Approved Attire:

• Rash guards (short or long sleeve)

• Compression shorts or spats

• Tight-fitting board shorts above the knee.

*** Board shorts and compression shorts must extend at least 2 inches (5 cm) below the inseam origin and must not fall below the knee. ***

Not Approved Attire:

• No loose or baggy clothing

• No tank top or sleeveless shirts

• No gi tops or pants

• No pants with pockets

• No garments with hard plastic or metal components

• No substances (e.g., oils or lotions) that may affect grip or safety Presentation: Uniforms must be clean, free of offensive imagery, and may include sponsor logos or team branding as long as they do not interfere with visibility or safety.

***Attire not meeting this standard will need to be changed before competitor is allowed to compete.***

Hygiene:

To ensure safety, respect, and a professional competition environment, all athletes must adhere to the following hygiene requirements:

• Nails must be neatly trimmed to prevent accidental scratching or injury.

• Hair longer than shoulder length must be securely tied back or covered to avoid obstruction or entanglement during matches.

• Personal hygiene must be maintained, athletes should arrive clean with fresh attire and no strong odors.

• Skin conditions that may be contagious (e.g., ringworm, staph infections) must be fully treated and cleared up prior to competition. Event staff reserve the right to inspect and disqualify if necessary.

This is a community-driven event. Respect, sportsmanship, and humility are mandatory.

Unsportsmanlike behavior may result in warnings, overtime penalty, or disqualification.

Examples:

Excessive celebration will result in a warning.

Verbal abuse or insults toward others will be penalized.

Striking or attacking another person will lead to immediate disqualification.

Let’s lift each other up—mutual respect is the foundation of this event.

These standards are in place to protect both competitors and staff. Non compliance may result in disqualification or removal from the mat.

Each match will be a submission only, 10-minute round.

In Nogi all subs are legal to include specific neck cranks (twister, can opener, and crucifix if applied with control), reaping and heel hooks.

In gi the legal subs will follow a traditional IBJJF belt appropriate format.

To protect grapplers from severe head, neck or knee injuries there will be no jumping guard, no slamming, no flying submissions, no suplexing, or flying scissor takedowns. THESE ARE ILLEGAL.

Driving through a takedown or completing a throw is legal.

If locked in a submission and you raise your opponent to your waist in a controlled manner. The match with be stopped and your opponent must let go with the assumption that they could’ve been slammed and the grapplers will reset on their feet.

***If you drop your opponent during this attempt, it will be counted as a slam***

If both competitors are on their feet (wrestling, standing grappling, etc.) for 2 minutes straight, the ref will stop the match and the competitors will be forced to go to the mat and restart in the butterfly guard position with double under hooks.

If one opponent is CLEARLY the aggressor while standing, then they get to choose if they want to be top or bottom. Otherwise, a coin flip will determine which competitor chooses to be top or bottom.

The "get down" clock resets each time both competitors are on their feet and standing/wrestling again.

Athletes may continue submission attempts beyond the boundary lines unless instructed to stop by the referee.

Referees will allow action to proceed off-mat if the submission is active, controlled, and poses no immediate safety risk.

If the referee calls “Stop,” athletes must disengage immediately and await repositioning. Referees will not restart athletes in any position deemed imminently dangerous, such as fully locked submissions- heel hooks, neck cranks, or spine-twisting controls.

If action is stopped due to boundary exit or safety concerns, the match will resume from a neutral or previously established control position, at the referee’s discretion.

***This policy prioritizes athlete safety and ensures no competitor is placed at undue risk during a restart.***

Out of Bounds Evasion Policy:

Intentional use of the boundary to escape a submission or dominant control will result in a 1-minute penalty added to the athlete’s overtime escape total and immediate repositioning back to the last position of control.

Example:

• Rolling away from a heel hook 2 or more times until the match is out of bounds.

• Rolling while in back mount to try to escape the mat.

• Butt scooting away from a submission or position to escape the mats.

If there is no submission during the regulation time limit, each competitor will have the chance to try to submit their opponent as fast as they can, while the other has a chance to escape.

There will be a coin toss to determine which competitor will choose if they are starting on offense or defense.

How to win in overtime:

Submit your opponent faster than he or she can submit you.

If there is no submission by the end of overtime after 3 full rounds, the competitor with the fastest combined escape time in that match will win.

Rolling out of bounds does not count as an escape, the competitors will just be reset back in the middle of the mat.

One overtime round means that a competitor had a chance at both offense and defense. There are up to 3 overtime rounds maximum per match.

Example of one overtime round:

Top of the 1st round = Competitor A on offense, Competitor B on defense.

Bottom of the 1st round = Competitor B on offense, Competitor A on offense.

Each part of the overtime round is two minutes maximum. If there is no submission or escape after two minutes, the competitors move on to the next part of overtime.

Example:

Bottom of the 1st round, Competitor B is on offense, Competitor A is on defense. Neither competitor submitted or escaped after 2 minutes, meaning the competitors stop and move on to the Top of the 2nd round. The competitor on offense gets to choose if they want to start in back control or mount.

Offense options:

• Back control with a seatbelt grip (hands in the middle of the opponent’s chest). The defensive competitor may secure the grips they want, usually on the offensive competitor’s arms, but cannot sneak his or her hands inside the offensive competitor’s grips.

• Armbar with one arm fully threaded in and holding the armbar, and the other hand on the mat. The defensive competitor can choose a figure four (or “rear naked choke grip”) defense, gable grip (or “palm to palm grip”), or similar grip.

Switching from back control to any other submission (including the truck position, excluding any other leg lock positions) once the time starts is permitted, as long as the transition is directly into a fully locked submission.

Example: switching from armbar to fully locked triangle means the round is still going. If there is a submission in the top of the round, the competitor who was submitted needs to secure a submission faster than he or she was submitted.

Example: Top of the 1st round, Competitor A submits Competitor B in 30 seconds. This means that in the Bottom of the 1st round, Competitor B needs to submit Competitor A in less than 30 seconds otherwise Competitor B loses. If there is a submission in the bottom of the round, the competitor who achieved the submission wins the match (since the other competitor was unable to submit their opponent in the top of the round).

An escape is when a competitor is fully free from the submission position as determined by the referee.

If you are on defense and your opponent is controlling your arm across your body, you must first clear your elbow before it will be considered an escape.

Switching from either position to another (from back to mount or mount to back) means the offensive player no longer has a locked in submission and is thus considered an escape. Submissions from defensive positions count as an escape, not a submission.

Always keep escaping, even if you think you’re clear, until the referee calls time.

If one of the competitors is clearly stalling, the referee will give a warning to that competitor and his or her corner.

If the stalling continues and is clearly obvious, the referee will stop the action and announce a penalty – 1 minute of “escape time” added to that competitor’s OT time.

There are no limits to the amount of penalty calls that a referee can give.

The most common stalling penalties are given when one competitor is grounded and their opponent remains on their feet and refuses to attempt to pass the guard of the grounded opponent.