Adaptação cultural de atletas de jiu-jitsu em competições no exterior

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the difficulties faced by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes in competitions abroad, a sport that is increasingly gaining popularity in Brazil, with 2.5 million practitioners in the country, many of its practitioners participate in competitions of national and world level, having to travel abroad facing the most diverse difficulties to be recognized as a world champions. Thus, the study of the sport and the analysis of the cultural adaptation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes at the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship in California, United States can show which are the biggest difficulties and which points should be taken into account for an assertive preparation for those competitors that faces this adaptation in competitions abroad. It will explain the creation and history of the sport, its dissemination in Brazil and around the world, the relevance of the World Championship held annually in California in the USA, the championship chosen for this study considering its relevance to the sport, and what are the difficulties that Brazilian athletes face to compete this championship, presented through an exploratory study conducted from a qualitative questionnaire, applied in the form of individual interviews, with a group of six Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes. As a result, the most perceived weakness among the athletes is the non-fluency of the language, a factor that can have a major impact on adaptation, for its difficulty to exchange knowledge, as well as on the athlete's performance abroad, as it might restrict access to necessary resources, like healthy eating.(sic)