Battle Grappling - Open

Battle grappling

"By Athletes, For Athletes"

Battle Grappling is one of the premier grappling tournaments in the Pacific Northwest. The Battle Grappling Open Tournament is a round-robin, submission-only tournament featuring the best up and coming grapplers in the area!

Battle Open is an opportunity to show your art and your skill on the mats and earn the chance to compete in our paid, pro grappling show, Battle Grappling! We will be doing a qualifying bracket for the divisions we are featuring for the Pro Show. Winning the qualifying bracket guarantees entry to the Pro show!

This time we will hosting a 185 lb (Middleweight) Advanced Mens's Qualifier bracket and a 145 lb (Featherweight) Intermediate Women's bracket to qualify for the Pro Show. 

If these aren't your weight classes don't worry! We're always looking out for the best grapplers in the area and performing well in any division, weight class, or skill level (Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced) might result in being invited to the pro show. 

When and where

Battle Open will be held on Sunday, September 12th. Athlete check-in will be at 12 pm. Matches start at 1 pm. 

The event will be hosted at Bellingham Mixed Martial arts:

2694 Roeder Ave, 
Suite 101,
Bellingham, WA 98225

Legal techniques

All Divisions:

• No fish-hooking, eye gouging, or maiming techniques are allowed. No slamming your opponent is allowed. 
• Small joint manipulation (less than 4 fingers or the thumb) is illegal. 
• All takedowns are legal, though it is expected that if a competitor lifts their opponent off of their feet they will attempt to turn them shoulder/back down to the mat. No spiking or throwing a competitor on their head.  

• All upper-body joint lock submissions are legal, as well as all strangling and choking submissions using the arms, legs, or collar/lapel (in the Gi). 
• No striking of any kind.

Beginner (White Belt) And Youth Division:

• No spine locks (eg Twister) or neck cranking techniques are allowed. 
• Only Straight Achilles locks are allowed on the legs. 

Intermediate (Blue Belt) Division:

• No spine locks (eg Twister) or neck cranking techniques are allowed. 
• Straight Achilles, Knee Bars, and Toe-Holds are allowed on the legs. 

Advanced (Purple/Brown/Black) Division: 

• All Submissions are legal, including spine locks and heel hooks. 

Time limits

Beginner (White Belt) And Youth Division:

All matches are 5 minutes in length. 

Intermediate (Blue Belt) Division:

All matches are 6 minutes in length. 

Advanced (Purple/Brown/Black) Division: 

All matches are 7 minutes in length. 

Bracket points and determining the winner

All brackets are round-robin. This means that each athlete will have a match against each other athlete in that bracket (maximum 6 matches in one division). 

To determine bracket progression:

• 3 points for a win (submitting your opponent).
• 1 point for a draw (no submission at the end of the regulation period).
• 0 points for a loss.

The athlete with the highest point total once all matches in a bracket are complete will be assigned 1st place, with the athlete earning the next highest point total in 2nd place, and so on. 

Any point ties will be addressed with a head-to-head match. If the head-to-head match results in a tie (no submission in regulation time) the athlete with the lowest total match time in regulation competition will be awarded the victory. 

Weigh-in and check in

Weigh ins will be held as athletes arrive, or no later than 12 pm on the day of the event (Sunday September 12th). 

Athletes are expected to weigh in ready in their competition gear (Gi or Rash Guards). Once an athlete has weighed in they are good to go and do not need to weigh in again.