“Leave your ego at the door”, a motto which is hung up on numerous academy walls, a motto that implies, be humble, generous and friendly to your fellow competitors. It’s a shining light of a mask which, as you get deeper has a much more rotten core.
Jiu-Jitsu works on the idea of mechanics and fulcrums and that notion of the smaller athlete is able to defeat a much bigger one through leverage is taught throughout the world. However, there has always been a two-sided debate, Strength vs Technique, Jiu-Jitsu teaches the idea of technique conquers all, however at the upper echelons of the elite, technique is a limiting factor and strength, endurance and speed are often ways matches are won. And as a professional athlete in a non-regulated sport such as Jiu-Jitsu, how can the best be the best? PEDs, or performance-enhancing drugs.
Steroids and PEDs have long been the deep dark secret that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been hiding, a secret which has once again reared its ugly head into the mainstream. But in a sport which has no regulated governing bodies and a world title could secure you a financial future, can you really be the best of the best without them? Yes and No.
What are PEDs?
Performance-enhancing drugs or PEDs for short are substances which allow sports practitioners to increase their physical attributes to gain an advantage over their opponents. The biggest PED scandal in most recent times is the one of Lance Armstrong and the revelation that competitive cycling is a sport which is incredibly dirty, a term used when multiple competitors all use performance-enhancing drugs.
PEDs can come in many shapes and sizes, so let’s talk about a few of them.
Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic Steroids are one of the most common performance-enhancing drugs in the world, the most common steroid hormone being Testosterone. Testosterone has two main effects on the human body, promoting muscle building and androgenic effects such as increased facial hair and a deeper voice.
In a sporting sense, testosterone can be used to help athletes reduce muscle damage that occurs during hard workouts, help athletes recover faster, enabling them to work out harder and more frequently, and quickly increase muscle mass to gain a competitive advantage.
Other types of anabolic steroids include Androstenedione and Human Growth Hormone. The most common name over-the-counter name for these is Trenbolone.
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin or EPO as it’s commonly known as is a type of hormone that is used to treat anaemia in people with severe kidney disease. The hormone increased the number of red blood cells in the body and a higher amount of haemoglobin.
For athletes, an increased blood cell count means more oxygen intake throughout the body, more oxygen to the muscles means higher endurance. EPO had the spotlight shone on it thanks to Lance Armstrong and the cycling world. Back when people thought PEDs meant steroids and genetic muscle freaks, cyclists were underlooked due to their lean frames.
Diuretics
Diuretics are drugs which change your body’s natural levels of fluids and electrolytes. They allow an athlete to shed their water weight at an incredibly fast rate, making it a popular option for people who need to weigh in to compete in their sport, ie combat sports such as MMA, Boxing and even BJJ. Diuretics may also help athletes pass rudimentary drug tests by diluting their urine sample.
What About Jiu-Jitsu?
If you take a group of 100 people and asked about steroids in Jiu-Jitsu you can guarantee the room would be divided, there is one side of the camp where they “know” the sport is prevalent, and the other side of the room, which swear blindly that technique conquers all. The real problem isn’t about PEDs in the sport, it’s the regulation and the apparent under-the-table deals that keep the top on top and everyone else chasing them.
The IBJJF and USADA
This is where things get interesting, in 2014 the IBJJF announced they would use USADA to drug test all the black belt world champions and as a result one of the biggest names in the sport was put under the spotlight for doping, Braulio Estima, who was handed a two-year suspension and ultimately ended his competition career. Other names have been busted for PEDs include Felipe Pena, Leandro Nogueira, Paulo Miyao, Gabi Garcia and Tayane Porfirio.
This a starting, however, it’s well known that regular drug testing from USADA is expensive and the since the IBJJF only tests podium placers at worlds, it’s very easy for athletes to cycle on an off their PEDs so they don’t get caught, in fact, three of the six athletes busted by USADA were caught with Clomiphene in their system, which is actually a medication to treat infertility in women who do not ovulate. In the case of steroids, it’s used to kickstart the body’s natural testosterone production because anabolic steroids rinse the body of testosterone, so when athletes cycle off, they have incredibly low testosterone levels.
No Smoke Without Fire
When you have high level competitors such as Lucas Lepri