]ryan-hall/ post the infamous case at Lloyd Irvin's

Also, this link, for some of the newer people on this forum who might not be aware of how thoroughly horrible the TLI scandal was: http://www.joshjitsu.info[...]truth.html

DJ Jackson also reached out to me a few times to teach at the BJJ Globetrotters camps. Hard no.

Disgusting to read. DJ Jackson also reached out to me a few times to teach at the BJJ Globetrotters camps. Hard no.

Disgusting to read. DJ Jackson also reached out to me a few times to teach at the BJJ Globetrotters camps. Hard no.