Over the years we have collected a pile of data from the top jiu-jitsu tournaments around the globe, both in the gi circuit as well as the no-gi and submission only. This information has been poured out in different articles with the intent of deciphering trends, and/or help streamline your training more efficiently while helping BJJ geeks such as ourselves quench our thirst for grappling knowledge. Below is a list or compilation of a few of our grappling tournament data analysis essays.
THE JIU-JITSU GAME BY THE NUMBERS
ADCC TEAM STATS (2022)
A post-ADCC World Championship analysis of the teams and their performance at the biggest no-gi event of the year. All the team’s successes, best coach analysis and more.
MODERN DAY GUARD PASSING (2020)
A study regarding the most dominant guard passes and the consequences of these guard passes in the dynamics of matches at the pro-level of gi jiu-jitsu, using a compiled data aggregation of over 1000 matches on the IBJJF adult black belt division.
DANAHER DEATH SQUAD ANALYSIS (2019)
In this piece, we visit one of the most successful nogi teams of the modern era, John Danaher’s Renzo Gracie Academy students and what they have done in this sport over the course of 2 years. The team’s trends, and other pertinent information from their game. A perfect tool for someone hoping to keep up to date with the current trends in this sport.
ADCC TEAM STATS (2019)
A post-ADCC World Championship analysis of the teams and their performance at the biggest no-gi event of the year. All the team’s successes and shortcomings here.
LUCAS LEPRI VS THE WORLD (2019)
Arguably the greatest lightweight competitor of all time in the sport of BJJ, Lucas Lepri’s unbeaten run at the IBJJF World Championship has earned the Alliance black belt plenty of praise. In this article, we analyzed Lepri’s world championship game; which techniques he used on his way to the top of the division.
HEEL HOOKS IN THE ADCC (2019)
As 2019 gears up for the biggest event of the year, BJJ Heroes produced this deep dive on previous editions of the ADCC and the success this position has had over the years. From the most used control types towards the finish to the top heel-hook specialists and more.
WRESTLING AND THE ADCC (2019)
With 2019 ramping up for the biggest event of the year, we did a deep dive on previous ADCC tournaments and the use of wrestling in the most prestigious no-gi jiu-jitsu show there is. From ‘which takedowns work best’ to a whole range of circumstances and outcomes that derive from wrestling exchanges at the ADCC.
TAKEDOWNS (2019)
Over 800 matches of high-level black belts from 5 major tournaments were dissected to facilitate this piece. On this article we attempted to assess the best performing takedowns and throws in gi jiu-jitsu and why they differ from those of judo.
REFEREE DECISIONS (2018)
What are the deciding factors for being on the right side of a referee decision in a sport jiu-jitsu environment? Basing our analysis on the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World Championship, we went through referee decisions at previous editions of this tournament’s adult black belt division over the past few years, in an attempt to find clues or trends that may give the edge to an athlete under these circumstances.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SCORING FIRST (2018)
Although John Rambo would probably not condone the act of drawing first blood, data shows this is a key element to winning a grappling match. Collecting information from the IBJJF Pan American Championship as well as the United Arab Emirates Jiu-Jitsu (UAEJJF) Abu Dhabi World Pro, we went through the huge asset that is the ability to add points to the scoreboard before your opponent.
THE GUARD (2017)
One of the most important pieces of our data research articles was this essay on the use of the guard in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The information for this particular project was collected from the 2017 IBJJF World Championship, one of the most talent dense tournaments in our sport’s history. Which guard was most used, which scored the most, which submitted the most, the different levels of point scoring and more.
THE MECCA OF BJJ, WHERE IS IT? (2016)
Arguably the least important piece on this list for studying purposes, given how much the sport has changed over the past few years, this exercise was designed to decipher which area of the world was producing the highest numbers of champions at the top level of our sport back in 2016.
SUB-ONLY and POINTS BASED BJJ BY THE NUMBERS (2015)
With a small sample of data compiled from the top grappling events in the world at the time, from both submission-only and points based grappling, we attempted to decipher how the rules at play in each of these jiu-jitsu forums shape the game. We also go over how each approach correlates to self-defense/mixed martial arts, and how positional exchanges differ under each environment.
WHY GI PLAYERS DOMINATED THE ADCC OVER NO-GI ATHLETES (2015)
At the peak of submission-only rules, when EBI was, arguably, the most followed grappling show on earth, it was the gi/IBJJF specialists who vastly dominated the world’s foremost no-gi grappling tournament, the 2015 ADCC World Championship. On this essay, we try and dissect the reasons for this strong showing from a group of athletes who, traditionally, focus on a very different grappling environment.
HOW RULES AFFECT THE GAME (2015)
One of the most fun data-driven exercises we have done at BJJ Heroes is this battle of systems, and how they completely change the way competitors grapple. Combining data from IBJJF, Eddie Bravo Invitational, ADCC the and Grappling Pro Championship, we went through submissions, positional exchanges and how the end goal is affected by these rules changes.
TOURNAMENT DATA COMPILATION
Less of an assessment of how games are played, these are more stand-alone data captions which allow us to untangle trends and understand what is working at the elite level of grappling. The highest ratio submissions, how matches are being won, the top performers of any given event are elements more at focus on this list.
2022 ADCC World Championship (Click Here)
2017 ADCC World Championship (Click Here)
2017 IBJJF World Championship (Click Here)
2017 IBJJF Pan Championship (Click Here)
2016 IBJJF World Championship (Click Here)
2016 IBJJF Pan Championship (Click Here)
2015 ADCC World Championship (Click Here)
2015 IBJJF World Championship (Click Here)
Hey Andres, can you update my rank, Im a 4th Degree Now. Thanks
Luis Sergio Roman