Your first jiu-jitsu competition: what the rules book fixes

Under version 6.1 of the IBJJF rules book, an adult white-belt match lasts five minutes, a scoring position normally requires three seconds of control, and rows 9 to 26 of the illegal-move table, eighteen of its twenty-six rows, apply to white belts from adult through Master 7. The rules book requires academy affiliation and gives the academy's responsible teacher control over its entries; it does not specify a training period before a beginner's first tournament. This post reads what the rules fix and what academies publish about the classes that prepare for it.

Registration goes through an academy

Article 5 of the rules book's general competition guidelines states that athletes registering for any championship must be affiliated with an academy, that each academy may register two athletes in each weight, belt, age and gender division, and that the teacher responsible for the academy has sovereign power over its registrations, including adding and excluding athletes. Those provisions govern representation and registration; they do not define when a beginner is ready to compete.

The divisions and the clock

Article 1 places an athlete in an age division by subtracting the birth year from the tournament year. Adult is 18 and over, Master 1 is 30 and over, and the children's divisions run from Mighty Mite I at 4 to Juvenile II at 17. The match time depends on the division and, for adults, on the belt: five minutes at white, six at blue, seven at purple, eight at brown and ten at black. Master 1 matches last five minutes at white and blue and six at purple, brown and black; Master 2 through Master 7 matches last five minutes at every belt. Juveniles fight five minutes, Teens and Juniors four, Pee Wees three and Mighty Mites two.

Weight divisions are the subject of BJJ weight classes, which carries the kilogram and pound tables for gi and no-gi. Brackets are single elimination: the losing athlete of each match is eliminated and the winner advances, with one exception, the bracket of three, in which the loser of the first match faces the third competitor and the winner of that second match meets the first winner in the final.

How a match is scored

Article 3 states the principle: points are awarded when an athlete stabilises a position for three seconds. Article 4 sets the values.

Position	Points
Takedown	2
Sweep	2
Knee on belly	2
Guard pass	3
Mount or back mount	4
Back control	4

Article 5 adds the advantage: it is counted when an athlete reaches a scoring position but cannot hold it for the full three seconds, when a scoring position is nearly completed, or when a submission attempt puts the opponent in real danger, with the referee judging how close it came. A submission ends the match when an athlete clearly taps twice with a hand on the opponent, the ground or themselves; taps the ground twice with a foot while the opponent traps their arms; verbally requests that the match stop; or screams or makes a noise expressing pain while trapped in a submission hold. An athlete who claims a cramp loses the match.

Fouls, penalties and the white-belt list

Under Articles 6 and 7, disciplinary fouls cause immediate disqualification from the match and the competition, severe technical fouls cause immediate disqualification from the match, and serious technical fouls and lack of combativeness follow an escalating sequence: the first penalty is marked, the second gives the opponent an advantage, the third gives the opponent two points, and the fourth disqualifies. In the under-15 divisions the fourth and fifth fouls each give the opponent two points and only the sixth disqualifies. Lack of combativeness, the rules' term for stalling, is a technical foul defined as clearly not pursuing positional progression; if both athletes pull guard at the same time, the referee counts twenty seconds, and if neither reaches the top, holds a submission or is about to score, both are penalised and the match restarts standing.

The illegal-move table in Article 6 lists twenty-six holds and assigns each to the divisions where it is a foul. For white belts from adult through Master 7, and for every rank at 16 and 17, rows 9 to 26 apply, in table order: a lock inside closed guard with the legs compressing the kidneys or ribs; the wrist lock; a single-leg takedown with the attacker's head outside the opponent's body; the bicep slicer; the calf slicer; the knee bar; the toe hold; turning toward the foot not under attack in a straight foot lock; the heel hook; locks twisting the knees; knee reaping; outward pressure on the foot in a toe hold; the slam; the spinal lock without a choke; the scissor takedown; bending fingers backwards; grabbing the attacker's belt and throwing them onto their head while defending a single leg with the attacker's head outside the defender's body; and a suplex that lands the opponent on the head or neck. Row 11, the single-leg takedown with the attacker's head outside the opponent's body, is listed as prohibited but carries no penalty. For blue and purple belts from adult through Master 7, rows 12 to 26 remain prohibited; for brown and black belts from adult through Master 7 other than adult no-gi competitors, rows 17 to 26; and for adult brown and black belts in no-gi, rows 21 to 26, with heel hooks and knee reaping permitted. For children aged 4 to 12, rows 1 to 26 are prohibited, and for ages 13 to 15 rows 2 to 26, so row 1, submission techniques stretching the legs apart, belongs only to the 4-to-12 column. The table notes that its images are examples and do not represent every prohibited variation.

The uniform check and the weigh-in

Article 8 requires a completely white, royal blue or black gi with matching jacket, pants and collar; prohibits shirts beneath the jacket for men; requires women to wear a body-hugging stretchy or elastic shirt, with a one-piece swimsuit or gymnastics top also permitted; requires sleeves to reach no more than 2 cm from the wrist with the arm extended straight and parallel to the ground, and pants to reach no more than 2 cm above the ankle bone; and prohibits mending, tears, wetness, dirt and unpleasant odours. The belt is 4 to 5 cm wide in the colour of the athlete's rank, wrapped twice, tied in a double knot, with each end hanging 20 to 30 cm. Your first gi reads what academies say about buying one.

The inspector checks the uniform before the weigh-in. Each athlete steps on the official scale once, in the uniform, without shoes, and after weighing in may not change gis before the first match on penalty of disqualification. The guidelines' description of the ring coordinator's job places the weigh-in before the first match, after the ID check and the uniform inspection. Fingernails and toenails must be trimmed and short, long hair tied up, and footwear worn up to the match area; an athlete is disqualified if their hair dye or makeup stains the opponent's gi during a match, and the inspector checks skin after the weigh-in. Guideline 4.4 requires an athlete alone in a division to pass uniform inspection and the weigh-in to receive a medal, and 4.4.1 specifies uniform inspection and approval for an athlete alone in the ultra heavyweight or absolute division, without listing a weigh-in.

What academies publish about competition classes

The site's guides record the competition classes academies print and the published conditions for joining those classes.

• A gate in months or stripes. Queens Jiu-Jitsu prints a Friday «COMP CLASS +6 MONTHS EXP»; Gracie Barra Dripping Springs publishes that adults with three stripes on their white belt, which it puts at roughly five to six months, are invited to the advanced class, sparring and competition training.
• A gate by belt or invitation. Matroom Tokyo runs a competition class for blue belts and above; Espada Studio in Hong Kong prints «Comp Training - Invite only»; Carlson Gracie South Bay runs its weekday competition class for its own competitors only; Evolve MMA in Bangkok fills its competition team by try-out.
• A competition slot on the grid. Bruno Guimarães BJJ in the Austin corridor prints Competition Gi/No-Gi on a full weekly schedule beside a Fundamentals track; Carpe Diem Shibuya prints a Sunday competition class; Kaizen BJJ in Brussels prints a Sunday «competitors» session on its September-to-June schedule, subject to published closure dates.
• A children's competition class. ARTA BJJ Mita in Tokyo prints a Saturday kids competition class; Chicago MMA South Loop prints a Saturday kids competition training marked invite only.

Those pages document access to training classes; they do not establish how many classes a beginner needs before entering a tournament. Where a page prints a gate, the gate is the academy's, and where it prints none, the question is for the professor.

What to ask

• Does the academy enter beginners, and who decides when?
• Which federation and rule set does the academy compete under, and where is that rule set published?
• Which division would apply, by age, belt and weight, and is the weigh-in in the gi?
• Which of the illegal-move rows apply to that division?
• Does the academy run a competition class, and what is its entry condition?

Questions readers ask

How long is a white-belt match in IBJJF competition?

Five minutes for adult and Master white belts under the 2024 rules book's Article 1 table. Adult matches last six minutes at blue belt, seven at purple, eight at brown and ten at black; Master 1 matches last five minutes at white and blue and six at purple, brown and black; Master 2 through Master 7 matches last five minutes at every belt; Juveniles fight five minutes, Teens and Juniors four, Pee Wees three and Mighty Mites two.

What moves are illegal for white belts?

For white belts aged 16 and 17 and in the adult through Master 7 divisions, rows 9 to 26 of the rules book's illegal-move table apply, including wrist locks, bicep and calf slicers, knee bars, toe holds, heel hooks, knee reaping, slams, spinal locks without a choke and the scissor takedown. White belts aged 4 to 12 instead use rows 1 to 26, and those aged 13 to 15 rows 2 to 26; row 11, the single-leg takedown with the attacker's head outside the opponent's body, is prohibited but carries no penalty.

How are points scored in jiu-jitsu?

Two points for a takedown, sweep or knee on belly, three for a guard pass, and four for mount, back mount or back control, each after three seconds of control; near-misses and real submission threats earn advantages.

Do you weigh in with the gi on?

Yes. The rules book has each athlete step on the official scale once, in the uniform and without shoes, after the uniform inspection, and forbids changing gis before the first match after weighing in.

Can a beginner sign up for a jiu-jitsu tournament alone?

Not under the IBJJF rules book: Article 5 of its general guidelines requires affiliation with an academy and gives the teacher responsible for the academy the final say over its registrations.