Penalties and disqualifications: losing a match without being submitted

The IBJJF rulebook splits infractions into three families, and only one of them runs on an escalating ladder. The other two end the match — or the whole event — on the spot.

The penalty ladder

For serious fouls and for stalling, the sequence is this:

• First penalty — marked on the scoreboard, nothing else.
• Second penalty — an advantage to the opponent.
• Third penalty — 2 points to the opponent.
• Fourth penalty — disqualification from the match.

Penalties add up across types: two for stalling plus two for serious fouls make four, and four is a disqualification. If both athletes reach a third stalling penalty, the referee restarts the match standing.

Stalling, and what isn't stalling

Stalling is defined as clearly not pursuing positional progression. The referee counts 20 seconds and gives the verbal command "Lute". The rulebook lists explicit examples:

• Reaching side control or north-south and not seeking progression.
• Playing closed guard while wrapping the arms around the opponent's back and holding them there without seeking a score or a submission.
• Standing and keeping a hand on the opponent's belt to prevent a takedown, without attacking.

It also lists what stalling is not: defending against attacks from mount, back control, side control or north-south is not stalling. Nor is holding mount or the back, as long as the characteristics of the position are respected.

The double guard pull

If both athletes pull guard at the same time a 20-second countdown starts: if by the end neither has reached the top, has a submission locked in or is about to complete a scoring move, the referee stops the match, penalises both and restarts them standing. The same idea applies in 50/50: an athlete gripping the lapel or the belt has 20 seconds to progress, after which the penalty comes regardless of intention.

The serious fouls that catch beginners

• Fingers inside the opponent's sleeve or pant cuff — even while completing a sweep.
• Gripping the inside of the gi, passing a hand through it to grab the outside, or stepping inside the jacket.
• A hand or a foot on the opponent's face.
• In no-gi, grabbing your own uniform or your opponent's in any way.
• Fleeing the match area standing or by sliding out, or pushing the opponent out without intent to attack or score.
• Deliberately removing your own gi or belt, forcing the match to stop.
• Taking more than 20 seconds to readjust the uniform (counted separately for jacket and belt, identification belt, and pant drawstring).
• Putting a foot on the opponent's belt, or in the lapel behind their neck.
• Disobeying a referee's order, or contesting a decision through gestures.

One special case: an athlete who deliberately flees the area to avoid an inferior position gets the penalty and hands the opponent 2 points.

Severe fouls: straight to disqualification

No ladder here. The match ends the moment the foul is spotted:

• Fleeing the match area to avoid tapping to a submission.
• A gi rendered unusable and not replaced within the time the referee allows.
• Not wearing the undergarment the rulebook requires.
• Creams, oils, gels or any substance making the body slippery — or the gi harder to grip.
• Choking with bare hands around the neck without the gi, or pressing the windpipe with the thumb.
• Blocking the nose and mouth with the hands.
• Deliberately reacting so as to put the opponent in an illegal position and get them disqualified.

Disciplinary fouls: out of the event, not just the match

These are behaviours, not techniques, and they cost disqualification from the entire competition: profane language or obscene gestures towards an opponent, referee, table or crowd, before, during or after a match; hostile behaviour; biting, hair pulling, striking, pressure on eyes or genitals, or any traumatic blow; offensive celebrations or mocking an opponent; faking a match.

AJP counts it differently

Same three families, two differences that change how you fight:

• The first penalty already awards a point to the opponent. The second a point plus an advantage, the third a point plus two points. The fourth disqualifies.
• The stalling countdown is 10 seconds, not 20, and the verbal command is "Action!". If the athlete responds, the referee waves the call off.

In plain terms: at AJP a penalty isn't a warning, it's already a deficit on the board, and you get half the time to answer a call. For the rest of the differences between circuits: IBJJF, ADCC, AJP.

Source: IBJJF, *Rule Book* v6.1 (June 2024), articles 6 and 7; AJP, *Rule Book* 2026 (August 2026), articles 6 and 7, and the *Rules Update Guide 2026*, in force from 16 July 2026. Points, on the other hand, are counted like this.