Big News for All Adult Black Belt Competitors

The IBJJF recently issued an announcement that starting next year, a new points requirement will be put in place for all adult black belt divisions to register for the European and Pan Championships.

Not only would these black belts need 50 points to be able to compete in the World Championship, they will be required to have at least 20 points to compete in the European and Pan Championships. 10 points will also be required to compete in the BJJ Pro. The only way around this point requirement is if the competitor is a former adult black belt World Champion. Former adult black belt World Champions and current black belts who placed first in an adult brown belt division during the last year of the World Championship are eligible to compete without the point requirements.

This new requirement is especially challenging for new up and coming adult black belts, as not everyone has the money, opportunity to travel, compete, and rack up points to qualify for three of the largest BJJ championships in the world.

Here is what some adult black belt competitors had to say about the new requirement:

“I’m not fully against it as it keeps the bigger tournaments elite and a way to earn your spot in there, but not all of us get paid to compete and train Jiu-Jitsu. The rank requirement is reasonable, the struggle is the travel expenses involved in trying to go out and meet the required points.”

“Well I have two opinions on that, first I think it's going to separate regular black belts from competitors black belts, it's a first step to make the sport more professional, but at the same time I think it's just the IBJJF looking to make more open around the world just to make more money, witch it's totally fine for me, but I think if there's people paying to compete they deserve something in return.”

“The new IBJJF points requirement for Euros and Pans for adult black belts has its pros and its cons. Pros: it balances the brackets of the big tournaments and makes it more professional as it comes to rankings. Cons: obligates lots of athletes to run the Open circuit all over, spending even more money to achieve that big tournament goal. Opinion: I like it better this new way.”

While this new change continues to ensure that the top black belts in the world earn a spot to compete at these prestigious events, some may say that its not fair or that it is a good money making strategy for the IBJJF. What do you think would happen if they made the same requirement for all the belt ranks?