There have been several incarnations of rule changes to prevent stalling recently. With this most recent announcement by the Brazilian event Copa Podio, do you see other major competitions following?

Copa Podio President, Jefferson Mayca, recently announced on Facebook the rule change for the upcoming Middleweight GP in November. Stating, “In the traditional structure of Jiu-Jitsu, a lot of times, the quest for the title comes first, even with a boring game in stalled matches. The quality of the fight comes in second place and that was never the idea of Copa Podio.”

There have been hints that there will be another rule change will be announced in the upcoming days. Penalties for using the lapel have not been stated yet by the event, but they have made it clear that using it to slow down matches will no longer be accepted.

Keenan Cornelius then commented on the situation via his Instagram account: “The entertainment of Jiu-Jitsu does not lay in the spectacle of the fights themselves. As most of these are slow moving and boring anyways. But it lies in the appreciation of the intricate techniques and innovations of the sport. When the closed guard was first used in martial arts no one could deal with the position. No one could escape and it revolutionized the martial arts. Where would Jiu-Jitsu be if someone had declared closed guard as illegal on the sport. The same can be said about any innovation. To be afraid of change is what really hinders the sport. Progress is impossible without change, and those who can’t change their minds can’t change anything.”