Why I Don't Recommend the IBJJF Format for Kids
"Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay." – J. Krishnamurti
The IBJJF format is broken for kids and the effort spent over-coaching kids in an attempt to thrive in it is better spent developing an entirely new system.
A system which naturally and effortlessly cultivates the merits we wish for competition to instill.
The IBJJF format persists not because it is most efficient and effective format for creating beneficial results in children, but due to tradition and the lack of an alternative.
Are there a small percentage of kids who benefit from the IBJJF format? Sure – but what about the rest who don’t?
And what if the ones who do benefit could benefit even more from a different format which hasn’t been tried?
With over 100 kids in our program, some of whom may gain something of value from competing, I stopped recommending IBJJF competition for them once I understood the depth of the problems associated with it.
I’ll start by first examining a few of the sacred cows of competition.
“Kids should compete, it is good for them.”
Nobody can predict what effect any stimulus will have on a child’s development.
One child loses, enters again and again and when they win, there is power in having their own experience of perseverance.
Another loses, may or may not enter again, and may continue to lose due to problems within the IBJJF format, and it enhances a negative self-image and doubt in themselves that no amount of encouragement can permanently undo.
“Competition makes kids more <insert adjective>, if not, it is a coaching problem”
Those who try to coach positive qualities into anyone will find it to be a practice of giving ten thousand units of effort in exchange for one unit of result.
If such a thing worked, there would only need to be one self help book, and upon reading it, everyone would be permanently free of all of their problems.
Drowning a child with positive affirmations is glue too weak to hold them up forever.
A teacher or coach can only identify and remove the obstacles which may be preventing ideal qualities from arising naturally within a student.
That is my intent behind the format of this new tournament: make it fun, still challenge the kids, reward bravery and experimentation and don’t needlessly punish them.
When a father recently asked how to make his daughter more competitive, I told him the same thing: identify and remove the obstacles preventing it from arising, and if she's meant to be competitive, it will arise without effort.
Then her competitiveness will be pure, permanent and an expression of herself which is not dependent on anyone or anything.
“Competition makes their Jiu-Jitsu better”
Tournaments define what Jiu-Jitsu is for the kids who compete.
It takes a rich, infinite art and strips it down into a limitation of a few winning moves.
Those who regularly win limit themselves to a formula and their development slows nearly to a halt, regardless of what they are learning at class.
They fear what losing could mean, and when they inevitably do, they tend to become more aggressive and less empathetic toward their competitors to improve their chances of winning, rather than evolve their approach or strategy.
All for a medal that is soon forgotten about until it is thrown out.
For the coach who wishes for their students to experiment and find their own unique path to greatness… it is rarely ever enhanced through the limiting nature of competition.
“Winning is the best representation of a competent school”
When a teacher is concerned with competition results, they engages in a juggling act of providing the competitors with ‘competition training’ while simultaneously trying to provide the non-competitors an optimal experience.
The one who chases two birds catches neither.
Some years ago I stopped allowing the IBJJF format to influence my kids program, and when I did, there was immense space for Jiu-Jitsu to have a greater degree of depth in my students and my own teaching.
I wish I had done so much earlier.
While we have fewer competitors entering tournaments now, our students’ skill, retention and satisfaction have dramatically increased compared to when my direction was conditioned by the IBJJF format.
“The winner is the best at Jiu-Jitsu”
Very few are born to compete in combat sports. It is extremely rare, but an experienced coach knows it when they see it.
These individuals will feel as if they have no choice but to compete. They are not trying to be competitors, just as water is not trying to be wet.
They do not compete for secondary gains or incentives, and with nothing to gain or lose they naturally perform exceptionally well under pressure and appear to thrive in any ruleset.
For everyone else “one mistake and you lose, and could even get you hurt” adds immense pressure, and the contest becomes not who is the most skilled at Jiu-Jitsu, but who is the best at performing with a thousand pound sand bag on their back.
For those like myself who are interested in observing the expression of skill and the majesty of spontaneous improvisation that manifests when an athlete feels no pressure, it is rarely found in competition, let alone the IBJJF format.
Some children have a competitor buried deep inside of them, and the less they are exposed to the discouraging, limiting nature of the IBJJF format, the more space is available for it to arise from within them.
A few of the problems with the IBJJF Format
Chokes – the elephant in the room nobody wants to talk about.
Because a tap means a loss, competitors are more likely to fight out of chokes, especially those not locked in.
Chokes can cause cumulative damage to the neck that can't be measured, and adult BJJ communities are reporting increased occurrence of strokes and even deaths on the mat linked to fighting out of chokes.
While those types of incidents are extremely rare and many chokes are banned from kids competition— Nobody has questioned if it is really worth the risk?
I find it hard to observe a 4–7-year-old being choked to tears at full force while adults and coaches cheer on.
I don't see the benefit, especially for beginners and young children.
My fix: remove chokes from dominant positions, and make a tap mean points and a restart rather than the end of the match.
Referees would then step in sooner, and kids would feel better about tapping.
Experience gaps and belt sandbagging.
A child 5–8 months into training shouldn't face a child with 1.5-2+ years of experience and many tournament wins just because that child's school hasn't promoted them.
Schools seem to be holding back kids at grey belt longer and longer which is destroying the size and attendance of the yellow belt category, most apparent at the IBJJF majors.
Placing yellow belts into the grey belt category is not the answer, either.
3 belts per color belt category.
Each color belt category covers three levels and often times it is unfair.
A fresh grey/white belt with ~1 year of experience shouldn't face a grey/black belt with 3–5 years of experience.
Developing depth of skill.
Once kids learn a couple of takedowns, a keylock, armbar, and a choke, they rarely develop depth in other important areas.
Schools may teach guard, but kids don't absorb and cultivate it when an easier way to win exists and they are rewarded in competition for using it, again and again.
This is what the tournament teaches them and experience trumps anything anyone tries to tell them.
Allowing submissions only from guard (bottom) positions would reward and demonstrate the utility of more complex and challenging areas of development.
It also fits self-defense better: a child who has gained a dominant position over an attacker shouldn't need to choke or armbar them.
Practicing from the guard builds depth of skill, real-world usefulness, and is more likely to cultivate compassion compared to the alternative.
Boys vs. girls
A girl beating a boy can be very empowering and a great display of the power of Jiu-Jitsu. But as boys get older, these matches become a no-win situation for them that may affect self esteem.
Over reliance on referee’s judgement
Occasionally guard passing points are awarded almost instantaneously, even while competitors are actively recovering guard and a pin has not been established.
Other times passing points take upwards of 10 seconds to be awarded, or they aren’t awarded at all.
Sweep into mount should be 6 points, but sometimes only given out as 4, and even takedowns are not scored sometimes.
Refereeing is hard and mistakes happen; a new format will mean an error in their judgment will have less of an impact and take some of the pressure off them.
Have Tournaments Improved?
When progress is measured, it is often in cosmetics.
The medals, mats, and venues are all much better.
The events run more efficiently due to experience and Smoothcomp.
Most referees are more competent than they ever were before.
Outside of that, little to nothing has changed in the format for 20+ years, nor has anything else even been tried.
My only interest is in depth of experience and what arises when a student has freedom to explore the ultimate possibilities of Jiu-Jitsu without limitation and discouragement —not cosmetics.
Our new format (TLDR):
Scoring, not sudden death: First to 16 points wins, or the higher score when time runs out. Rather than lose to a takedown and armbar in 18 seconds, kids will get more mat time.
Submissions only from guard: A submission scores 4 points, and the match restarts standing. It doesn't end.
This will incentivize kids to develop more challenging areas of Jiu-Jitsu rather than having a mounted armbar, americana and choke from the back carry them for 1-5 years.
No stalling: The ref restarts the match standing if a dominant position is held over 15 seconds, or a neutral ground position over 30 seconds without real progress.
This allows competitors more time in the areas of Jiu-Jitsu that are actually important for student development.
Safer rules: Penalties for throat pressure and pulling on the back of the head rather than leaving it up to referee discretion.
Guard passing is 0 points: The message that clinging to a leg or rolling to cover in turtle position until the time runs out can win you matches is another flaw of the IBJJF system, and the referee decision on what is/isn’t a guard pass can be controversial.
Fair matchups: Kids are grouped by age and experience, not necessarily belt color, and everyone gets at least 3 matches. If we can't make a fair matchup, parents get a full refund.
Everyone is rewarded: For $40, every competitor gets a minimum of 3 matches, competes against everyone in the division, a belt bar and free a pizza party— not just the chance of a medal.
Rules are not set in stone and some may change depending on data and feedback.
What am I hoping to accomplish?
Rather than tell students who are curious about competing to wait until I know they can handle the format, I have chosen to start my own tournament that is best suited for beginners, young children, and those who may need more time to grow into what the competition demands of them to excel under the IBJJF ruleset.
This format will better prepare them should they wish to move on to compete in the IBJJF ruleset. It will increase competitor satisfaction, be a more effective tool for student development and provide more data for competitors and coaches to work with.
With the flexibility found in not adhering to tradition, I can implement many more additional categories in the future, for example: 3-5 minute matches of specific training with resets, position decided by coin flip, switch top/bottom next round.
This will be a category I implement in the second tournament to provide competitors more mat time, and families more value for their entry fees.
Lastly, I have found when my ideas are put into action, and gain traction, they tend to be adopted.
So when some of these inevitably are, I may have done something positive for all Jiu-Jitsu kids, not just the ones in my care.