Guide
ADCC versus IBJJF no-gi rules, for someone watching
What is the difference between ADCC and IBJJF rules?
They are two rule sets with different clocks and different numbers, so the same exchange can be scored differently at the two events. For adult qualifying matches at ADCC Opens North and South America, regulation is six minutes with three minutes of overtime if needed. The first three minutes have no positive or negative points; finals differ because negative points can apply from the start. The IBJJF rulebook sets out no equivalent no-points period: a submission ends the match at any score, points are awarded whenever a scoring position is stabilised for three seconds, and a tie is settled on advantages, then on fewest penalties, then by referee decision. Read the rule set of the specific event you are watching, because ADCC's own documents give different times and conditions to its World Championship, its Trials and its Opens.
First, which document you are reading
This is the part most comparisons skip, and it is the reason a lot of what circulates about ADCC rules is wrong. ADCC does not publish one set of times for everything it runs. The Rules and Regulations document dated 19 October 2026 lists separate time limits for its World Championship, for its Trials, and for Opens North and South America.
The worked comparison uses the Opens North and South America rows. It does not assert that every ADCC event, including events in Singapore, uses those rows. Where a World Championship or Trials figure is mentioned, it is labelled as such. Those figures are not interchangeable with Opens figures, and treating them as one thing is how a spectator ends up with the wrong clock in their head.
On the IBJJF side there is one more caveat, which we restate wherever we quote that rulebook. Its download page labels the current edition one version number, while the PDF's own page footers read another and its final page reads a third, and the file itself is dated June 2024. We quote it as published rather than guessing which 2026 edition supersedes it, and the same caution applies to any IBJJF numbers you see reproduced elsewhere.
Sources: ADCC rules landing page · ADCC Rules and Regulations (PDF, 19 October 2026) · IBJJF rulebook downloads · IBJJF Rule Book (PDF, June 2024). Checked 3 November 2026.
The comparison, as published
The ADCC column is the Opens North and South America adult rows of the 19 October 2026 document. The IBJJF column is the rulebook from its download page, with the version caveat above. Nothing in this table is an average of the two or a prediction of what any other promotion does.
| What you are watching for | ADCC Opens, North and South America | IBJJF |
|---|---|---|
| Adult match length | 6 minutes of regulation, plus 3 minutes of overtime if needed. Finals are also 6 minutes with 3 minutes of overtime | Set by the event and the division; the rulebook from the download page governs the match itself |
| When points can be scored | The first 3 minutes carry no points. Positive and negative points run in the second half and throughout overtime. In a final, negative points start even during the no-points period | No equivalent opening no-points period; the referee awards points when the rulebook conditions are met |
| Control needed to score | 3 continuous seconds | 3 seconds |
| Guard pass | 3 points, with roughly 75% of the opponent's back put on the mat for 3 seconds | 3 points |
| Mount | 2 points | 4 points |
| Back mount | 3 points, by body triangle or both hooks | 4 points |
| Knee on belly | 2 points | 2 points |
| Takedown | 2 points for a regular takedown, 4 for a clean takedown finishing outside the guard | 2 points |
| Sweep | 2 points for a regular sweep, 4 for a clean sweep finishing outside the guard. Reversals are treated as sweeps | 2 points |
| Negative points and penalties | Minus points for voluntarily going from standing to a non-standing position and staying down 3 seconds or more, for disengaging and avoiding re-engagement, and for passivity after two warnings | Penalties for stalling and for grip, position and match-area infringements |
| A tie | The document's ways to win are submission, points, referee decision and opponent disqualification, and it states that the entire match is judged rather than only the overtime | Advantages first, then fewest penalties, then referee decision |
| What ends it outright | A submission, by tapping the leg or arm or verbally, or a referee stoppage | A submission, at any score |
Sources: ADCC rules landing page · ADCC Rules and Regulations (PDF, 19 October 2026) · IBJJF rulebook downloads · IBJJF Rule Book (PDF, June 2024). Checked 3 November 2026.
What the no-points period changes for a viewer
The single biggest difference in how the two look is the ADCC clock. For the first half of an Opens adult qualifying match there are no positive or negative points, which changes what the competitors are doing rather than just what the scoreboard says.
In that period a competitor can take a risk that would be expensive later, and can decline an exchange without immediately paying for it, though the document's passivity warnings still apply during the no-points time and the negatives can follow once points time starts. In a final, the negative points start even during the no-points period, so the same stall is punished earlier.
Then the second half begins and the arithmetic turns on. Watch for competitors who were content to circle suddenly committing, because the cost of doing nothing has just changed.
The IBJJF rulebook sets out no equivalent phase. Points may be awarded from the start when the scoring conditions are met. The referee decides whether the required control and other conditions have been satisfied.
Sources: ADCC rules landing page · ADCC Rules and Regulations (PDF, 19 October 2026). Checked 3 November 2026.
Legal and illegal techniques: read the division, not a summary
Both organisations publish lists of what is permitted and what is not, and the two lists differ. We are not reproducing either here, for two reasons.
The first is that this is a spectator's guide and a technique list is not spectator information. The second is more important: in ADCC's own documents, what is permitted depends on the event, the age group and the skill level, and the document tells competitors to check what is allowed and illegal for their own division. It even carries an explicit example of scope, which is that slams are legal only in ADCC Adult Trials and ADCC World Championships.
So no summary anywhere, including this one, can tell you that a particular technique is allowed in a match you are watching. The permissions sit in the event's own rules and in the division grid published alongside them. If that question matters to you, read those two documents for the specific event.
What a spectator can take away is simpler. Do not assume that because something happened at one event it is permitted at another, and do not assume the reverse either.
Sources: ADCC rules landing page · ADCC Rules and Regulations (PDF, 19 October 2026) · ADCC weight classes, divisions and categories (PDF, revised 31 October 2026). Checked 3 November 2026.
Keeping your own score, and the scorecard caveat
Writing a match down can help you follow either rule set, and the catch is that you need the right card. A sheet built on IBJJF values will give you a nonsense total at an ADCC event, because mount is four under one rule set and two under the other, and a clean takedown at an ADCC Opens is worth four where the IBJJF rules award two for a takedown.
There is a printable scorecard in the points guide. It is labelled IBJJF and uses only IBJJF values, deliberately, so it should not be used at an event running another rule set. Check the event's own published rules first and keep one card per rule set rather than one card with both.
Whatever you write down, your card is not the result. The referee's calls decide the match, including the three second counts you cannot see from a seat, and a disagreement between your total and the board is usually information about your angle.
The IBJJF-labelled scorecard, and the scoring system behind it, are in BJJ points explained.
What this has to do with a class, which is not much
These are competition rule sets, published for events. They are not a description of how any class is run, and plenty of training rounds carry no score at all. Whether a particular session or drill keeps score is up to the coach taking it, so ask in the room.
The reason the rules are still worth reading is that they are a map of which positions each organisation treats as dominant, and that map is roughly the same map a class teaches you to reach and to escape. A spectator who understands the scoring understands what the people on the mat are arguing about.
Every class here is no-gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling, which is the format both of these rule sets govern without a jacket, so the positions you would be learning are the ones in the table above.
If watching made you want to try it, that is a separate and much smaller decision: one hour, $30, requested in advance and confirmed by the academy.
If the no-gi format is what you want to try rather than watch, ask for an hour on the $30 trial session chooser. Wait for the academy to confirm the session before you travel.
Where to read the current documents yourself
Rule sets change, and a guide is a snapshot. The links under each section above are the official sources we read on 3 November 2026: the ADCC rules landing page and the Rules and Regulations PDF dated 19 October 2026, the ADCC division chart revised 31 October 2026, and the IBJJF rulebook download page.
Before an event, read that event's own page as well as the organisation's general rules, because scope sits at the event level: which division you are watching, which time limits apply to it, and which documents the organiser has published alongside it.
If a figure in this guide ever disagrees with the organisation's current document, the document is right and we would rather you check it than trust us.
Sources: ADCC rules landing page · ADCC Rules and Regulations (PDF, 19 October 2026) · ADCC weight classes, divisions and categories (PDF, revised 31 October 2026) · IBJJF rulebook downloads · IBJJF Rule Book (PDF, June 2024). Checked 3 November 2026.
Related questions
Six minutes of regulation, with three minutes of overtime if needed, under the ADCC Rules and Regulations dated 19 October 2026. Finals are also six minutes with three minutes of overtime. ADCC's World Championship and Trials have different times in the same document, so check which event you are watching.
For adult qualifying matches, the published Opens North and South America rules give no positive or negative points in the first half, with both running in the second half and throughout overtime. In a final, negative points start even during the no-points period. Passivity warnings can still be given during the no-points time.
No. The ADCC Opens document gives two points for mount and three for back mount secured by body triangle or both hooks, while the IBJJF rules award four points for mount and four for back control. This is why a scorecard built for one rule set gives a meaningless total at the other.
That is not a question a general guide can answer. Both organisations publish permitted and prohibited technique lists, they differ, and ADCC's own document makes permissions depend on the event, age group and skill level while telling competitors to check their own division. Read the specific event's rules and its division documents.