Since entering the Whitehouse in 2017, Donald Trump has dominated the news and has culturally changed life in the USA forever. Whether you love him or hate him, he has reached all areas of life and oddly this also includes the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Who would have thought that 4 years ago, people would be associating an American president with BJJ? These are the times we now live in. Whilst most grappling fans would probably love to see a superfight between Trump and Biden where the victor becomes president, the chance of this happening is slim to zero.
For those wondering, this is not meant to be a political piece on the left or right side of politics. Instead, it’s more of a humorous look into Trump and his relationship with BJJ. With this out of the way, what better time to look at Trump and his bizarre relationship with grappling as the 2020 election is now less than one week away.
Table of Contents
Trump Gi’s
It’s one thing making a novelty rash guard, but to make a gi requires a much greater effort. A company called ‘Endo Athletics’ made this gi which has some pretty loud artwork inside the gi featuring president Trump standing proudly on a tank with the US flag in the background. In terms of effort, this is a 10/10 and looks decent quality. The back also has the Trump logo stitched into the gi which shows this is not the work of an amateur either.
Make Americana’s great again
No, this isn’t a typo. Trump entered the Whitehouse with his slogan ‘make America great again’ which is also referred to as ‘MAGA’. This spawned a variety of BJJ spin-offs including ‘Make Americana’s great again’. A play-on-words, this slogan appeared in the famous red and white text and can be found on baseball caps and red t-shirts. Whether intentional or not, the Americana isn’t a massively fashionable submission these days and is commonly associated with strength. With this said, it is also frowned upon and more taboo compared to other submissions.
Trump’s venture into the world of MMA
So this story is going back a few years. In the early days of UFC, the promotion was deemed a violent bloodsport that was barbaric and chaotic. As a result, many places wouldn’t endorse the promotion due to the fear of gaining a negative reputation. Not Trump. He hosted several UFC events at his Trump venues and publically backed the company. To this day Dana White speaks highly of the president who also attends UFC shows in his spare time. More recently he has also gained fans in Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal who have openly endorsed his presidency.
The infamous Trump armdrag handshake
Where there is Donald Trump, there are memes. Even the president’s handshake became a meme when he visited other world leaders. His dominant handshake was more of an armdrag rather than a friendly handshake and was possibly used to assert dominance over others. Interestingly, some leaders began to counter his handshake with modified handshakes of their own. The handshake even spawned a BJJ video that showed how to counter the move in a sports BJJ setting.
The Trump sweep
This is possibly the most famous of the Trump ‘moves’ on the internet and gained traction a few years back. In short, it’s a half guard sweep that uses a Russian tie to sweep the opponent. The creator cleverly named the move due to allegations of Trump having ties with Russia. There are other videos out there such as the ‘Trump wall sweep’ which is basically a guy in a Trump mask hitting a scissor sweep on his opponent, albeit this one is less creative.
