Blogging and BJJ
When Jonathan talked to me last Monday, he mentioned that Jason had already found my blog. It doesn’t sound like Jason will a problem with me blogging, but … well …
Jonathan discovered my blog a few months after I’d started at GCKC and apparently read the entire thing. He thought it was cool that I wrote about what I was learning, but I asked him not to tell other students about the blog. Partly because it’s kind of dorky, partly because it’s like my safe space to process. As far as I know, no one else from either school has run across it yet, and that’s definitely my preference.
I’m aware that I am in fact writing publicly on the internet; it’s why I’m careful about how I talk about other students and about things that frustrate me. I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing. But I’ve gotten used to having sort of a double “conversation”—one with the BJJ blogosphere, one with my school—if that makes sense.
I’m hoping that the new school at large won’t run across my blog, but it probably wouldn’t be the end of the world if that does happen…
Those of you who blog, do your instructors and fellow students know that you blog? Do they care/read what you write?
on March 6, 2011 on 1:46 pm
Yes, most of the people I’ve trained with regularly are aware I blog about them. So far at least, nobody has ever complained (in BJJ, as there was this one hapkido school who thought I was being unfair about five or six years ago). When people see me scribbling notes at the side of the mat, the question often comes up.
However, I do try to be as diplomatic as I can when I post something on the internet (be that in the blog, in a comment, on a forum etc), because given things like the Wayback Machine, it is pretty tough to erase something completely from the internet.
on March 8, 2011 on 11:09 pm
I don’t take notes in class, which probably helps, but yeah—I definitely try to be diplomatic. The Internet never forgets…
on March 8, 2011 on 9:34 am
Several people from my school read my blog. It does make a difference in what I post and how I talk about negative things. But I try to be as honest as possible about what I am feeling. If I am talking about something negative, I usually do not mention names and try to be vague about who it is. I don’t want to drag anyone through the mud. But on the other hand, I also get to brag about some of the people at the school who deserve to be mentioned.
on March 8, 2011 on 11:11 pm
I debated using pseudonyms and not revealing my school so that I could be completely honest, but it didn’t seem necessary … like you say, you can still talk about negative things but not mention names and other identifying details.
I was probably over-reacting when I wrote this post.
on October 12, 2011 on 7:01 am
anonymity is a rare thing to maintain in the blogging world. be aware that depending on how honest your posts are, they may bother and/or offend those who feel you discussed things off of the mat.