JOMEC Journal Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies From Many Masters to Many Students: YouTube, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and communities of practice Dale C. Spencer University of Manitoba Email: [email protected] Keywords YouTube Brazilian Jiu Jitsu communities of practice Abstract Prior to the last two decades, martial arts practice in Western countries was shrouded by secrecy and esoteric philosophies and there was very little transmission of techniques between practitioners outside of individual martial arts clubs. Techniques were passed down from one master to many students. With the increase in popularity of mixed martial arts, there has been a greater exposure to and transmission of martial arts techniques between practitioners across the globe. Now, anyone with access to television or the Internet can watch and analyze martial arts techniques. In relation to one prominent martial art, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the Internet has come to serve as the means by which practitioners transmit Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques, profess the philosophies of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and reflect on the current state of the art. Based on reflections on the last five years of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practice and analysis of video posts by martial arts practitioners and comments by viewers, this article probes the nexus between ‘offline’ communities of practice and ‘virtual’ communities of practice that are centered on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu technique acquisition. Specifically, focus is on the use of YouTube as a tool for disseminating and learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques. Drawing from theories of communities of practice and skill acquisition, this article examines how the exhibition of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques on YouTube has become integrated into practice of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu across the globe. With this mediatization of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and other martial arts, it is no longer viable to conceive of pure internet-based and offline social networks. The transmission of martial art techniques now consists of many masters and many students. Contributor Note Dale C. Spencer is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Manitoba. Prior to joining the department, he was a Banting fellow at the University of Alberta. His interests include embodiment, emotions, violence and victimization. He has published in such journals as Body and Society, Punishment and Society and Criminal Law and Philosophy. He is author of Ultimate Fighting and Embodiment: Violence, gender and mixed martial arts (Routledge 2011), co-editor of Emotions Matter: A relational approach to emotions (University of Toronto Press 2012), co-editor of Fighting Scholars: Ethnographies of habitus in martial arts and combat sports (Anthem Press 2013) and co- author of Reimagining Intervention in Young Lives (University of British Columbia Press 2012). cf.ac.uk/Jomec/Jomecjournal/5-june2014/Spencer_BJJPractice.pdf I have participated in the ‘arte suave’ – BJJ consists of a practical self-defense the gentle art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) – side and a sport, competition side. In since late 2006. My involvement began relation to the latter, thousands of videos as part of an ethnography of mixed of BJJ matches have found their way on martial arts (aka cage fighting), but I have the Internet via YouTube. But this is not maintained my participation in Brazilian the only form of content related to BJJ Jiu Jitsu long after the summation of this that is on YouTube. While Hogeveen ethnography.1 BJJ maintains a central (2013) has been somewhat skeptical of place in my life. When I started BJJ, the what BJJ techniques can actually be mats and positions felt hard and learned from YouTube, in this article I unfamiliar. I now inhabit the world as a explore how YouTube is utilized for BJJ practitioner. I now feel and move learning, creative, and imaginative across the mats in ways that have been purposes. Analyzing YouTube as a learned through continuous repetition. In community of practice, I show how the stepping on the tatamis, I train my medium is used as a stage for BJJ senses in ways that only the intersection practitioner identity-formation. of sport and art can (Sparkes 2009). BJJ vitalizes my life and gives me tools to This article is structured in four main deal with day-to-day struggles. I now sections. In the first section, I offer a brief possess a BJJ habitus (cf. Hogeveen overview of YouTube and previous 2013). literature on its use for creative production, learning and communication. None of what constitutes BJJ is natural. In the second section, I define Inverting along the shoulders, fighting off communities of practice and stages of one’s back, or relying on leverage and learning and mastery. In the third flexibility rather than strength and brute section, I elucidate BJJ, its development force, all run against doxa in Western and the contours of this martial art. In culture. This is to say that everything the last main section, I describe where involved in BJJ is learned. A practitioner YouTube fits in the development of must break with old habits and create Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and how BJJ new ones (Spencer 2011). Becoming an practitioners are using YouTube as a tool adept BJJ practitioner involves absorbing for communication, expression and all the complex processes and identity formation. improvisation that Alfred Schutz (1951) associated with jazz musicians. While BJJ was first introduced to North America in YouTube, Participatory Culture and the early 1980s in a club in Torrance, Learning California, the ‘arte suave’ has since spread with clubs popping up in cities YouTube symbolizes the difference across the world, housing BJJ black between old-style TV and new. Since its belts. It is widely recognized that BJJ inception in 2005, there has been a remains one of the few martial arts massive upscale of people publishing TV where it is extremely difficult to get a ‘content’ and number of videos available black belt, demanding over a decade of to be watched. YouTube offers a ‘bottom- training and dedication. up’ model storytelling system that is ubiquitous, populated, and relatively cheap. While both commercial and 1 For more on the details of this ethnography, see community based, YouTube is posited as Spencer (2011). 1 www.cf.ac.uk/JOMECjournal @JOMECjournal ushering in a participatory culture users can move seamlessly between the (Bloom and Johnston 2010) that is traditional mass communication activity defined by having relatively low barriers of watching mediated content, and the to artistic expression and civic interpersonal or social connection engagement, strong support for creating activity of sharing content with others and sharing creations, and some type of (Haridakis and Hanson 2009). It is the informal mentorship where experienced intersection of expert and neophyte BJJ participants pass along knowledge to practitioners on YouTube that I am neophytes. In this process, YouTube is interested in in this article and how this both easy to use and accessible. constitutes a community of practice for the transmission of BJJ philosophies and Social network enterprises and various techniques. kinds of user-created content have undermined modes of creative self- expression that existed prior to the advent of the network society (Barney Communities of Practice and Learning 2004). As Hartley has observed, prior to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is practiced in groups the emergence of digital online media, and can be considered what Etienne creative self-expression was provided Wenger (Wenger 2000a, 2000b, 1999) rather than produced (Hartley 2008). The calls ‘communities of practice’. According content of creative self-expression was to Wenger, they are formed by people ‘pushed’ onto audiences. Now, there is with a common or shared interest almost infinite scope for ‘do-it-yourself’ dedicated to a process of collective and ‘do-it-with-others’ creative content learning. Communities of practice are to be produced by consumers and users, comprised of people that have a without the need for institutional filtering common interest or passion for or corporate control. Information, something they participate in and learn learning and creative self-expression is how to do it better as they interact now ‘pulled’ from multiple sources. This frequently. Communities of practice are has resulted in a democratization of marked by three characteristics. First, a creative content production, where community of practice is a domain, potentially anyone can publish content. meaning that it is not merely a network Accordingly, YouTube (and other Web 2.0) or a club but an identity defined by a creates opportunities for intellectual shared domain of interest. Communities growth and socialization through skill of practice are created and sustained by building, learning and social networking people who engage in a process of (Bloom and Johnston 2010). collective learning in a shared domain of Open innovation networks like YouTube human endeavor. The second character- benefit from harnessing the creative istic is the notion of community. In energies of almost the whole population, pursuing their shared activity of interest not just the inputs of isolated expert in their domain, participants are involved elites (2008). These networks offer a in joint activities and discussions, help means by which ‘bottom-up’ (DIY, each other, and share information. They consumer-based) and ‘top-down’ build and maintain relationships that (industrial, expert-based) knowledge- allow them to learn from each other. The generation connects and interacts third characteristic is in regards to (Hartley 2008). In addition, individual practice. Members are practitioners who develop a shared repertoire of resources 2 www.cf.ac.uk/JOMECjournal @JOMECjournal including experiences, stories, tools and occur. The facts, characteristics and rules techniques for addressing recurring are context independent (Dreyfus and problems. This shared practice takes Dreyfus 1980; Flyvbjerg 2001). In the time and sustained interaction. It is the context of martial arts, this is the ‘white fusion of these three elements that belt’ practitioner.