Rules Question - White Belts and wristlocks

This came up on another thread...

I am almost 100% certain that wristlocks are prohibited to white belts in competition and that this has been the case for a while. Blue belt and up - wristlocks are fine... but white belts they're a no no.

However - on the official rules page of the ibjjf they've completely omitted mentioning prohibitions for white belts all together (which I know must be a mistake)

Can anyone clear this up?

 Thanks for posting this.

Be careful about generalizing other tournaments with IBJJF tournaments, though, when explaining rules to students... many other organizations use different illegal technique rules per belt level.

Examples:  At our tournaments (U.S. Grappling), wristlocks are allowed for all belt levels, white belts included.  At Grapplers Quest, kneebars are allowed for blue belts in the gi, etc.

judogoat,

In BJJ class I always tend to go by the IBJJF rules as all the major BJJ tournaments adhere to them (Europeans, Pan-Ams, Mundials etc) and many other organizations adhere to them.

The exception seems to be only in the U.S with yourselves, naga and grapplers quest.

ttt

 The exception seems to be only in the U.S with yourselves, naga and grapplers quest.

...which happen to be the three largest tournament organizations in the country.


judogoat,

Well yes - but the majority of my training has been in the U.K and Greece, and now that I'm back in Canada the only tournament we've competed in that had those rules was the Naga worlds -- the other tournaments being local (and a bit closer to the ibjjf) or the pan ams.

ive never seen wristlocks barred in any division.

 I have to go with BR here.  Every tournament I've ever been to (BJJ, not judo, obviously), wristlocks have been legal for all adult competitors.

Think of it this way:  Would you rather have your wrist broken or your elbow?

Wrists are much smaller joints and heal much faster.  Elbows can be irreparable. 


"Wrists are much smaller joints and heal much faster. Elbows can be irreparable."

But the nature of a wristlock is FAR different in application and can be put on suddenly and painfully far more easily - particularly the cow-hand. In fact one of the most common ways to tap to this submission is to simply scream because you're not quick enough (someone is pushing you off from side control, competitor quickly switches over and grabs the elbow and leans on the wrist)

And your assertion is actually wrong - wrists don't necessarily heal much faster, and there are many cases where the damage in irreperable.

And furthermore - on the ibjjf website (besides ignoring whitebelts all together for some reason) they prohibit wristlocks for all younger ages but not the armbar, for the reasons of safety already mentioned above.

Like I said - I will try to find a link but I find it surprising that no one else here has heard of it.

http://www.americancupbjj.com/Rules.html

This could possibly explain the discrepency - The link above mentions that it adheres to the IBJJF rules but when you scroll down instead of completely ignoring prohibitions for whitebelts (as the first page cited above does) it mentions the following:

JUNIORS, INCLUDING WHITE AND BLUE BELTS (AGES 16 TO 17) AND ADULT THROUGH SENIOR WHITE BELTS

Straight Ankle Locks are legal in these divisions

NO SLAMMING FROM THE GUARD
NO CERVICAL NECK CRANKS
NO SCISSOR TAKEDOWNS
NO HEEL HOOKS OR OTHER TWISTING KNEE LOCKS
NO BICEPS LOCKS (i.e., BICEP SLICERS)
NO CALF LOCKS (i.e., KNEE SPREADERS)
NO KNEE BARS
NO MATA LEAO WITH FOOT (i.e., FIGURE-FOUR TOE-HOLDS)
NO WRIST LOCKS

So the provisions that you see on the ibjjf page that you posted earlier almost certainly apply in the manner mentioned above.

As mentioned before - the exceptions being in the U.S for tournaments that choose actively not to follow ibjjf rules.

 Thanks for doing the research. 

I myself have competed in more than 100 BJJ tournaments.  I have seen far more elbow injuries than wrist injuries, for what it's worth.


This thread isn't about the safety of wristlocks vs armlocks, though, but rather the legality.


I will have David Jacobs e-mail Professer Mansour specifically about this.  Jacobs sits in the palm of my hand when he's not sitting on my lap.

"Jacobs sits in the palm of my hand when he's not sitting on my lap."

If you could keep any further details about your relationship private I would greatly appreciate it.

;-)

"I myself have competed in more than 100 BJJ tournaments. I have seen far more elbow injuries than wrist injuries, for what it's worth."

That might just be a case of frequency of application though. Armbars and Kimuras are the bread and butter of many - very few specialize in wrist locks.

^ Robert,

I heard Kip your name as having placed in your gi division.

Glad to see you made it out of Newark alive!

Grrrrr....

I should have gotten the belt! I'm annoyed because of the stupid mistakes I made.

In the semi-final match against this good Judoka I should have just jumped straight to guard -- he tripped me, got the two points and literally did everything in his power to stall out the rest of the time in my guard (no effort to pass or anything) so he got me by two points.

Did you compete?

 It's true that few specialize in wristlocks.  They're freakin' everywhere, though.

We'll get to the bottom of this.

Most 'local' tournaments have there own interpretation of the rules, even if they state that they use the IBJJF rules.

Comp I was in last week banned wristlock for White and Blue but allowed Bicep Slicer. Go figure! (I nearly got tapped by a Bicep Slicer in my first match as well. Typical!)

See other post for actual rules. Turns out wrist locks are banned at white, ok at blue (but only if you can read portuguese)

It seems the person for the americancupbjj site had a better interpreter than the one for the ibjjf website!

I think my gran could translate the rules better to be honest.