History of Charles Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
My project was centered around brand building for a Martial Arts studio located in California. Specifically, the studio is named Charles Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy of Mountain House.
Charles Gracie, along with his family, revolutionized MMA fighting with their style of combat now more commonly known as modern-day Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. With the introduction of UFC in 1993, the Gracie family participated in a no-holds-barred fight to determine which of the martial arts disciplines reigned supreme.
In a bracket-style tournament held in McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, on November 12, 1993, various disciplines fought to claim the throne of UFC’s first champion. Many skilled participants opted to fight in the tournament donning notable martial arts styles like Taekwondo, Boxing, Sumo, Kenpo, and Kickboxing.
Royce Gracie, cousin of Charles Gracie, was the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu representative. In the finals, Royce submitted Savate practitioner Gerard Gordeau in one minute and forty seconds. This submission secured the first UFC victory for the Gracie family and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
With the success and renown of their unique fighting style, Charles Gracie decided to open his first academy in the United States in 1997. Since then, many others have decided to train and learn Jiu-Jitsu under the Gracie family.
My Project
One of these Charles Gracie studios is located in Mountain House, California. They teach both children and adults alike the same principles that governed Royce Gracie’s success in the UFC. However, seeing as Jiu-Jitsu is a combat sport, it can leave many feeling unsure and anxious about training.
With these concerns in mind, I developed the idea for this project to help alleviate some of those fears about training in Jiu-Jitsu. I decided to make a TikTok page for the studio to help demonstrate the reality of training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu today. The link to the page can be found here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cg.academy.mounta
To do this, I created a series of 12 videos to reach out to the people in our area. My primary target audience for these videos was adults in the area. This is because it’s more common to have a studio full of children, whose parents want to sign them up to build confidence, learn social skills, and adapt to a class environment.
Adults have a different set of needs and motivations. While conducting research on the topic, I decided I would talk to some of the adult students about their motivations and fears regarding trying Jiu-Jitsu initially. With these ideas in mind, I made videos centered around these concerns to show the accessibility of training in Jiu-Jitsu and how it is the perfect martial art for children and adults to train alike.
In these videos, I depict different topics such as what to expect during class, family testimonials, and even Q&A style videos in which instructors directly answer concerns they’ve heard during their time teaching Jiu-Jitsu.
These videos aim to show that anyone can train in Jiu-Jitsu despite age, experience, or physical fitness. Covering these topics leads to the shattering of misconceptions, alleviation of fears, and an increase in interest for people consuming the content around Mountain House, California.
Project Example 1: Family Testimonial
My favorite video I made was this testimonial from a family who regularly trains at the studio. It involves three interviews from the family: the father and two of his younger children. I put captions so it’s easier for viewers to follow along with what is being said, and inspirational music to hone in on a family atmosphere.
My goal with this video was to show how, even though Jiu-Jitsu is a combat sport, it is accessible to families. By showing a family doing Jiu-Jitsu together, it alleviates the fear or concern that only highly competitive individuals train in the sport because it’s a good activity for this father and his children to participate in.
Project Example 2: Adult Training
This video, one of the highest viewed videos of the project, depicts a normal, adult class without any sort of speaking in the video. It’s main objective was to show what a typical Jiu-Jitsu class looks like at the Charles Gracie Mountain House Academy.
In the video, you can see different adults learning from one another, practicing techniques, and sparring. In the background, there’s lo-fi music playing, which helps to capture the mood of a laid-back studio. I went with this decision to capture the attitude of many of the students who train at the academy and contradict the preconception some have about the studio having a competitive attitude. At the end of the day, these students are here to learn self-defense and not hurt one another.
Project Example 3: Instructor Debunks Jiu-Jitsu Myths
This third video has a young Jiu-Jitsu instructor, from the studio, debunking some common myths he’s heard about Jiu-Jitsu during his time training. On it’s face, this directly addresses many fears and misconceptions adults have about training in this combat sport.
Additionally, the video has a powerful music in the background to create an atmosphere of authority on the topic, as the instructor has trained for a two years in the adult class. Like the first video, it contains captions so the viewer can easily follow along with what the instructor is saying.
The other thing I wanted to display was the age of the instructor. He is a teenager, about 16 years old, and he trains in the adult class. I wanted viewers to see that teenagers are involved with the adult class. This again helps to alleviate some fears about the class having and ultra competitive atmosphere and leads to injuries. The logic is if a teenager can participate in the adult class, then so too can most adults.
My Findings and Analysis
After looking at the data, the videos that performed the best were the explanation videos of how the studio functioned. I think videos featuring Coach Marcelino performed well because of his friendly tone, and the content was geared towards alleviating the fears of new people who would like to try Jiu-Jitsu. It gave off a friendly, inviting tone and ended up with good views.
One piece of content that performed well, which surprised me, was the videos where I had no active speaking roles but featured adults training at a moderate pace. This video also included a lo-fi instrumental in the background. I think the reason it performed well is that it made the studio seem more inviting to adults who want to train but don’t want to go somewhere where they could potentially get injured. I think the simplicity is also a bonus. Initially, I wanted the content to be more varied because it seemed too easy to make and could come across as lazy, but it performed well enough that it could be something I’d like to try again in the future.
The videos that didn’t perform as well were the testimonials. This surprised me because I thought having real people and families share their experiences with Jiu-Jitsu would resonate with viewers who could identify with the people in the video. I don’t think this had the effect I desired, and I might shy away from this video format in the future.
Though there was no definitive way to tell if the TikTok content was directly tied to the success of bringing in new students to the academy, I do think it had an impact. This is because in the month prior, when there was no TikTok account or content posted, the number of adult introductory classes the studio had was 1. Since I began posting content in the month or since my project began, the studio had 11 adult intros. This leads me to believe that the content I posted influenced adults to come in and try Jiu-Jitsu classes. It seemed that posting adult content helped to influence more potential adults to come in and try classes.
Process
The way I completed this project was through planning and preparation. At the beginning of this project, I decided to browse TikTok to find video content that others in the Jiu-Jitsu space were posting.
From this, I decided to use some of the ideas other creators were making and generate a content plan. I came up with 12 video ideas with a few different formats.
The formats were testimonial, interview-style videos, and non-speaking videos displaying the students training with some music in the background.
With all these videos planned, I requested the help of some of the instructors and students to record. Once the videos were recorded, I could edit them on my computer using CapCut and upload them to TikTok from my phone.
The only equipment I used was a cellphone, a short video stand, lavalier mics, and CapCut. I recorded the content like someone would when using TikTok to come across as more natural. I found it was very possible to create high-quality, well-organized content with these few pieces of equipment and software.
Conclusion
I think the content was helpful to the studio’s success in garnering interest in the area. The whole assignment was about marketing and branding. More small businesses need to take this opportunity to market themselves and drive their public image by curating content that fits with their branding and messaging.nnIn the case of the Jiu-Jitsu studio, there can be a misconception that the people who train there are all trying to become professional fighters, are in the greatest shape of their lives, and do Jiu-Jitsu with an intensity designed to hurt others.nnIn reality, the studio for which I made content has the opposite message. Their aim is to help others learn, get in shape, and protect others while doing the sport. By showing the brand and message in this light, it helps to disprove misconceptions and invite others to train.
Video Reflection