Digifesto

Continuing my somewhat lazy “ethnographic” study of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, an interesting occurrence happened the other day that illustrates something interesting about BJJ that is reflective of privacy as contextual integrity.

Spencer (2016) has accounted for the changes in martial arts culture, and especially Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, due to the proliferation of video on-line. Social media is now a major vector for the skill acquisition in BJJ. It is also, in my gym, part of the social experience. A few dedicated accounts on social media platforms that share images and video from the practice. There is a group chat where gym members cheer each other on, share BJJ culture (memes, tips), and communicate with the instructors.

Several members have been taking pictures and videos of others in practice and sharing them to the group chat. These are generally met with enthusiastic acclaim and acceptance. The instructors have also been inviting in very experienced (black belt) players for one-off classes. These classes are opportunities for the less experienced folks to see another perspective on the game. Because it is a complex sport, there are a wide variety of styles and in general it is exciting and beneficial to see moves and attitudes of masters besides the ones we normally train with.

After some videos of a new guest instructor were posted to the group chat, one of the permanent instructors (“A”) asked not to do this:

A: “As a general rule of etiquette, you need permission from a black belt and esp if two black belts are rolling to record them training, be it drilling not [sic] rolling live.”

A: “Whether you post it somewhere or not, you need permission from both to record then [sic] training.”

B: “Heard”

C: “That’s totally fine by me, but im not really sure why…?

B: “I’m thinking it’s a respect thing.”

A: “Black belt may not want footage of him rolling or training. as a general rule if two black belts are training together it’s not to be recorded unless expressly asked. if they’re teaching, that’s how they pay their bills so you need permission to record them teaching. So either way, you need permission to record a black belt.”

A: “I’m just clarifying for everyone in class on etiquette, and for visiting other schools. Unless told by X, Y, [other gym staff], etc., or given permission at a school you’re visiting, you’re not to record black belts and visiting upper belts while rolling and potentially even just regular training or class. Some schools take it very seriously.”

C: “OK! Totally fine!”

D: “[thumbs up emoji] gots it :)”

D: “totally makes sense”

A few observations on this exchange.

First, there is the intriguing point that for martial arts black belts teaching, their instruction is part of their livelihood. The knowledge of the expert martial arts practitioner is hard-earned and valuable “intellectual property”, and it is exchanged through being observed. Training at a gym with high-rank players is a privilege that lower ranks pay for. The use of video recording has changed the economy of martial arts training. This has in many ways opened up the sport; it also opens up potential opportunities for the black belt in producing training videos.

Second, this is framed as etiquette, not as a legal obligation. I’m not sure what the law would say about recordings in this case. It’s interesting that as a point of etiquette, it applies only to videos of high belt players. Recording low belt players doesn’t seem to be a problem according to the agreement in the discussion. (I personally have asked not to be recorded at one point at the gym when an instructor explicitly asked to be recorded in order to create demo videos. This was out of embarrassment at my own poor skills; I was also feeling badly because I was injured at the time. This sort of consideration does not, it seem, currently operate as privacy etiquette within the BJJ community. Perhaps these norms are currently being negotiated or are otherwise in flux.)

Third, there is a sense in which high rank in BJJ comes with authority and privileges that do not require any justification. The “trainings are livelihood” argument does apply directly to general practice roles; the argument is not airtight. There is something else about the authority and gravitas of the black belt that is being preserved here. There is a sense of earned respect. Somehow this translates into a different form of privacy (information flow) norm.

References

Spencer, D. C. (2016). From many masters to many Students: YouTube, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and communities of practice. Jomec Journal, (5).