The IBJJF has just made a huge move by announcing that they will be expanding their kids tournaments and for the very first time they will include no gi divisions as well. This decision will no doubt have a big impact on the growth and development of grappling around the world, as children will now have significantly more opportunities to compete without wearing a gi. The promotion hasn’t announced an exact date of the first one of these tournaments, but they have confirmed that it will be taking place at some point during the Summer of 2024.
It’s undoubtedly a welcome decision for young competitors right now but the real benefits won’t be seen for around a decade or so, when the current generation of child grapplers become elite competitors. By that time, they will have had so many more chances to compete in no gi tournaments that they should be significantly better than the generations that have come before them. The advantages of frequent competition at a young age really can’t be understated, because it allows athletes to become used to dealing with the performance anxiety that naturally occurs in that situation.
The decision to introduce IBJJF kids no gi tournaments has come at an interesting time too, as ADCC have announced their first ever Youth World Championship in 2024 as well. This means that elite no gi child competitors will be having the biggest year of their young careers so far, with so many massive tournaments available to them for the very first time. Decisions like this might also attract more of those children who stick to wrestling throughout their school years, as now they won’t have to put on a gi in order to continue their competition in the off-season.
The IBJJF announced the news that they were going to be putting on kids no gi tournaments for the first time in 2024 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
