ATTENTION: Athletes, parents & coaches!

• No slippery substances allowed on body or clothing.
• If the fighters go out of the mat, the referee will restart the fight in the center of the
  mat, in the same position they were when they left the mat when the referee said “Stop”. If the fighters were standing without any established locked position, they will start again facing each other. If a competitor has single or double grips before the ref says stop, the athletes will resume the same position.
  

How you can win

• If one competitor gives up or submits by tapping the leg, arm or verbally. (Tap, I give Up, Stop, Mate, screaming in pain or crying)
• If Referee feels one competitor is unable to defend himself or is in danger, the Referee will declare the winner.
• The ways to win: Submission, Points, Referee decision.

Time Limits

• Absolute Finals = 20 mins/10 min OT1/10 min OT2 if needed. First 10 mins no points, second 10 mins there are points. The NEGATIVE POINTS start even during no points time.

All Others

• Kids = 4 mins/2 mins overtime if needed. First 2 mins no points, second 2 mins there are points. The positive and negative points start during the points time and all of overtime.
• Teens (13-17 years old) & Adults = 6 mins/3 min overtime if needed. First 3 mins no points, second 3 mins there are points. The NEGATIVE POINTS start even during no points time.

Illegal Techniques

See Chart above

Positive Points

• Passing the guard = 3 points. In order to get the points, the judges will be looking for control. As a general rule we look for approximately 75% of the back to be on the mat
• Knee on the stomach = 2 points. Either the inside or outside knee can score, the knee must be in the middle of the stomach and not chest or the sides of the stomach. Opponent can’t be on their side. If you score with knee on the stomach and then remove your knee for 3 secs or more and put your knee back on the stomach for 3 secs or more, you will score again. The positioning of the other leg is irrelevant. You can control the head and arm as well of your opponent.
• Mount Position = 2 points. Both knees must be touching the floor. Reverse mount will score as well. If your opponent gets double unders on your legs it still scores. Your opponents back must be on the floor. Both knees must be below the shoulder line.
• Back Mount with hooks = 3 points. Both hooks and body triangle are acceptable. If you take one hook out or release your body triangle for more than 3 secs and put your hooks or body triangle back in for 3 secs or more, you will score again.
• Takedown (ends in guard or half guard) = 2 points. Opponent’s butt needs to be on the mats for 3 secs. If you take your opponent down and they put on a submission you will not be awarded points until you escape the submission threat and solidify for 3 secs.
• Clean Takedown (ends in side control) = 4 points. You must not be in the threat of a submission and 75% or more of your opponents back must be on the mat. You must solidify the position for 3 secs or more.
• Sweeps (ends in half guard or guard) = 2 points. Sweep is considered when two athletes are facing each other, change the position from bottom to top and establish for 3 secs or more. You must not be in the threat of a submission.
• Clean Sweeps (ends in side control) = 4 points.
• Reversals are considered sweeps. If you are being held in side control or mount and
  reverse the position from top to bottom you will be awarded points as well, either 2
  points if you end up in guard and 4 points if you end up in side control.
• Every sweep must be completed in one continuous motion in order to get points
  awarded.
• When passing the guard straight to mount or knee on the stomach, points will only be
  awarded for passing the guard.

Penalties (Negative Points)

• When a fighter voluntarily jumps in the guard or goes from standing position to a non- standing position by any means and remains down for 3 seconds or more, he will be punished by a minus point.
• When a fighter disengages from contact and starts backing up and avoids engaging again, he will be punished by minus point.
• A passive fighter will be warned twice and then will be punished by minus point. The referee will warn the passive player by the words "WARNING PASSIVITY" – after the first minus given there are not going to be any more warnings and the minus points will be given right-away if the fighter continues to be passive.
• If a fighter is very passive during the first half of the regular fights when there are no minuses, the referees will still give him WARNING for passivity and will punish him with a negative point when the second half of the fight starts!
• For minuses the referee will halt the action to inform the athlete and their coach they received a penalty.
• If two fighters (team-mates) make a fixed fight, they will both be disqualified from the tournament.

Other Topics

• If you initiate a submission from mount position, side control or in someone’s guard and go from top position to bottom, your opponent will not be awarded sweeping points since you initiated the attack.
• If you shoot for a takedown, go to turtle position while attempting hard to finish the takedown for more than 3 secs and then pull guard, you will not be penalized with a minus.
• If you go out of bounds DO NOT stop, only the ref can stop the match and they will resume the same position in the center of the mat.

Judging Criteria

• Scoring in this No-Gi format is extremely difficult so the number one judging criteria is who is the aggressor and is initiating the action. We need to incentivise the athletes to force the action.
• If someone initiates and their opponent counters, we still give a heavy emphasis to the person initiating.
• We judge the entire match and not just overtimes.
• Other than initiating we take into consideration, positional control, sub attempts and all
  factors in a grappling match but once again the main judging criteria is who initiates. This does not include fake initiations.

Referee Duties

• Central referees will be the ones who award the points, warnings and penalties.
• You must be assertive and take control of the match, do not allow the athletes to distract you or try to influence you. Be firm.
• Be aware of the time in the match. Generally, the scorekeeper will motion to the referee between 5 to 10 secs before points time or the end of regulation or overtime.
• Make sure to make eye contact with the scorekeeper periodically. 
• An ACTION call is NOT a warning call, it is meant to push the athletes to be more active. WARNING passivity is a warning to the athlete, after 2 WARNING calls the next call will be a negative. If there is a negative point, hold the action briefly announce to the athlete and their coach that they received a negative.
• This is very crucial, DO NOT allow the competitors to play the edges. If there is a scramble that is hard to stop and resume, we will allow them to go onto the other mats. The match DOES NOT stop because the athletes go off the mats, only the referee will stop the match. If you need to stop the match and resume, pay very close detail to the grips, how their arms and legs are positioned etc and put them back in the same position on the center of the mats. Do not stop the action while an athlete is attempting submission.
• If both opponents are standing and wrestling and you see them about to go off the mats, position yourself between the athletes and the audience, any tables or any other physical objects.