Fighter

As some of you might have already heard, the IBJJF has updated their jiu-jitsu gi regulations for competitors.

Don’t freak. Many of you won’t be affected. While the rules do increase the restrictions on fabrics, fit and placement of details, they aren’t terribly extreme. However, some of you may have to take care when selecting the gis you plan on bringing to your next competition. Additionally, the rules don’t go into effect until after the IBJJF World Championships (at the end of May).  

We took a look at the new rules and decided a quick cheat-sheet is necessary, especially for all of you who might be too lazy to look it up yourselves. (It’s okay, we’re not judging). 

Without further ado, here are the major changes...

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Every competitor’s biggest dream is to win a world championship. Their second biggest dream is to land a nice, fat sponsorship so that they can compete full-time and dedicate their energy toward achieving their biggest dream.

However, there seems to be a lot of uncertainty and assumptions and downright misinformation when it comes to sponsorships. Everybody wants one, but few have a clear, thoughtful plan regarding how to get one.

I’ve been on both sides of the sponsorship process; I’ve been the recipient of several during my competition career, and I’ve also helped jiu-jitsu companies select promising athletes from among their sponsorship applicants. So, I’d like to share some tips to help you land a BJJ sponsorship of your very own.

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Welcome to the new year! Those first few weeks are always so alive with fresh hopes and zealous ambitions for what the next 12 months will bring.

You might have already set a resolution – or two – for yourself. You might have been too busy with the holidays to do so. Regardless, there’s still time; both to set one or revise it. But before you do, consider that the best resolutions are: specific, measurable, attainable, and realistic.

If you’ve already set your resolution, go ahead and ask yourself if it meets those objectives. No? Don’t worry, we have a few ideas you can swap it with. If you haven’t already set one, and you don’t know where to start, we’ve got you, too.

Here are a few good Brazilian jiu-jitsu themed resolutions for 2024...

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As 2023 winds to a close, it’s the perfect time to look back upon the year and assess your progress in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. A lot can happen in a year – and did… hopefully – so it might be difficult to figure out where to start.

Don’t worry. We’ve got you.

We’ve created these four main categories of development, so you can easily gauge where you’ve grown, where you’ve stagnated, and where you need to focus a bit more in 2024…

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So you’ve been training jiu-jitsu long enough that thoughts of starting your own academy – making your passion into your profession – have begun to infiltrate your waking dreams. Welcome to the club. Building an academy of your very own, a place that you’ve designed and put thought into every detail, is an exciting prospect. But it can also be intimidating… and downright scary. Where do you even start? Will you be successful?

For nearly 15 years, I’ve trained at and visited hundreds of different academies, all over the world. I’ve taken note about what works and what doesn’t. I’ve created this multi-part series called “BJJ Academy Dreams” to give you tips and ideas that will help your academy thrive… so you can share your love of jiu-jitsu to others.

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