RECCE ROOM

Recently, The Jiu-Jitsu Times online publication had an article entitled "Are People Getting Their Black Belts Too Early?" The article detailed one BJJ black belt's opinion that the rise in popularity of MMA has led to many people getting their BJJ black belt too early. Our comment of the week comes from the Facebook comment to the article: Why would you think so? There are no global criterias for any belts - so when an instructor promotes, it's just the right time. Not all black belts are equal, but they are black belts for a reason - and it's not our job to eveluate them. It's their instructors job. While I cannot speak for BJJ, as I have never received any rank in BJJ, this statement is still true of most martial arts. And this comment also rang true: People are more worried about belts than they are about putting in time at the gym.

New section: Comment of the Week. This is the initial entry.  On social media, the story is (yet again) about a female teacher having sexual relations with a teenage boy. This comment was on point: Remember it's an "affair" or "romantic relationship" when the sexual predator is a woman but a "rape" or "sexual assault against a minor" when the predator is a man. Either it's statutory rape, as what the law says (albeit more lenient for female rapists) for both sexes or it's an inappropriate "romantic relationship" for both. Unless we're officially making special considerations by calling the female sex, as a whole, retarded and in need of special protections, this double-standard needs to go.