Brazilian jiu-jitsu, often referred to as ‘the gentle art,’ is rooted in the principle that skillful technique can overcome sheer strength, allowing practitioners to neutralize larger opponents without resorting to punches.

Once a niche activity practiced in the shadows, BJJ found its way into American culture in the 1980s, initially flourishing in the modest settings of California garages.

Fast forward to today, and BJJ has become a widespread phenomenon.

High-profile figures such as Joe Rogan, Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Hardy, and Ivanka Trump have helped catapult the sport into the public eye.

What were once small, local gyms have evolved into expansive academies, with top-tier athletes now filling arenas and captivating audiences worldwide.

However, as Brazilian jiu-jitsu continues to gain prominence, it faces significant challenges. The sport is grappling with a series of sexual misconduct allegations involving young athletes, reaching into its highest echelons.

This month one of the sport’s legends, Andre Galvao – a six-time ADCC world champion (grappling’s equivalent of an Olympic gold medal) – was accused of sexually harassing one of his teenage students.

The 18-year-old, who trained under him since she was a child, filed a police report accusing Galvao of forcing her to train with him in private and then mounting, licking and touching her and making sex noises.

The allegations, which she also posted on Instagram, sent shockwaves through the community. Top athletes began leaving his world-famous academy and affiliates cut ties.

Just weeks earlier, at Kingsway in Austin, Texas – a gym also famous for producing world champions – another high-level athlete named Izaak Michell was accused of sexually attacking young students.

He was banned from the academy before fleeing the country, becoming an international fugitive. 

Athletes told the Daily Mail that while BJJ has exploded in popularity, its culture has failed to catch up.

The sport remains dominated by charismatic coaches who wield cult-like influence over young, devoted students.

Craig Jones is one of the sport’s most popular figures, a top competitor whose parody videos skewering BJJ culture made him one of its top paid stars.

In recent years he has turned his attention to advocating for better athlete pay and greater awareness around sexual harassment in the sport.

He told the Daily Mail that BJJ is ripe for abuse.

‘Anytime there’s a hierarchy there’s an abuse of power that occurs – hierarchies that occur without any accountability. We have a hierarchy of a belt system.’

In BJJ, progress is measured by colored belts – white, blue, purple, brown and finally black.

Unlike many martial arts, reaching black belt is not a matter of a few years – it typically takes a decade or two of training multiple times a week.

The result is that black belts are revered. Students bow when stepping onto the mat. Black belts are addressed as ‘Professor’ or ‘Master’.

Jones said: ‘So there is an hierarchy – an unquestioned hierarchy, almost, like, martial arts on a religious level, a lot of Jiu Jitsu is a little bit of a cult, and there truly is no accountability.

‘Martial arts is rooted in this, but it seems to be particularly bad in jiu jitsu because of the nature of which skills are taught to individuals. Obviously, we’re controlling, and making people submit – put those skills in the hands of the wrong person and it’s horrific.’

He added: ‘It seems a little bit like the Catholic Church, people do attribute morality to belt level which is a kind of silencing thing.

‘For the lower level people, it’s as if, “how could I ever accuse a guy of this status and rank, who’s gonna believe me?”‘

Male BJJ practitioners are taught to be chivalrous on the mats and take extra care when sparring with females. 

But Jones said the culture is often one of ‘hero worship’ and so ‘inadvertently, a lot of women feel powerless’ when something goes wrong involving training partners with higher belts.

Jones said he felt compelled to speak out in part because he felt a sense of responsibility, having helped one of the newly accused athletes become a star. 

Jones said he and Michell had known each other for nearly a decade, dating back to when they first met in Thailand, and both hailed from Adelaide, Australia.

‘I kind of give him a jump in his career. He was someone from my home city. I thought it was cool because jujitsu, at that time, was not very big in Australia.

‘I thought he was a sweet, nice, quiet guy who was goal driven.

‘So, that’s how we kicked off, and then, ultimately, I was taking a lot of responsibility for Izaak.’

Michell is currently wanted by Austin Police Department over sexual assault and rape accusations by multiple women.

One of his alleged victims is Hannah Griffith, 23, a multiple-time brown belt world champion and his former training partner.

Griffith has publicly accused Michell of assault. She said she initially did not want to speak out because of how respected black belt Michell was in the community.

She wrote on Instagram: ‘What happened to me was not a misunderstanding, mixed signals, or a moment of confusion. It was a clear violation of my consent. Consent is unmistakable, and responsibility always lies with the person who chooses to ignore it.’

Since Griffith came forward, a second woman, Ariel De Haro, a realtor not involved in BJJ, also made an Instagram post alleging she was a victim of Michell’s.

When Daily Mail tried to reach out to her she did not respond. Hays County Deputy Bryant Cuadros told the Daily Mail that at least two women have made complaints against Michell, who went dark and privatized his social media accounts after the news broke. 

Austin police said they are working in conjunction with authorities in Australia. The warrant for Michell’s arrest remains active.

As the Daily Mail was reporting the story, the allegations against Galvao broke publicly.

Galvao, co-founder of Atos Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego, one of the most prominent academies in the world, was accused of sexual misconduct by longtime student Alexa Herse.

The teen, who once referred to him as her ‘professor’, ‘hero’ and ‘father figure’, said she was preyed upon over a six-month period.

‘He touched me inappropriately during training sessions. He repeatedly commented on my body and my appearance,’ she wrote on Instagram.

‘He made sexual moaning sounds in my ear while he was on top of me,’ she said.

Another time, she said, ‘his head was very close to my head, he licked my ear’.

Herse also claimed that when she approached Galvao’s wife, Angelica Galvao, who co-runs the academy and is herself a world champion, she was told ‘not to say anything’.

Angelica allegedly told her, ‘if it’s wrong, you have to at least act like it’s right.’

Then, ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.’

Neither Herse nor Galvao responded to the Daily Mail’s requests for comment.

Galvao has publicly denied the accusations, calling them ‘false rumors’ and suggested the accusations were a ‘personal vendetta due to financial cuts.’ 

Several Atos affiliates issued statements distancing themselves. 

The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation wrote that they ‘condemn all forms of abusive behavior and unprofessional conduct.’

Galvao and his wife were removed from Atos pending investigation.

‘We are deeply saddened with recent events and circumstances and after careful consideration ATOS has made the decision to immediately and indefinitely separate Andre Galvao and Angelica Galvao from their position and all associated roles within the organization,’ the academy said in a statement.

According to the announcement, the Galvaos ‘will no longer be involved in the teaching, administrative work, or operations of Atos.’ 

The organization claims to be ‘moving quickly to engage with a third-party to investigate these allegations.’ 

For many athletes, it is the latest in a long line of similar controversies.

Adele Fornarino, an Australian who has won multiple world championships, told the Daily Mail: ‘I am troubled by the state of Jiu-Jitsu at the moment, and how vulnerable some of the women in this space are.

‘It’s not like this has not been an issue for a long time, but I think it’s definitely being brought to the surface more and more, especially with social media and all this information being more readily available for everyone to see.

‘It’s very concerning, because it is a sport that I truly love and I truly see the positive benefits that it can have on so many people.’

She described the sick irony of women learning martial arts to protect themselves only to be abused in the process, pointing out that ‘so many women start this sport as a self defense.’

The sport has faced similar reckonings before.

In 2020, nine-time world champion Claudia Do Val alleged that she was sexually assaulted by her coach, detailing how she was groomed as a young athlete, which he denied.

Fornarino said: ‘[That incident] got everybody’s attention for a while, and then it all just got swept under the rug.’

She is keen to not let that happen again and to push for change.

‘I really want to give these woman a voice. I want to find a way to make them safe in the community.’

After speaking to Daily Mail, Fornarino defended her title at Polaris in the UK and used her post-match speech to raise awareness.

Another competitor, Levi Jones-Leary, also retained his belt at the same competition and warned that sexual harassers were no longer safe in the sport.

For a discipline that prides itself on control, BJJ is now grappling with a deeper question: whether it can police its own ranks.