The Hereford Open will be run under the rules of The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF).
Article 7.1 of the IBJJF rules state, "The published guidelines of each individual championship shall overrule this General Competition
Regulations Book when need be"
Using Article 7.1, the following exceptions will apply.
1) Medals will be presented to 1st 2nd and 3rd place.
2) Article 5.5 of the IBJJF rules state "The athlete who has proven to be a black belt in judo, has proven experience* in wrestling, wrestling
Olympic or Greco-Roman, or has fought MMA professionally, can not participate in any league as a white belt."
At The Hereford Open, the athletes identified above will be permitted to fight in the blue belt category wearing a white belt.
Please note: this is not permitted at IBJJF events. The athletes mentioned above must wait until they are promoted to blue belt before they are allowed to compete.
3) Respect Rule:
This event has a zero tolerance policy regarding inappropriate behaviour by coaches, parents/guardians, spectators and competitors.
All in attendance must show some restraint when their students or team mates are fighting. There will be competitors and spectators of all ages at this event and we are here to set an example.
Any swearing, inappropriate gestures, violence (towards person or property) or berating the officials (regardless of any decisions they make) will not be tolerated.
If this happens, the referee/organiser has the right to disqualify that competitor, or to ask the person concerned to leave the area. If those concerned do not comply with the referee/organisers request the competitor will be disqualified from the event.
If a coach, parent or team mate encroaches onto the mat, or past any barriers that are in place, or man handles an official in any way, that person will be asked to leave the venue and the whole team may not be permitted to take any further part in the competition.
The IBJJF Rule Book can be found >here
