Recently there has been some debate about what the best format for BJJ really Is? Many of the top competitors have even spoken and argued that point competitions are in fact better. With many new promotions running sub only events like Metamoris, EBI and Polaris , this style has become more popular. But recently some have pointed out that sub only super fights are actually not ending in submission, but rather many draw. This has been debated more heavily after the last Polaris event in which no match on the main card ended in submission. So what are the top problems with sub only, and how can we fix them?
- No Submissions– The problem here is that most of the events are running time limits. There are two solutions that can ensure the match ends in submission. The first, is to simply have matches with no time limit. The second is to use a system like EBI, where, after the time limit runs, you start overtime, and in bad positions.
- Not feasible– People argue that there could not be large scale sub only competitions because there just isn’t enough time. There is actually a promotion called “Sub League” which runs large sub only comps with an interesting rule set. Each bracket is round robin, if you win a match you get 3pts, if you draw you get 1pt and if you lose you get no points. Then after the bracket is complete the points are added up and the winner is determined. I believe these rules would be great if larger promotions adopted them.
- Points create Action. Some people argue that points actually make people be more active. While this may be true in some instances, there are far more cases of stalling. While there are some sub only matches that end up being kind of boring because one athlete defends very well, like Ryron vs Galvao, if we just could learn to appreciate what is really going on I think we can see the beauty of these matches.
What other issues do sub only matches face?
