What a ridiculous era we are living in where we are even entertaining the notion that taking PEDs should be considered normal and discussed without shame in public.

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When I was a young child, pushing boundaries and generally being a dickhead, one of the things I could never understand was table manners. What is the point? I asked myself and everyone around me. It’s just fuel, man! Just sit down and shove it in your face, who cares if I sit up straight or put my elbows on the table! At some point as I grew older, though, I realised that keeping up appearances was important. Two sayings, that I must have heard either in English class or in one of the books I was reading, entered my consciousness. The first was “manners maketh man“, which I later learned was coined by William Horman, author and headmaster of the famous Eton school in England during the 16th Century. For some reason, this began to make sense to me. Good manners – and by extension, conducting yourself properly – produces long lasting and important consequences. We are no different to animals in many ways except for our ability to create and fit into culture. Hallmarks of culture, such as table manners, are important to maintain.

The other saying is “How you do one thing is how you do everything.” In my mind this is attributed to Musashi, however upon searching it seems to belong to Martha Beck, a best-selling author and consultant. The point here is that, no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise, if you are lazy in certain aspects of your life, there is a very high likelihood that this will transfer into other aspects of your life. If you take shortcuts in one aspect, you likely will in another. Conversely, if you take great care in something as simple as keeping your house clean, then the likelihood is you will be a thorough person in the rest of your life. If you are a timely person who is not late for minor appointments, it stands to reason you will also be on time when it really counts.

I was, and remain, one of the laziest people I know. My natural tendency is to be extremely lazy. I understand better than anyone how much trouble that can get you in. I tried to convince people that just because I am lazy, doesn’t mean I can’t achieve such-and-such a thing! But in fact, the laziness could easily have prevented any of the limited success that I have had. I had to really overcome that laziness, with discipline. It was in danger of spreading to all aspects of my life. (Having kids was one of the biggest lessons in my life and taught me that you simply cannot be lazy when someone is depending on you.)

How is this relevant to the discussion of PEDs, and the behaviour around it, in the sport of jiujitsu? I think that PED use should be categorically illegal, and publicly discouraged, across the board. Am I naïve enough to believe that nobody is using PEDs? Of course not. But it is important to maintain the idea that success does not require PED use. Some athletes are reluctant to accept the mantle of being a role model, but the fact remains that they are role models to the next generation. A younger person coming up in the sport must have a pure and noble ideal to aim for. In the same way that parents do not easily share the darker side of human nature with their children – even though we know it exists – because it would gradually erode the ideal that we want our children to strive for. Adults do plenty of things that are wrong, but we do not encourage or condone these things publicly or to our children because we want to maintain an ideal, to encourage a growth.

PEDs are cheating. They allow you to train longer, with more intensity, more frequently, than someone not taking them. Equating them to protein, creatine, or ibuprofen, is completely disingenuous and obfuscating the issue. And with these incredible gains, come long term health risks. With some of our public figures in jiujitsu encouraging their use, we are encouraging cheating. Jiujitsu is currently the laughing stock of grappling arts in this regard. Judo, wrestling, MMA – they all have a public-facing culture against PEDs – even if some athletes try to circumvent this, the ideal remains. We recently hosted Chris Weidman at Polaris and both he and his cornerman – both coming from wrestling backgrounds – expressed their disappointment in the steroids that have flooded our sport, and the athletes shamelessly promoting them. Where would I send my kids to train grappling? Somewhere that says that hard work and discipline will get you what you want in life? Or somewhere that encourages and normalise the use of steroids? Why are we sending our kids to jiujitsu class – so they can be great at breaking people’s arms, or so they can learn to be a better human being? Which is more important? Where do steroids fit into the part about becoming a better human being? And many people now roll their eyes at the idea that martial arts make you a better human, but the fact remains that they have that power, and are one of the most powerful tools for self improvement, if you choose to pursue it.

The further discussion is what role you want martial arts to play in your life, and whether “winning is everything.” I myself use jiujitsu as a valuable tool – a physical reminder of all the things I need to do in the rest of my life to succeed. I need to work hard, I need to concentrate, I need to turn up on time, I need to be consistent, I need to sleep well, I need to eat well, I need to listen. For me, any kind of shortcut or lack of effort here will have negative consequences, both in jiujitsu and in life. I know that I need to be constantly vigilant against these things and maintain an ideal for my kids to follow.

I came into jiujitsu very naïve, I really felt that black belts were ideal human beings in almost every way. As I grew into the sport, I realised that really was not the case, but I am grateful for those early days of ignorance, as they encouraged me to strive for that ideal, and that was very important.

“How you do one thing is how you do everything.” It doesn’t take much searching to see if those publicly encouraging PEDs might also have some other character flaws. Every decision we make creates our future, tips the scales in one direction or the other. As far as I can see it, there is only one positive outcome of PED use – you can be a bit better at jiujitsu. By contrast, there is a whole heap of negative outcomes.

I suppose my last point would be the slippery slope theory. If we start normalising and encouraging something that has traditionally been either frowned upon or outright illegal and unacceptable, then where does that stop? Our world champions certainly engage in some unpleasant behaviour, as do many humans, but I for one want that to stay ‘behind the curtain’ for as long as possible.

Let me clarify a couple of things – first, I am not saying that if you take PEDs you are a bad person. You can make your own decisions in life, I am saying that keeping up outward appearances is important. Secondly, I am aware that I am one of the owners of a pro jiujitsu show and we do not have testing in place. Testing a hugely expensive and complicated affair that took the UFC decades to implement, and we are a relatively small and new organisation, but it is something that will have to be discussed at some point in the future.