State of the Art: Which Grappling Ruleset is Best?

Jiu-jitsu / grappling, points / sub-only, gi / no-gi... None of it really matters! 

We’re spoiled for choice when it comes to grappling competitions, as there are so many different formats out there. 

People have strong opinions over what’s the best rule set to compete under, and who the best grapplers are in each. 

Well, the truth is none of it really matters, BECAUSE ITS ALL THE SAME THING! 

I’m going to drop a huge truth bomb right now. The idea of picking and choosing rule sets has existed forever - as far back as records exist. 

Jiu-jitsu guys would try to get favorable rules for when they fought boxers or wrestlers, and vice versa. 

That practice was carried on by the Gracie family for decades, as they always sought to manipulate the rules to give them as advantage. 

That settled down for a while – Jiujitsu has had a very solid code of rules since the 1960s and they’ve barely changed since.  

Aside from some specific challenge matches – and these were mostly no hold barred contests anyway – matches had points and time limits, with almost no exceptions.  

The grappling rule book expanded when ADCC came along, but there were still points... and time limits.  

The fashion for submission-only events only really started a couple of years ago with events such as Metamoris, and later on EBI, Polaris, Fight 2 Win and many more. 

Even though all these events have different rules there is one constant factor among all of them 

The majority of the big names and the winners compete under ALL rule sets 

I hate to break it to you – when it comes to the action, not that much changes 

A guard pass is still a guard pass, a sweep is still a sweep and a submission is still a submission 

And the guys who win most consistently do so in all rulesets – not just because they’re good, it because they keep an open mind and they don’t need any kind of special advantage 

We all have our favourite kind of events to watch,  and thats the best thing about grappling – there’s so much room for experimentation, and there’s something for everyone 

If you’re training, don’t be that guy who identifies by the rule set you compete under 

“Yeah bro, I don’t care about points, I only train for submission only”

“Hey hey hey, you can’t touch my leg like that – that’s a disqualification!” 

Grappling is a rich and varied art that we shouldn’t limit ourselves to what we practice, or what we watch 

Because good Grappling is good grappling – regardless of the rule set.