Thoughts on Eddie’s obsession with conspiracy theories

[Tim Mohatt]

Just Jiu Jitsu bro. Do your non 10p training partners care what Helio believed about cats stealing your essence at night while you sleep?

[Zac Wilson]

You can't trust anything the government tells you. They're all a bunch of liars. They hide everything from us. Conspiracy theories? A lot of them should be called conspiracy truths. Like HAARP manipulating the jet stream to change weather patterns with ions. What's this got to do with Jiu Jitsu? Not a damn thing.

[Themichaelplaster]

I attend a traditional bjj gym, but am happy to vouch to my classmates for the 10p system and all it entails. I’d go to an official 10p moon, but there isn’t one near me. From what I can tell, criticism of 10p technique is dwindling now that most serious bjj players acknowledge its efficacy. Sure, we might hear about it being “attribute-driven,” but that’s not so hard-hitting considering Royler’s escape from Eddie’s electric chair was to do the splits.

Debating the merits of 10p is something I’m happy to do, as we probably all are - we’re on the Nibiru Forum, after all.

However, it’s getting increasingly difficult to overlook Eddie’s penchant for publicizing wacko conspiracy theories. Some of them are goofy, but some are actually hard to listen to. You could say, “then don’t listen to them,” and that’s an idea. But 10p technique and Eddie himself are intertwined; you can’t really discuss one without the other.

Does anybody else think that this obsession with conspiracy theories undermines the credibility of his work? If someone asked me, “Why should I entrust my jiu jitsu instruction to a guy who tweets out Sandy Hook conspiracy videos?”, I wouldn’t know how to answer that.

I believe that discussing conspiracy theories is healthy for the skeptical mind. To look at society pragmatically, you have to take into consideration the many possible types of people who would conspire together to reach an end goal that may or may not be beneficial to the many.

I see the 10th Planet brand as counter-culture and inspired by a community of psychonauts. This combination of martial arts, open-mindedness, and a scientific method make for a well rounded individual.

[Brett Grayson]

You can't trust anything the government tells you. They're all a bunch of liars. They hide everything from us. Conspiracy theories? A lot of them should be called conspiracy truths. Like HAARP manipulating the jet stream to change weather patterns with ions. What's this got to do with Jiu Jitsu? Not a damn thing.

For sure, keep an eye on the government.

But consider the following scenario:

Some dude out there wants to learn no-gi BJJ. It just so happens that this guy's spouse/child/sibling/cousin/best friend, etc., was murdered in the Sandy Hook massacre.

Anyway, he starts classes at a hotbox or moon or some other 10p-friendly gym. He loves it! Of course he does, it's 10p no-gi BJJ.

Then, a classmate shares with him Eddie's theories about what really happened in Sandy Hook. There is a great chance this guy will get sick to his stomach and distance himself from 10pjj.

Does anyone think this scenario couldn't happen or hasn't happened already?

I want 10p to be as inclusive as possible. IMO promoting hurtful conspiracy theories doesn't help that cause.

[Solicit]

#ConspiracyTheories

[Ringo Lagrange]

It doesn't discredit the system at all. Au contraire. I'd rather have a teacher with an open mind. Everything that's not mainstream media is almost automatically labeled as a conspiracy theory. Seems he was right about the 10th planet :-). Just wait and see. There'll be a super advanced species there with awesome jiu jitsu ;-).

[Dave Milner]

Does anybody else think that this obsession with conspiracy theories undermines the credibility of his work? If someone asked me, “Why should I entrust my jiu jitsu instruction to a guy who tweets out Sandy Hook conspiracy videos?”, I wouldn’t know how to answer that.

Not at all to your first question. To your question I would answer that innovators think differently than the general public or than the standard thoroughfare you would find for jiu jitsu instruction. That's what makes them innovators. So is innovative thinking helpful in jiu jitsu? Just watch the eddie vs royler match or any EBI as an answer to that. You can do 10 just taking the blue pill but respect that the red pill is what drives a lot of innovation. Training the brain to think through and consider a new approach.

[Craig Murray]

Not at all to your first question. To your question I would answer that innovators think differently than the general public or than the standard thoroughfare you would find for jiu jitsu instruction. That's what makes them innovators. So is innovative thinking helpful in jiu jitsu? Just watch the eddie vs royler match or any EBI as an answer to that. You can do 10 just taking the blue pill but respect that the red pill is what drives a lot of innovation. Training the brain to think through and consider a new approach.

Yes this is so true... blue pill guys want to roll in the gi, play for advantages, and ignore leg attacks.

Eddie's approach to conspiracies to me was a green-flag indicating that the guy thinks for himself... so instead of turnoff, for me it was a big incentive to look into the system. I certainly don't agree with all his theories (they are not really his theories) but i do think there is a lot of truth to many of them.

No matter what you believe someone is going to be turned off by it... Personally if my BJJ instructor said he was convinced building 7 came down as the result of fires I would be turned off by that. I would probably ignore it if I like his BJJ of course.

[Charles Wilhelm]

For sure, keep an eye on the government.

But consider the following scenario:

Some dude out there wants to learn no-gi BJJ. It just so happens that this guy's spouse/child/sibling/cousin/best friend, etc., was murdered in the Sandy Hook massacre.

Anyway, he starts classes at a hotbox or moon or some other 10p-friendly gym. He loves it! Of course he does, it's 10p no-gi BJJ.

Then, a classmate shares with him Eddie's theories about what really happened in Sandy Hook. There is a great chance this guy will get sick to his stomach and distance himself from 10pjj.

Does anyone think this scenario couldn't happen or hasn't happened already?

I want 10p to be as inclusive as possible. IMO promoting hurtful conspiracy theories doesn't help that cause.

One of the first things that caught my eye when I first found 10thplanetjj.com was the "Nibiru Forum". I have read all of Sitchin's books, so I was intrigued to say the least. Back then there were a lot more conspiracy theory threads floating around, and even though I didn't necessarily believe everything in all of them, I knew that this forum was going to be awesome. One of the things which separates 10th Planet from the mainstream BJJ scene is the culture, and part of that culture is conspiracy theories. It's not even about finding a conspiracy, necessarily, it's about not accepting the "truth" that is presented without at least examining aspects of the incident which are inconsistent with the official story.

As for hurtful conspiracy theories, how about the time the U.S. government lied about the Gulf of Tonkin incident in order to put troops into Vietnam, which resulted in the death of 58,220 (officially) U.S. military personnel? In the years between that event taking place, and the admission that it was a false flag operation, THAT was a conspiracy theory. So, perhaps some of theories presented here, difficult as some people may find them to be, are closer to the truth than what Fox News has told you.