FREE EVERY TUESDAY
Follow the sport. Understand what matters.
The Grappler Brief brings you the week’s grappling stories, a useful rules or competition takeaway, and one sourced number worth remembering.
Written for people who train and follow BJJ, judo, wrestling and submission grappling. Curated by Brian O’Connor, GrapplerHQ’s founder and a BJJ brown belt.
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What you’ll find inside
- The stories: a concise selection of developments worth following, with source links.
- The practical bit: a rule, registration detail or competition question explained clearly.
- The number: one finding from GrapplerHQ’s research, with its scope and source.
A taste of the practical bit
Example section — not a previously sent issue.
Your birthday isn’t the cutoff. IBJJF age divisions use birth year. For a 2026 event, someone born in 1996 reaches competition-year age 30 even if their birthday is still ahead. Before registering, check the event’s Belt & Age Divisions table as well as the weight chart.
Read the full IBJJF age-divisions explanation, or check IBJJF’s registration guidance.
Who puts it together?
Brian trains with GFTeam Canada in Vancouver and runs GrapplerHQ. The aim is straightforward: make the grappling world easier to follow and its rules easier to use. Meet Brian.