JANUARY 08, 2020, and the Abu-Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro (AJP) Tour — formerly named UAEJJF (United Arab Emirates Jiu-Jitsu Federation), one of the main tournament providers in the jiu-jitsu circuit, has announced major changes to their point scoring system. These new changes will take effect from today and are valid for all the major AJP Tour events, including the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam and the Abu Dhabi World Pro, the latter of which is scheduled for April (11-18).
But what are these changes? Well, from now on athletes will be awarded 1 (one) point whenever they reach a position previously considered worth an advantage. Another huge difference from the previous ruleset is the penalties, in which every time an athlete is penalized by the referee, their opponent will be awarded 1 (one) point, instead of the previously awarded penalty.
So, in sum, advantages and penalties have been removed from the ruleset syllabus, and will instead be replaced with actual points (1).
Any circumstance that would previously lead to an advantage scored, will now score 1 point. While any situation that would previously call for a penalty will now instead be settled with a point to the opponent.
This same ruleset was tested at the super fights of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam – Rio de Janeiro event in November 2019, namely in the Jackson Sousa vs João Gabriel Rocha and the Leo Saggioro vs Isaac Doederlein. Both matches were a success as the rules did force the athletes to push the action in this instance.
The AJP also announced changes in match durations and match result decisions: All matches before the finals will be 5 (five) minutes long. Finals will be 8 (eight) minutes long.
Regarding match results, there will be no longer referee decisions. Matches that end in a tie will have an extra minute with golden point (athlete who scores first wins) and in the case of a tie after the extra minute, the athlete who scored last will be declared the winner.
The AJP will also allow coaches to request one review of score or movement per match using the Falcon Eye video system.
It will be very interesting to follow this evolution of the ruleset in future AJP Tour events.
