BJJ Competition Rules, Simplified: How Points Work and How You Win

I'm a white belt. This isn't a referee's handbook — it's my own attempt to turn the rules into something I can actually remember, for people who are new to jiu-jitsu or just want to follow a match. Where details differ, the event organizer's rules win.

How a match is decided

In order:

1. Submission. Your opponent taps (on you or on the mat), calls it, or the referee decides they can't continue. The match ends immediately and you win.
2. Points. When time runs out, the higher score wins.
3. Advantages. If the score is tied, the athlete with more advantages wins (more on those below).
4. Penalties. If advantages are also tied, the athlete with fewer penalty points against them wins.
5. Referee's decision. If points, advantages and penalties are all equal, the referee decides. The rulebook tells them to look at who showed greater offense and came closest to scoring positions or submissions.

The scoring table

Two details:

• You must control it for 3 seconds. A position that flashes past doesn't score.
• Points stack. Pass the guard for 3, then move on to mount for another 4.

This table follows the IBJJF Rule Book I checked (version 6.1, June 2024). Rules get revised, so for anything that matters to you — before you register, or when you're settling an argument — check the IBJJF's current official rulebook at ibjjf.com, not this page.

For white belts: don't try to memorize this table first. Remember two things: the harder a position is to escape, the more it's worth — and the 3-second rule.

What's an advantage?

Some moves almost work: a near-submission, a near-sweep, a near-takedown that doesn't quite score. The referee can award an advantage for those.

An advantage is not a point. It never gets added to the score — it only breaks a tie when the points are equal.

Submissions: how matches end

A submission means your opponent can't continue and has to give up. The most common way to give up is to tap: slap your opponent or the mat with your hand, or just call it out.

Submissions fall into three rough families:

• Chokes: pressure on the sides of the neck or the windpipe, which can make someone unable to continue very quickly.
• Joint locks: forcing a joint where it isn't meant to go — arms and shoulders, for example.
• Leg locks: joint locks aimed at the ankle or knee, which carry the highest risk of injury.

The most important rule in training: tap early, and don't feel bad about it. Most training injuries come from not tapping when you should have.

Match length

For adults, matches get longer as the belt goes up:

• Adults (18 and over) under IBJJF rules: white 5 minutes, blue 6, purple 7, brown 8, black 10.
• Juvenile (16–17) matches are 5 minutes. Masters divisions are 5 or 6 minutes depending on age and belt, and younger kids' matches are shorter.
• Other events and organizers can set their own times.

Gi and No-Gi

• Gi: you wear the kimono, and you can grab the collar, sleeves and pants. The pace is usually slower, and many controls and chokes use the fabric.
• No-Gi: no jacket to grab, so it's faster and slipperier and feels closer to wrestling.

Scoring also differs between events — ADCC, for example, doesn't use the same rules as IBJJF. Whichever event you enter, read that event's rules.

Commonly banned moves

For safety, competitions usually ban:

• Spinal locks without a choke (banned in every division), plus bending fingers backwards and the scissor takedown.
• Slams — lifting someone and driving them into the mat — and suplexes that drive the head or neck into the mat.
• Biting, hair pulling, striking, and pressure on the eyes or groin.

Leg locks (heel hooks especially) are a high-risk area for the knee, and IBJJF restricts them by belt. In the 2024 rulebook's chart:

• White belts may use the straight ankle lock, but not heel hooks, knee bars, toe holds or calf slicers.
• Blue and purple belts have the same limits on those four, and also can't use bicep slicers.
• In gi, brown and black belts still can't use heel hooks or other knee-twisting locks.
• In no-gi, heel hooks are allowed only for adult brown and black belts.

Other events and gyms differ. This chart is from the 2024 rulebook and can change — check the current official rulebook for your division before you rely on it.

Belts

Adult belts go in this order: white → blue → purple → brown → black.

• Your instructor decides when you're promoted. There's no standard exam, and the pace varies a lot from person to person.
• Belts usually carry stripes that show your progress within that belt.

Three questions for watching your first match

You don't need to know every rule. Just ask:

1. Who scored first?
2. Who's actively hunting for a submission?
3. With time running out, what is the person who's ahead doing?

FAQ

What happens if a match ends in a tie?

Advantages are compared first, then penalties (fewer is better). If everything is still equal, the referee decides, mainly on who showed greater offense and came closest to scoring. Check the event's rules.

I don't compete. Do I need to know the rules?

I think it's worth knowing the basics. Training uses the same position system — knowing which positions are valuable tells you what to fight for and what to defend.

Do the rules change?

Yes. IBJJF adjusts details almost every year, and events differ from each other. This is the common framework, not the final word.

Sources and notes

• Checked on 2026-10-10 against the IBJJF Rule Book (version 6.1, June 2024, the one linked from ibjjf.com/books-videos): scoring values and the 3-second stabilization rule (Articles 2.5 and 3), tie-break order (2.5–2.6), match durations (Competition Format Manual, Article 1), and fouls (Article 6). IBJJF updates the book from time to time, so check the current one.
• The list of banned holds by belt is the "Technical Fouls – Illegal Moves" chart on page 29 of that rulebook; the leg-lock summary above is my reading of it.
• Written by chokebit3xp. I'm a white belt, not a referee or a coach — if this disagrees with the organizer's rules, the organizer wins.