You joined a gym to learn how to choke people safely.

Next thing you know you’re bowing to photos, saying oss unironically, spending all your money on gis, and referring to your coach as “Professor.”

So… is your gym a community… or a cult?

In this episode of The Gi Spot, we take a darkly funny look at the culture of jiu-jitsu gyms and ask the uncomfortable question every grappler eventually wonders.

Where’s the line between:

• a tight-knit team

• and a dojo that drinks its own Kool-Aid?

We break down the warning signs, the traditions, the loyalty, the drama, and why some gyms create incredible communities while others start looking suspiciously like pajama-based religious movements.

Because in jiu-jitsu the red flags aren’t always obvious… sometimes they’re just matching rash guards.