It's surprisingly difficult to find accurate info on how the IBJJF determines your points, and in turn your seeding for tournaments.

I'm a 38-year-old serious, but ultimately hobbyist black belt, and here's my take on how IBJJF points/seeding works. This is all based on my personal experience and scouring the internet reading every Reddit thread to figure out why I was seeded where I was.

What are IBJJF points? What is seeding?

If you compete in an IBJJF tournament and earn a medal, you get points.

In future tournaments, these tournaments then help determine your "seed" in the tournament. The more points you have, the higher of a seed you are and generally the easier of a path to victory you'll have.

You can certainly win an IBJJF tournament with no seeding points. But if your goal is a major like Pans or Worlds, you're not doing yourself any favors. Here are some nuances on how to calculate your points and get an idea of where you'll be seeded.

How are IBJJF points calculated?

You earn points for each medal you get at a tournament. The open class (no weight limit, you must medal in your division) is weighted more heavily and points from the open class will count in full for any weight class you enter down the road (more on this later).

These are the basic point values you'd get from your local IBJJF Open. For "majors" there is an additional point multiplier added:

Points from your last 3 years of competition (technically the last 3 "competition seasons") count, and once again there is a multiplier so more recent points are more valuable:

• Points from the current season: 3x multiplier
• Points from last year's season: 2x multiplier
  
• Points from 3 years ago's season: 1x multiplier

Example: it's May 2026 and you just did the San Diego IBJJF Open. No one was in your weight division so you got a default gold medal. You then signed up for the open class and got bronze. Two years ago you did American Nationals and got silver.

Your points are:

9*3 (gold at San Diego Open division, 3x multiplier for this season)
+ 1.5*3 (bronze at San Diego Open open class, 3x multiplier for this season)
+ 3*2 (silver at Nationals, 2x multiplier because it's a major, 2 years ago so it doesn't get any more multipliers)
= 37.5 pts

What about Gi vs No-Gi?

Points do NOT carry over from gi to no-gi. If you have a ton of gi points and enter a no-gi event, you'll be starting from scratch.

What happens when I get promoted to a new belt?

Your points completely reset. Congratulations!

What if I move age divisions?

Points DO carry over from "tougher" age divisions to "easier" ones. So if you have a bunch of points at Adult and then age into Masters, your points will carry over.

Points do not move the opposite direction though. If you go smoke a bunch of old guys at Masters 3 but then sign up for Worlds at Masters 1, the points you earned at Masters 3 will not affect your seeding.

What if I move weight classes?

This one is a little trickier. Any points you earn in the open class will carry over to any weight class.

Otherwise, points you earned in the same weight class you are signing up for are given full credit. Points you earned one weight class above, or one weight class below, are given 50% credit.

What this means is if you're a featherweight, you can't go sign up for an empty Ultra Heavy division to scoop the gold medal + points and then expect to use those points to get a high seed at worlds.

Nuances for Elite Athletes

There are some exceptions for seeding if you are a current or former world champion, of or if you have Grand Slam points. The Grand Slam is Worlds, Pans, Euros, Brazilian Nationals. As this is not a problem I've encountered yet 🤣 I don't know the exact details, and the IBJJF's documentation isn't clear.

IBJJF Seeding Tips

There is a huge difference between having 0 points and 1 point when it comes to seeding. In a Masters 2 bracket a Pans with 30 competitors, there might be 7 or 8 people with 0 points. So if you can even pick up a couple of points at a local Open and leapfrog them, that goes a long way. They will not get a bye in the first round and then immediately get fed to the 1 seed.

Also, it pays to either stick to one weight division or at least not jump around a ton. Points earned in the open class are huge because they transfer to any weight class and are already weighted at 1.5x the division points. So while it's a pain in the ass to wait around all day for the open class, it can really be worth it especially if only a few people sign up and you're a lock to get some points.

Final Thoughts

Don't overthink points, again to win a tournament you're going to have to beat a lot of tough people regardless of your path. Still, if you're one of the absolute bottom seeds you are going to have a serious uphill battle. Hopefully this guide helped you understand some of the edge cases that I didn't know when getting into IBJJF competition.

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