NAGA rules explained: points, divisions and legal moves

• No-gi divisions go by experience (novice, beginner, intermediate, expert). Gi divisions go by belt.
• Adult matches are 4 minutes at novice and beginner, 5 at intermediate and 6 at expert, in both formats. Masters and older go 4 minutes at every level.
• No-gi scores 2 points for nearly everything, including submission attempts. Gi scoring follows IBJJF values with advantages.
• Heel hooks are legal only in adult no-gi intermediate and expert. Slams are illegal in every division.
• Gi competitors may weigh in without the gi.

Adult gi divisions go by belt only: white, blue, purple, brown and black. In the rulebook’s match-time table, adult novice and beginner sit alongside white belt, intermediate alongside blue belt, and expert alongside purple, brown and black belts.

NAGA asks you to count all grappling experience, including BJJ, wrestling, judo and sambo. You cannot enter two different skill levels, a competitor who has won the same level several times may have to move up (wins at other tournaments count), and NAGA can change your division after the interview at the event.

Overtime is used only if the referee cannot separate the competitors after the tie-break criteria. It is 2 minutes for adult, women’s, masters, directors and executive divisions, and kids and teen divisions may get 1-minute overtimes. There is no rest and no sudden death: whoever scores more points or submits in overtime wins.

In no-gi, a tied match goes to the referee, who looks first at initiation and aggression, then at pace, place and position, and if they are still level, gives the match to the competitor with fewer warnings or penalties.

Since 2025, two-person divisions are best 2 out of 3, three-person divisions are a round robin, and divisions of 4 or more have a third-place bracket for those who lose a match. Absolutes are single elimination.

In no-gi, sitting down without contact concedes a 1-point takedown to the standing opponent, and a takedown that does not stay in top control for a full 2-second count is likely to score only 1. A run from side control to knee on belly to mount or back can score at most 6 positional points. After that, only submission points count until the opponent escapes.

In the gi, the rulebook says “One point is worth more than an infinite number of Advantages.” If the scoreboard is tied after a penalty, the competitor with no penalties wins.

Compare the IBJJF and ADCC systems in IBJJF vs ADCC rules and ADCC rules explained.

Adult no-gi novice and beginner is wide: knee bars, toe holds, slicers, wrist locks, neck cranks and twisters are all legal, while heel hooks and slams are illegal. The adult rules say “No Heel Hooks (of any variation) are permitted in any Novice or Beginner No Gi divisions”, and intermediate and expert allow heel hooks of all variations. The adult scissor takedown is legal with conditions: one hand must be on the mat first.

The no-gi chart has no reaping row. The one no-gi mention is in the teen section: with a straight ankle lock “there can be no reaping of the knee”, and the outside leg cannot come across past the hip or over the attacking thigh.

The gi list is much stricter than no-gi. A NAGA adult no-gi beginner may use knee bars and toe holds (legal), but the same person in a gi white-belt division may not (illegal). In the gi they are legal only at brown and black belt.

Gi ankle locks have their own limits. Adult straight ankle locks must go to the outside, and crossing the outside leg over the opponent’s leg may be a disqualification. Teens may use only straight ankle locks, with no reaping of the knee.

Every cell links back to its rule in the submission legality matrix, next to the IBJJF, ADCC and Grappling Industries columns.

• No-gi slams: “Slamming an opponent on a takedown, to escape any position or as an escape to any submission attempt is ILLEGAL.” Gi: no slamming from the guard, to escape a submission or on a takedown. Driving an opponent’s head into the mat is an immediate disqualification.
• No-gi penalties: first offence a verbal warning, second an optional verbal warning, third and fourth 1 point each to the opponent, fifth a disqualification. After a third ground stalling call the referee may restart the match standing.
• Gi penalties: first offence a verbal warning, second an advantage to the opponent, third 2 points to the opponent, fourth a disqualification. Stalling can be called again every 20 seconds while it continues.
• The referee can skip steps for serious fouls and disqualify at once. Kids may get several warnings without points for minor infractions.
• Kids and teens, gi and no-gi: no jumping guard. Teen experts are the exception. The no-gi chart allows it only to attack a flying submission. Standing guillotines are illegal for kids in both formats.

The rulebook’s only weigh-in rule is in the gi section: you may weigh in without wearing your gi. It does not set a weight allowance or a weigh-in time, so check the event page for the schedule. Weight classes run from flyweight (129.9 lb and under) to ultra-heavyweight (250 lb and over) for adult men, and from 99.9 lb and under to 200 lb and over for adult women, with kilogram classes at European events.

Entering your first event? The white belt tournament rules guide compares NAGA beginner divisions with IBJJF, Grappling Industries and ADCC Opens, and the Grappling Industries rules guide covers NAGA’s closest competitor.