Recently I read an article that was published by my friend and co-founder of Film Annex, Francesco Rulli, where he proposed that the wrestling community develop the strategy of emphasizing the educational values of wrestling as part of the sport's endeavor in not being eliminated from the Olympic Games.
While I agree with the merits of Francesco's article I wholeheartedly disagree with the strategy. The original intent and ethos of the Olympic movement was to display the athletic feats of its participants in various sports at the highest level, all of which display the virtues of educational, mental and physical development, regardless of the sport.
The simple reality of the sports industry, particularly on the Olympic stage, is that it is based on the following criteria, in this order:
- political influence
- economic sustainability
- socioeconomic impact
- cultural heritage
If MMA (particularly the UFC) had political influence within the IOC, MMA would be a part of the Olympic Games because it undoubtedly would be one of the most lucrative and popular events to watch both in live attendance and on television. Sports such as shooting, and equestrian do not have at all the historical heritage/track record of wrestling, track&field, or soccer, yet they do greatly benefit from the rewards of having political influence.
In my view and experience, the educational virtues of a sport and the values that it provides is nostalgic thought of a far gone era.
Sports is a business pure and simple: politically and financially. In the United States, no clearer example of this canbe found than that of Title IX. This law has decimated the sport of wrestling (and countless other collegiate male sports programs in the US) without regard to the virtues of wrestling (and judo) that were described in Francesco's article. Until the sport of wrestling is managed as a business instead of as a hapless non-profit it will continue to be seen as an expendable hobby. MMA and jiu-jitsu do not have nearly the history and tradition that wrestling have...yet look how far each have become in just a short amount of time because each sport has been managed as a business.
The virtues of jiu-jitsu, and to a much lesser extant, MMA, are inherent: increase in self-defense, self-esteem, physical and mental health, commitment/dedication, and social skills...similar to wrestling and judo. But take a look at the bottom lines' of wrestling and judo's business models compared to that of MMA and jiu-jitsu and you will see that economically, it is like comparing an etcha-sketch to the Mona Lisa.
