it is a complete shit show.... and to add to that.. I had Main professor sign off on my sheet and they rejected because he didnt sign it exactly how he signed it when registered. SO i had to get him to resign the sheet just to get it accepted. for them it doesnt even matter if the signing black belt is your professor or not. it just has to be a 3rd degree or higher that is registered with the IBJJF.

ELI5 why someone shoud still be interested in IBJJF and their bullying :) You pay a lot of money for registration and to affiliate your school. They bully you around about your black belt degree. If you are in scarcely populated age/belt/weight divisions, you pay three digits to go to a tournament where you'll get one or two matches. Annual fees and so on. And it still is a private entity, not a governing body. So, why?

Yep i only certified to be able to give my students the option to compete/certify if they wished down the road, it's a pain in the ass.

you pay three digits to go to a tournament where you'll get one or two matches

You do not need to certify in order to sign for your students to compete. Just need a regular membership.

So we all know IBJJF is a raging, dumpster fire, but this is what is currently happening. I'm a 1st degree BB, Certified IBJJF (i waited a year to register my bb, so my 2nd degree that i'm eligible for right now, they wouldn't recognize until Dec 2022) and i apparently can't grade a brown belt? I have black belts under me that i belted with my professors permission (Nic Gregoraides, 3rd degree) so they are listed under him. It looks like right now even he can't sign off on the black belts. Luckily i had mine registered (as a competitor) years back so these new 'rules' apparently don't apply. I wrote them to ask why i can't sign off on a brown belt, here is the response. Speaking with other high ranking belts, they have the same problem; Dear Michael Desrosiers, Thank you for contacting IBJJF. The membership form of an athlete graded in belts of White, Gray, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple and Brown must be signed by an IBJJF affiliated Black Belt professor. Certified Second Degree Black Belts can sign for first-time Black Belts who have had previous registration with IBJJF as Brown Belt. Certified Second Degree Black Belts can also sign for Provisional Brown Belts (Brown Belts who were never registered with IBJJF as Purple Belt). Black Belt athletes without previous registration as Brown Belt will need to be registered under a certified Third Degree or higher Black Belt instructor and will be considered Provisional for two years from the start of their first membership. Provisional athletes are able to compete in IBJJF tournaments, but must remain under the same certified instructor throughout their two-year provisional period. In order to change academies, Provisional athletes will need to restart their two-year provisional period under a different instructor who has enough IBJJF certified degrees to be able to sign for the Provisional athlete. For more information, please visit our Help Desk: https://help.ibjjf.com/ Please let us know if you have any further questions.

They sell recognition and humans want recognition.

So we all know IBJJF is a raging, dumpster fire, but this is what is currently happening. I'm a 1st degree BB, Certified IBJJF (i waited a year to register my bb, so my 2nd degree that i'm eligible for right now, they wouldn't recognize until Dec 2022) and i apparently can't grade a brown belt? I have black belts under me that i belted with my professors permission (Nic Gregoraides, 3rd degree) so they are listed under him. It looks like right now even he can't sign off on the black belts. Luckily i had mine registered (as a competitor) years back so these new 'rules' apparently don't apply. I wrote them to ask why i can't sign off on a brown belt, here is the response. Speaking with other high ranking belts, they have the same problem; Dear Michael Desrosiers, Thank you for contacting IBJJF. The membership form of an athlete graded in belts of White, Gray, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple and Brown must be signed by an IBJJF affiliated Black Belt professor. Certified Second Degree Black Belts can sign for first-time Black Belts who have had previous registration with IBJJF as Brown Belt. Certified Second Degree Black Belts can also sign for Provisional Brown Belts (Brown Belts who were never registered with IBJJF as Purple Belt). Black Belt athletes without previous registration as Brown Belt will need to be registered under a certified Third Degree or higher Black Belt instructor and will be considered Provisional for two years from the start of their first membership. Provisional athletes are able to compete in IBJJF tournaments, but must remain under the same certified instructor throughout their two-year provisional period. In order to change academies, Provisional athletes will need to restart their two-year provisional period under a different instructor who has enough IBJJF certified degrees to be able to sign for the Provisional athlete. For more information, please visit our Help Desk: https://help.ibjjf.com/ Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Michael, Ive been on this IBJJF certification adventure as you have for years too and i’m also behind in their eyes…I’m due in less than a year for my 2nd degree but based on IBJJF, i’m two years away from it…It’s truly a broken system!!!

I'm in the same boat. Let my dues lapsed in between a few years and only now am I eligible for my 2nd with the IBJJF although I'm a 3rd. Their system makes no sense. Even Royler couldn't get them to budge and he is one of their Hall of Famer's. Another thing they have wrong is my registration with them. I registered in 2009 with them but they insist it was 2010. I filled in the paperwork and sent it in the day after I was promoted in 2009. It's a joke.

Probably cause ur Canadian and use the metric system or something

I'm from New Jersey dammit!! LOL Come to think of it... that might actually work against me. Lol

Their ruleset is contributing to the watering down of BJJ. Turing it in to something that can't be used as a fighting art... Judo was the very same way. Check out Judo before the 1964 Olympics. It is a shadow of what it was before.

Just curious, whose rule set do you prefer to the ibjjf's? I enjoy judo. Yes, there are a crap ton of rules lol. Overall though, it's helped to enrich my understanding of bjj, and judo competitions are SUPER fun and exciting imo.