Close Contact Sports Start Again in Scotland by August 31st

Since Covid-19 forced all of the gyms in the UK to close their doors for the foreseeable future, the light at the end of the tunnel is now in sight. Scotland have announced dates as to which close contact sports can legally commence again, meaning those that have been off the mats for months can finally get back at it, and hopefully start competing again. This is great news for the gyms and grapplers all across Scotland, and especially for those competitors looking to test themselves in the upcoming ADCC European trials to earn a place at ADCC 2021.

Unfortunately for those in England, close contact grappling is still very much out of sight at the moment with no potential date penciled down as to when gyms will allow them to train (properly) again.

UKBJJA Announcement

The UKBJJA have announced that Scotland will be able to engage in full contact sports beginning from August 31st 2020. The update comes from the Scottish Government, who recently published the phase 3 update on its “Route Map Through And Out Of The Crisis”.

The UKBJJA summarized the update as follows:

31 August: indoor gyms may re-open. Juniors (<12 years) may resume full contact training. Non-contact training only for everybody else.

14 September: full contact training may resume indoors for all, subject to guidance.

“Both dates are subject to guidance and we will be working with all relevant bodies to ensure that we can provide relevant guidance to our members. It is also important to note that 14 September date is contingent on a review on 10 September.”

The full Scottish Government document can be found here.

This is fantastic news for no gi grapplers at Steven Thompson’s 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu academy in Glasgow – it will soon be time to whack those spats back on and be tied up in rubber guard again. For those that train in the gi, it’s nearly time to be submitted in a thousand different ways by the black belts that haven’t choked anyone in the past five months.

With Scotland allowing close contact sports to legally begin again, those from England, Wales and Ireland can only hope that we will be next in line to follow their footsteps. However, as it stands – close contact sports are still not permitted yet in these areas. Solo drills it is!