Draculino warns that jiu-jitsu instructors should not act like gurus

Draculino, a coral belt with more than 40 years on the mats, said many jiu-jitsu instructors have started to see themselves as "life coaches" and that this is a problem. He made the statement on The Resilient Show, a podcast published on YouTube.

Raised in Barra da Tijuca, in Rio de Janeiro, close to the Gracie family, Draculino said he came to jiu-jitsu when he was young, as a surfer, and later became a competitor, instructor and developer of athletes.

Advice, yes; guru, no

According to him, the problem comes from both sides: students go to masters and instructors for advice on subjects they do not know, and some instructors answer anyway. "Teaching good jiu-jitsu doesn't mean you have the best life advice," he summed up.

Draculino made it clear that he was not talking about veterans with decades of training and that he also gives advice when asked, sincerely, without presenting himself as anyone's guru. For him, character matters more than medals: "What is the value of making a lot of champions if they are all bad people?"

What has changed in jiu-jitsu

In the same conversation, he said today's technical level is "infinitely better" than in his time. The biggest change, in Draculino's view, is in the philosophy.

He recalled that, back then, there were sometimes only two tournaments a year, and training was designed for self-defense and for a real fight. "We never did techniques that wouldn't work in a real fight," he said. Draculino stressed that he does not blame anyone for the change and that he sees today's mindset as different, not necessarily worse.