As a slight counterpoint, when I did martial arts in College about twenty years back, every instructor save one was a complete shitlib. This wasn't a full MMA gym, but still a pretty hard contact Tang Soo Do dojo. That being said, leftism twenty years ago is far different than modern leftism.
One of my strongest memories was when we were practicing stick fighting, and one of the black-belts, who was going through a messy divorce, lost his temper and went nuts on his opponent, going so far as braking the stick. The opponent, enraged, walked out of the ring and screamed at his ill-tempered colleague, who could only hang his head in shame. Not only was it dangerous, but it murdered the implicit trust the black-belts had that they could keep their cool when things got messy. It was a betrayal.
A lot has changed in 20 years... digital networks have made fake martial arts a thing of the past for the most-part and the demographic has radically shifted. Martial arts gyms tend to keep up much better than the rest of society because people age out of hard martial arts much more quickly (for the most part, there's a few that are exceptions). Even then, a strong martial tradition and capacity to deliver and receive hits now holds a substantial political component as far as I can see. Some will still mouth the words of the shitlib class because they need to keep their job (or gym space) but you'll almost never encounter an MMA competitor who believes that nonsense.
Being involved in HEMA, I can tell you that the politics are extremely divided. Some are extremely right wing and others extremely left. But, the better fighters do seem to be if not right wing totally, they are rarely shitlib. There are exceptions.
As for BJJ and MMA I can’t say as it has been years since I have participated. But, no one was a shitlib when I did then and I doubt there are now
Shitlibs don't tend to last long when asked to put their money where their mouth is. Alternatively, some of them become right-wing after sticking around long enough to get good at receiving and delivering violence. In any case, I've never encountered an individual in combat who I have not resultantly had a very good read on politically. To learn the heart of a man, fight him.
As a slight counterpoint, when I did martial arts in College about twenty years back, every instructor save one was a complete shitlib. This wasn't a full MMA gym, but still a pretty hard contact Tang Soo Do dojo. That being said, leftism twenty years ago is far different than modern leftism.
One of my strongest memories was when we were practicing stick fighting, and one of the black-belts, who was going through a messy divorce, lost his temper and went nuts on his opponent, going so far as braking the stick. The opponent, enraged, walked out of the ring and screamed at his ill-tempered colleague, who could only hang his head in shame. Not only was it dangerous, but it murdered the implicit trust the black-belts had that they could keep their cool when things got messy. It was a betrayal.
A lot has changed in 20 years... digital networks have made fake martial arts a thing of the past for the most-part and the demographic has radically shifted. Martial arts gyms tend to keep up much better than the rest of society because people age out of hard martial arts much more quickly (for the most part, there's a few that are exceptions). Even then, a strong martial tradition and capacity to deliver and receive hits now holds a substantial political component as far as I can see. Some will still mouth the words of the shitlib class because they need to keep their job (or gym space) but you'll almost never encounter an MMA competitor who believes that nonsense.
Being involved in HEMA, I can tell you that the politics are extremely divided. Some are extremely right wing and others extremely left. But, the better fighters do seem to be if not right wing totally, they are rarely shitlib. There are exceptions.
As for BJJ and MMA I can’t say as it has been years since I have participated. But, no one was a shitlib when I did then and I doubt there are now
Shitlibs don't tend to last long when asked to put their money where their mouth is. Alternatively, some of them become right-wing after sticking around long enough to get good at receiving and delivering violence. In any case, I've never encountered an individual in combat who I have not resultantly had a very good read on politically. To learn the heart of a man, fight him.