The ENDO BJJ Team Challenge Rule Set

​**GENERAL RULES**
  • The ENDO BJJ Team Challenge is a team grappling event.  The TEAM wins a Team Challenge match, not the individual
  • Matches consist of two teams of five facing each other in a "winner stays on" survival/elimination format.
  • Matches begin with one athlete from each team competing.  This is called a "round".  When a submission occurs, the round is over and the defeated athlete is out of the match. The winning athlete immediately faces the next member of the opposing team in a new round.
  • The match continues, round by round, athlete by athlete until one team is completely eliminated. 
  • The surviving team moves onto the tier of the tournament bracket.  

**WAYS TO WIN**
  • Submission / Tap Out / Referee stops the match
  • Passing out / loss of conscious 
  • Disqualification - for serious foul or 3 minor foul warnings
  • Round will be ruled a DRAW if no finish in the allotted time (both athletes are then immediately eliminated from the match).  This does exclude finals match of team elimination round where those two athletes will go into ONE round of EBI overtime to determine the winner. 

**TIME LIMITS**
  • Each "round" will be 8 minutes in length

**DISQUALIFYING FOULS** (WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE DISQUALIFICATION) 
  • No Heel Hooks
  • No Wrist Locks
  • No Pile-Driving / spiking / suplexing an opponent onto his head/neck
  • No striking of any kind
  • No biting

**MINOR FOULS** (WILL RESULT IN WARNING - EACH ATHLETE CAN BE WARNED TWICE IN A MATCH BEFORE DISQUALIFICATION)
  • Stalling - trying to force a draw - not trying to advance position
  • Intentionally forcing opponent off of the mat area
  • Intentionally escaping off of mat to avoid bad positioning
  • Pushing teeth into opponent
  • Grabbing hair, body hair, nose, or ears
  • Attacking or pushing groin or eyes
  • Grabbing three fingers or less at a time
  • Grabbing any article of clothing worn by opponent
  • In case of a warning to both athletes, referee will restart them both from a standing position
  • 3 warnings will result in a disqualification
  • If the referee determines that an illegal act causes serious damage to the opponent, disqualification loss will be ruled

**PROHIBITED ITEMS**
  • No Shoes
  • No Vaseline, liniments, body grease, gels, balms, lotions, oils, or other substances that may be applied to the hair, face, or body
  • No jewelry (rings, necklaces, piercings etc.)

**REQUIRED DRESS CODE**
  • Board Shorts, vale tudo shorts, fitness shorts, or MMA shorts. NO SHORTS WITH POCKETS OR ZIPPERS. 
  • Spats can be worn under shorts
  • All competitors MUST wear a rashguard top

**SURVIVOR STAYS-ON SYSTEM**
  • The winning athlete of a round immediately starts a new round with the next athlete on the opposing team
  • Winning athlete stays in on the mats until eliminated
  • Winning athlete has a 1 minute break between rounds after victory against opponent
  • A DRAW eliminates both athletes from the match
  • Once the final athlete of a team has been eliminated, that team has lost the match

**TOURNAMENT FORMAT**
  • The match winning team must have the next athlete on their team start the next match.  The order of athletes - who have not yet competed - will be presented for the next match.  This means the team falls into a next in line type of format so you can not keep having the same athlete be the only one competing for you team.  Team orders will stay the same through the whole tournament.  

**WEIGH IN AND WEIGHT LIMIT*
  • Weigh ins will take place the day before and the day of the event.  Total weight of the team (all five athletes) must be under 430kg (948lbs) one day prior to the event