What is IBJJF’s Newly Announced First Kids Ranking System & Its Importance?

IBJJF continues to make BJJ more diverse and suitable for more extensive groups of kids with a separate kids ranking system alongside existing rankings. The highest ranking of BJJ is Black Belt and BJJ practitioners train for decades to achieve the highly revered Black Belt level. IBJJF is the biggest governing body of BJJ that ranks athletes according to their belt levels. IBJJF not only issues ranking for BJJ athletes but also rewards the top three ranked Black Belt athletes with cash prizes of $16,000, $5,000, and $2,500 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places respectively. These case prizes are given by the end of the season.

Although top-ranked kids under the new ranking will not receive the cash prizes, they will enjoy the top-ranked status on the IBJJF ranking. The newly initiated kids ranking system is almost similar to the ranking system of adults and masters classes with a main difference. As kids' mental and physical growth is an ongoing process, in terms of weight, skills as well as potential, their ranking system will be upgraded annually on the 1st of January. Whereas for adults and masters rankings, IBJJF also accounts for the performances of the previous two years at a certain percentage.

If an athlete changes his/her location or decides to affiliate with another academy, these factors will not affect the ranking of athletes. Because IBJJF only considers the individual records for the ranking despite their location or affiliation as long as they are registered with IBJJF.

This initiative will not only encourage the younger generation to opt for BJJ but also allow a large number of young BJJ enthusiasts to aim bigger and strive for something which has been officially recognized by the international body of IBJJF. Kids ranking will also encourage the talent hunt for future Black Belts.

Amid the rapid modern styles of Submission Only tournaments and the inception of American jiu-Jitsu styles, IBJJF has aimed to make the traditional BJJ more aligned and suitable for the younger generations. Official kids' IBJJF ranking is mentioned here.

Photo Credit: @IBJJF