Jiu Jitsu Rules & Divisions
ENCOUNTER COMBAT reserves the right to combine and/or separate divisions pending competitor turnout. The rules follow IBJJF. Please refer to the grid for illegal moves.
Female youth competitors 11 years and under are bracketed with male competitors. You can request that your child or student only compete with other female competitors but there is no guarantee that it will be possible. We will exhaust all options to keep females competing with females, even if we need to combine divisions, skill level, weight classes or ages.
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All bracket options will be evaluated and determined based on size of event and division. The event director will communicate with competitors via Smoothcomp event page, email and social media (ie. Instagram) on bracket specifics leading up to the event. Our goal is for competitors to have as many matches as possible (ie. Round Robin, double elimination and best of three are preferred).
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Note that match time limits for ENCOUNTER Combat do not follow IBJJF for all divisions. Please reference the list below for match times:
Gi and No Gi Time Limits
Youth 1 (11 years old and younger) White & Novice & Beginner: 2 min
Youth 1 (11 and under) Gray and Intermediate: 3 minYouth 2 (12-17 years old) White, Grey and & Beginner and Intermediate: 3 min
Youth 1 & 2 (17 years old and younger) Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue and Purple & Advanced: 4 min
Adult Men & Women (18-29) White Belt and Beginner: 4 min
Adult Men (30-39) All Belts and Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced: 4 minAdult Men (40 years old and older) All Belt Levels & Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced: 4 min
Adult Men & Women (ages 18-29) Blue Belt & Intermediate: 5 minAdult Men & Women (18-29) Purple, Brown and Black Belts & Advanced: 6 min
Absolute/OPEN divisions: 8min* (first 4 min submission only/ final four minutes points and submission)
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No Gi only. If there is a tie with both advantages and points, fighters will enter sudden death round. The time limit is one minute for youth 1 and youth 2 divisions and two minutes for all adult divisions. The winner will be decided by the first point awarded by a fighter, not an advantage. If after the time limit has expired and neither fighter has scored a point, the referee will determine the winner.
Sudden death will not be offered for Gi divisions. In the case of a tie with points and advantages, the referee will determine the winner. -
Youth 1
4-5 years old
6-7 years old
8-9 years old
10-11 years old
Youth 2
12-13 years old
14-15 years old
16-17 years old -
Novice: No Submission- This division is for 1 stripe White Belt with minimal experience.
No Submission: This division is for White Belts and Grey with white stripe to compete with each other. Points only. No Submissions.Beginner: (18 months or less) White Belt. Legal Submissions Allowed.
Intermediate: (19 months to 30 months) Grey Belt. Legal Submissions Allowed.
Advanced: (Greater than 30 months) Yellow Belt & Up. Legal Submissions Allowed.
No Gi is determined by the fighters current belt ranking. When we find it necessary to combine divisions, we consider the length of time that the fighter has been training.
Gi divisions will be determined by the fighters current belt rank.
Youth 1 & 2 divisions may have males and females combined in their respective divisions
ENCOUNTER Combat may combine or split divisions based on the discretion of the event director. -
18-29 years old
30-39 years old
40 and older -
Beginner: 18 months or less -WHITE BELT
Intermediate: 19 months to 30 months -BLUE BELT
Advanced: Greater than 30 months -Purple Belt and UP
No Gi is determined by the fighters current belt rank. When divisions are combined, we will consider length of time that the fighter has been training.
Gi divisions will be determined by the fighters current belt rank.
Adult Green Belt will be placed in the blue belt division
ENCOUNTER Combat may combine or split divisions based on the event directors discretion. -
Youth Group 1
Age 4-5
Light Featherweight 30 & under
Featherweight 31-40
Lightweight 41-50
Middleweight 51-60
Cruiserweight 61-70
Heavyweight 71-80
Superweight 81+
Age 6-7
Light Featherweight 45 & under
Featherweight 46-55
Lightweight 56-65
Middleweight 66-75
Cruiserweight 76-85
Heavyweight 86-95
Superweight 96-105
Ultraweight 106+Age 8-9
Light Featherweight 50 & under
Featherweight 51-60
Lightweight 61-70
Middleweight 71-80
Cruiserweight 81-90
Heavyweight 91-100
Superweight 101-110
Ultraweight 111+
Age 10-11
Roosterweight 65 & under
Light Featherweight 66-75
Featherweight 76-85
Lightweight 86-95
Middleweight 96-105
Cruiserweight 106-115
Heavyweight 116-125
Superweight 126-135
Ultraweight 136+
Youth Group 2
Age 12-13
Roosterweight 75 & under
Light Featherweight 76-85
Featherweight 86-95
Lightweight 96-105
Middleweight 106-115
Cruiserweight 116-125
Heavyweight 126-135
Superweight 136-145
Ultraweight 146+
Age 14-15
Roosterweight 85 & under
Light Featherweight 86-95
Featherweight 96-105
Lightweight 106-115
Middleweight 116-125
Cruiserweight 126-135
Heavyweight 136-145
Superweight 146-155
Ultraweight 156+
Age 16-17
Roosterweight 115 & under
Light Featherweight 116-125
Featherweight 126-135
Lightweight 136-145
Middleweight 146-155
Cruiserweight 156-165
Heavyweight 166-175
Superweight 176-185
Ultraweight 186+
Women
18+ Roosterweight 110 & under
Light Featherweight 111-120
Featherweight 121-130
Lightweight 131-140
Middleweight 141-150
Cruiserweight 151-160
Heavyweight 161-170
Superweight 171-180
Ultraweight 181+
Men 18+
Roosterweight 125 & under
Light Featherweight 126-136
Featherweight 137-147
Lightweight 148-158
Welterweight 159-169
Middleweight 170-180
Cruiserweight 181-191
Light Heavyweight 192-202
Heavyweight 203-213
Superweight 214-224
Ultraweight 225-235
Super Ultraweight 236+
Rules
All rules are designed with the health and safety of the fighter. Please read carefully and understand these rules before participating.
Divisions without submissions are available for Youth 1 divisions. Click below to view the ENCOUNTER Combat illegal and allowable techniques in maneuvers. ENCOUNTER Combat recognizes the IBJJF as the leader in the JiuJitsu Community. In an effort to promote safety for our competitors and consistency in scoring, we follow the ruleset of the IBJJF. As modern teaching techniques avail themselves, we may choose to become more restrictive in “allowed moves” in an attempt to promote competitor safety.
Any rule not covered, will be left to the discretion of the tournament officials.
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4 points: Full mount, Back mount, Back Control
3 points: Guard Pass
2 points: Takedown, Sweep, Knee on belly
Advantages: when there is a draw, the athlete with the most advantages is declared the winner.Referee Decisions: The referee should take note of which athlete displayed greater offense during the match and came clsest to achieving possible point - or submission -scoring positions.
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GI
-Any color is allowed
Rash Guards
-Any color is allowed
-May be worn under Gi
-Must be worn in No Gi
No Gi
Competitors are not allowed to compete shirtless. Rash guard must be worn.
SPATS and Board Shorts
-Any color is allowed. Spats must have shorts over the top of them. Competitor modesty is required. -
-Weigh ins are only the day of the event
-Fighters only need to weigh in once (regardless of Gi and/or NoGi)
-If “Modesty Curtain” is requested, a parent/guardian must be present
-Males must wear a minimum of compression shorts during the weigh in
-Females must wear a minimum of compression shorts and sports bra during the weigh in
-You must weigh in at least one hour prior to your match start time. -
-The match will be held in a 15x15 square area
-Fighters may move outside the square area.
-If the match moves outside of the square, the match will continue until the referee determines that it is unsafe.-The referee will call STOP and restart the match with the fighters in the same position in the center of the square.