Academy Registration Guide

How to Register an Academy

Requirements

  • The Head Instructor must be a Black Belt registered with IBJJF. (The membership ID card does not need to be active for the current year).

    • Note that Provisional Black Belts cannot be Head Instructors of a registered academy, but they may be listed as Assistant Instructors.

  • United States Academies
    • The Head Instructor and all Assistant Instructors must have completed a Background Check within 12 months and SafeSport Training within the 24 months prior to applying.
    • To begin the process, the Black Belt must first complete the initial steps through IBJJF's system (ibjjfdb.com), which will then redirect them to complete the requirements.
    • Background Check
    • SafeSport Training
  • The academy registration fee is USD 70 and is valid for the calendar year.
1
Start Registration
  • Log in at www.ibjjfdb.com
  • Select 'Register New Academy'
  • Choose the country where the academy is located. The system will display country-specific requirements.
2
Association Approval
(if applicable)
  • If the academy is applying under an association, the association's representative must approve the request through their profile.
  • The request will only proceed to IBJJF once this confirmation is complete.
3
Assistant Instructor Confirmation
  • If Assistant Instructors are listed, the system will send them approval requests.
  • Assistant Instructors have 30 days to approve or deny being added to the academy.
4
Payment Hold
  • The Head Instructor must provide a credit card in the PayPal platform.
  • A payment hold is provided initially, but the fee is only charged after IBJJF approves the application.
  • The payment hold is released back to the account if the request is canceled or rejected.
5
IBJJF Review
  • IBJJF reviews the application.
  • The academy name is analyzed according to the Nomenclature Rules.
  • IBJJF may approve before the Assistant Instructor confirms, but the Assistant Instructor still has up to 30 days to finalize approval.
6
Certificate Issuance
  • Once IBJJF approval is confirmed, the payment is finalized.
  • The printed academy certificate is mailed directly to the academy and will arrive within 45 days after all approvals are completed.

Academy registrations must be renewed whenever a professor wishes to:

  • Update academy information, such as address, website, or phone number
  • Add or remove assistant instructors

Requirements

  • The Head Instructor must be a Black Belt registered with IBJJF. (The membership ID card does not need to be active for the current year).

    • Note that Provisional Black Belts cannot be Head Instructors of a registered academy, but they may be listed as Assistant Instructors.

  • United States Academies
    • The Head Instructor and all Assistant Instructors must have completed a Background Check within 12 months and SafeSport Training within the 24 months prior to applying.
    • To begin the process, the Black Belt must first complete the initial steps through IBJJF's system (ibjjfdb.com), which will then redirect them to complete the requirements.
    • Background Check
    • SafeSport Training
  • The academy registration fee is USD 70 and is valid for the calendar year.
1
Start Registration
  • Log in at www.ibjjfdb.com
  • Select 'Renew Academy Registration'
  • Choose the country where the academy is located. The system will display country-specific requirements.
2
Association Approval
(if applicable)
  • If the academy is part of an association, the association's representative must approve the renewal request through their profile.
3
Assistant Instructor Confirmation
  • If Assistant Instructors are listed, the system will send them approval requests.
  • Assistant Instructors have 30 days to approve or deny being added to the academy.
4
Payment Hold
  • A credit card must be provided.
  • The USD 70 fee is placed on hold and is only charged after IBJJF approves the renewal.
  • The payment hold is released back to the account if the request is canceled or rejected.
5
IBJJF Review
  • IBJJF reviews the renewal request and validates the academy name according to the Nomenclature Rules.
  • IBJJF may approve before the Assistant Instructor confirms, but the Assistant Instructor still has up to 30 days to finalize approval.
6
Certificate Issuance
  • After approval, the payment is processed.
  • The printed academy certificate is mailed directly to the academy and will arrive within 45 days after all approvals are completed.

IBJJF reserves the right to approve or deny any academy registration based on its own criteria and procedures, considering the flow of our event organization and always seeking the best for both our events and the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community.

Academy Name Rules

Since IBJJF registers a large number of academies worldwide, it is essential that each academy's name is unique and clearly distinguishable. This prevents confusion among athletes when managing memberships or event registrations, and ensures clarity for instructors and event staff.

Core Rule

New academies cannot have names that are too similar to academies already registered in our system.

How to Have an Academy Name Approved

For names to be approved, they must be unique and sufficiently distinguishable so as not to cause confusion for athletes or instructors when managing memberships or event registrations. An academy name must include words and expressions that are not already registered in our database. If a proposed name contains words or expressions identical or similar to those already on file, we provide guidelines to help modify the name to ensure it meets these requirements.

How to Make an Academy Name Distinguishable

Unique Word Placement

To make a name acceptable, a unique word must come before a similar word.
Example: If "House Academy" is already registered, you cannot register "House Germano BJJ", but "Germano House BJJ" is acceptable.

Non-Distinguishable Terms

The following terms may be included in your academy name, but cannot serve as the only differentiator if your proposed name is similar to an existing academy:
Academy, Academia, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, BJJ, Jiu-Jitsu, JJ, Gym, Team, School, MMA, CT, Equipe, Dojo, etc.
In other words: if your academy name is similar to another already registered, these words alone will not make it acceptable. A unique word must be added to clearly distinguish your academy.

Formatting Rules

  • Use correct capitalization ("BJJ", "Jiu-Jitsu")
  • Avoid all caps or all lowercase submissions
  • Use proper spacing (e.g., "Carlos Frota Academy", not "CarlosFrota Academy")
  • Always include the hyphen in "Jiu-Jitsu"
  • Names may not include dots between words (e.g., "Rigging.tv Academy", "Rigging 20.20 Academy")

Names That Will Be Rejected

IBJJF will not approve academy names that:

1
Are too similar to existing academies
2
Are offensive or incite violence
3
Contain the name or abbreviations of an Assistant Instructor or any person other than the Head Instructor (e.g., "JS" for John Smith)
4
Include a given name or surname that is not the Head Instructor's name
5
Contain the words Federation/Federação, Association/Associação, etc.
6
Include names of well-known brands (e.g., Nike, McDonald's)
7
Include symbols commonly used in website addresses or usernames (such as ., /, \, @, #, $, %, ^, <, >), as they can cause formatting and display issues in official documents and systems.
8
Imply a different martial art or sport. Examples of words/terms that are not accepted:
  • Fitness
  • Judo
  • Kick Boxing
  • Karate
  • Wrestling
  • Yoga
  • Ju-jitsu (without the "i" in Jiu)
  • Jiu-Jitsu Tradicional

Creating a New Association

IBJJF allows the creation of new associations to help academies organize under a common team for memberships, academy registration, and competition management.

Key Points

Free of charge

There is no cost to create an association.

Purpose

Associations allow academies to:

  • Correct and unify their academy registrations for events
  • Maximize athlete participation under a common team name
  • Potentially prevent athletes from the same association from facing each other in early tournament brackets

Procedure to Create an Association:

1
Request Submission

A Black Belt Head Instructor registered with IBJJF (active membership not required) must email ibjjf@ibjjf.com to request the creation of an association.

The Head Instructor may also designate additional registered Black Belt representatives.

2
Information Checklist

The email must include:

  • At least two academies that will initially be part of the association
  • Three alternative names for the association
3
Name Validation

IBJJF will review the proposed names to ensure they follow naming rules similar to those for academies:

  • Must be unique to avoid confusion among athletes, professors, and staff
  • Cannot be offensive or reference other sports
  • Must follow proper formatting and capitalization

Additional Representatives

  • The Head Instructor may appoint additional representatives to manage the association. These representatives must be registered Black Belts (active status not required).
  • To be added, their names must be included in the original request email, and each representative must send a confirmation email from their registered IBJJF email address agreeing to serve in this role.

Note: Academies wishing to join must renew their registration under the new association.

Once established, the association name will appear in the system, allowing its academies and athletes to be properly grouped for event registrations, rankings, and team representation.

Association Names

When applying under an association, the association’s name may be included in the academy name. However, a unique element must also be added to distinguish the academy from the association itself and from any other academy listed under the same association.

When academies are registered under associations, elements such as city or country names are considered acceptable differentiators.

Example: If there is an association called House BJJ, acceptable academy names under this association could include House BJJ California.

Please note that: academies may not use an association’s name unless they are officially listed under that association.

Creating a New Team

Academies or associations may create teams within their structure to allow athletes to compete under a specific team name for championships.

Key Points

Feature not currently in the system:

Teams must be requested by the academy or association’s Head Instructor through email to IBJJF (ibjjf@ibjjf.com).

Free of charge

There is no cost to create a team.

Purpose

Teams are usually created when necessary to:

  • Allow academies to gather as many athletes as possible under Team A in a given tournament in order to maximize team points.
  • Ensure athletes registered under the same team in the same division only face each other in the final.
  • Facilitate professors’ corrections during championship registration periods.

Procedure to Create a Team via IBJJF Email:

1
Submit Team Request

The Head Professor of the academy or association must email ibjjf@ibjjf.com requesting the creation of a new team and confirming the proposed team name.

2
Create Team

IBJJF staff creates the team in the system.

3
Confirm Creation

IBJJF emails the Head Professor to confirm that the team has been successfully created.

Important Notes:

  • Academies do not need to renew their registration when creating a new team; teams appear only when athletes select them for a championship.
  • Before submitting a new team name, ensure that there is no existing academy, association, or team with a similar name in the system.

Professor's corrections

1. Timeline & Purpose

The Professor Correction Period begins immediately after the Athlete Correction Deadline for each tournament.

It typically lasts two days, ending at 11:59 PM (event's local time) on the final day, but this may vary for each event. Always check the event's informational page to confirm the exact dates and deadlines.

During this period, professors can:

  • Request team changes (e.g., moving athletes from an association or academy to a competition team)
  • Request division changes for their students

Purpose of these corrections:

  • Allow academies to gather as many athletes as possible under Team A in a given tournament to maximize team points
  • Ensure athletes registered under the same team in the same division only face each other in the final

2. Access to Make Corrections

Association representatives can make corrections during the Professor Correction Period using the IBJJF system at www.ibjjfdb.com

  • If an academy is part of an association, the Head Instructor of the association designates which professors are authorized to make changes on behalf of the association.
  • Academies that are not part of an association must submit correction requests by email.

3. How Corrections Can Be Submitted

  • Online: Authorized association representatives may submit team and division changes through ibjjfdb.com during the Professor Correction Period.
  • Email: Correction requests may also be submitted by email to ibjjf@ibjjf.com. This option is primarily intended for academies that are not part of an association or for cases where system access is not available. Emails must be sent within the Professor Correction Period to be considered.

Always check the deadlines, which are based on the event's local time zone.

4. Who Can Request Changes

The Head Instructor of an association determines which professors are authorized to request team or division changes on behalf of the association.

Professors who are not listed as authorized by the association may still request changes only if:

  • The athlete's membership is registered under their name, or
  • They are the Head Instructor of the academy where the athlete is registered.

Professors who are not associated with the athlete in any of the ways described above may not request changes for that athlete.

This ensures that corrections are handled responsibly and only by the appropriate instructors.

Special Rules for Kids Tournaments

Only the athlete's listed parent/guardian can request an age division change, and only if the athlete is alone in their division (single bracket) after the Professor Correction Period.

Listed professors can request weight division changes for children.

Listed professors cannot move a child to a higher age division.

Final Authority & Restrictions

For academies under an association:

  • The Head Instructor of the association has final authority on corrections.
  • If the head requests a team change, the athlete's listed professor cannot override it.
  • By joining an association, professors agree that the association head may request changes during the correction period.

Once a professor has requested a change, the athlete cannot request further changes to their division or team.

Team Size Limits

  • No more than two athletes from the same team may compete in the same division.
  • This limit is enforced after the Professor Correction Period. If a professor does not submit corrections, or if there are still more than two athletes under the same team per division after corrections, IBJJF will randomly reassign athlete(s) to a different competition team within the same academy or association.

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