How to Compete at the ADCC US Open in Austin (November 14, 2026)

November 2, 2026

The short version

The ADCC US Open is on Saturday, November 14, 2026 at the Round Rock Sports Center, 2400 Chisholm Trail Rd, Round Rock, TX 78681, which is the Austin-area stop on ADCC's calendar. ADCC says Opens are for all competitors, kids through masters, beginner through advanced, from any country, and that you do not need to qualify. The event page lists the format as no-gi only. This is the most accessible way for a regular practitioner to compete under ADCC rules.

I am writing this from the rulebooks ADCC publishes, not from having entered this event. For context, I am a purple belt and I compete now and then. Last year I won my bracket at a tournament in two matches. That makes me a recreational competitor with an opinion, not an ADCC credential.

The logistics, from ADCC's Smoothcomp event page

  • Entry fee: $125 until November 8, then $150 until registration closes. Adding a second division costs $75 more, and two divisions is the maximum per entry.
  • Registration deadlines: corrections are due Wednesday, November 11 at 11:59pm local time. Registration closes Thursday, November 12 at 11:59pm, or sooner if the event reaches its cap of 975 competitors. The last day to cancel for a credit is Friday, November 13.
  • Refunds: fees are refundable only if you cancel more than 10 days before the event. Inside 10 days you can request a credit toward a future tournament.
  • Weigh-in: mandatory for every competitor, even in divisions with no weight limit. It runs Friday, November 13 from 4 to 7pm at the venue (kids only from 4 to 5pm, anyone from 5 to 7pm). There is a 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) allowance, and anyone over it is moved up in weight. Adults who miss Friday must weigh in no later than 2 hours before their division starts, or they are disqualified.
  • Schedule: it is released after weigh-ins. Be at your mat at least 15 minutes before your start time. If you are not at the mat within 10 minutes of your first call, you are marked as a loss and the bracket advances, so plan carefully if you enter two divisions.
  • Format: double elimination with at least two matches guaranteed, and a match for third place (no double bronze). Match lengths: kids up to 12, 4 minutes; teens 13 to 17, 5 minutes; adults, 6 minutes; masters, 5 minutes.
  • Absolute divisions: one men's and one women's, open to all ranks and weights, age 18 and up, single elimination. They run last, after a mandatory roll call (usually between 6 and 7pm). Even if you are competing in another division you must check in, and a coach or teammate can do it for you. Skip it and you are removed, and you forfeit your fee if you withdraw after check-in.
  • Spectators and coaches: spectator tickets are $25 at the door. Academies get 1 free coach pass per 5 students registered, minimum 5 students.

Source: https://adcc.smoothcomp.com/en/event/33143 (read October 30, 2026). Check it again before you register, because organizers update these pages.

Who can enter, and how to pick your level honestly

ADCC's Opens page says skill levels are primarily by belt, and if you have no belt you register by years of training. For adults, the rules documents define it this way:

  • Beginner: white belts, or 0 to 2 years of training if you have no belt (weights document).
  • Intermediate: blue and purple belts, or 2 to 4 years.
  • Advanced: brown and black belts, or 4 or more years.

One more rule from the rules PDF: if you are a white belt with 2 or more years of experience in another grappling art, such as wrestling, judo or sambo, you must enter the Intermediate skill level.

Absolute divisions: for this event, the Smoothcomp page says there is one men's and one women's Absolute, open to all ranks and weights at 18 and up.

Be honest here. ADCC says plainly that sandbagging, meaning signing up for a lower skill level or a younger age group, is not allowed at any ADCC event. Masters competitors signing up for adult is permitted. ADCC also says closing out a match with a teammate or friend is not allowed. Either one can lead to a permanent ban from all ADCC events, even on a first offense.

There is also a rule that tracks your results. If you win three gold medals in a higher skill division, you can no longer move back down, regardless of belt. If you win five golds in the same skill division, you must move up. My view as a purple belt: pick the level you could defend if the person across from you were exactly as good as you. If you have wrestling, judo or sambo in your past, take the Intermediate rule seriously even as a white belt, because it exists for exactly that reason. Winning a bracket you were too good for teaches you nothing, and ADCC says sandbagging can get you banned.

Weight classes and weigh-in

ADCC's weights document (revised April 4, 2026) says adult men, women and masters must weigh in, and that you must present valid identification or a passport at weigh-in. It also says ADCC reserves the right to combine weight classes to create competitive divisions.

Adult men's classes in the document run from -55 kg to +100 kg: -55, -60, -65, -70, -76, -83, -91, -100 and +100 kg. Adult women's classes run -50, -55, -60, -65, -70, -75, -80 and +80 kg. The absolute divisions are all weights combined and adult only.

The bracketing policy matters for planning. Adult men and women can be merged up in weight class only. A two-person bracket is best of three matches. A three-person bracket is a true round robin, with tiebreakers in this order: most submissions, head-to-head result, highest points scored, fastest submission time. With four or more competitors it is double elimination, and a competitor who loses once can place no higher than third.

ADCC's weights document lists adults as 18 to 35 and Masters starting at 30+, in five brackets from Masters 1 (30+) to Masters 5 (50+). One table in that same document says 18 to 25 for men, so check your exact age division on Smoothcomp before you register.

Match length and overtime

From the Opens North and South America section of the ADCC rules PDF: adult matches are 6 minutes, with 3 minutes of overtime if needed. Masters are 5 minutes with 2:30 of overtime.

Here is how points time works for adults. The first 3 minutes have no points. Points start in the second 3 minutes and apply through overtime. Finals use the same 6 minutes plus 3 of overtime. The match-length section says negative points apply from the start of finals, even during the no-points half, but ADCC's documents word this differently elsewhere (see the scoring section).

How scoring works

This is the part that changes how you roll if you come from gi competition. From the ADCC rules PDF:

  • Guard pass: 3 points. Back control with a body triangle or both hooks: 3 points.
  • Mount: 2 points, with both knees below the opponent's shoulder line. Knee on belly: 2 points.
  • Takedown or sweep to a guard position: 2 points. A "clean" takedown or sweep that finishes outside the guard, with roughly 75 percent of the opponent's back on the mat: 4 points.
  • You need 3 continuous seconds of control, and points do not chain. If you pass and go straight to mount, you get the pass points and not the mount points on top.
  • A negative point is given when you pull guard or deliberately ground yourself from standing and stay down for 3 seconds or more, during points time and overtime. For finals, the rules text says negative points apply in the first half of finals, while the legal-techniques chart says the entire finals match. Verify with ADCC.
  • A passive fighter gets two warnings, then a minus point.

Wins come by submission, points, referee decision or an opponent's disqualification. Keep fighting until the referee says stop, because anything done after the stop is null. If you go out of the area, the referee restarts you in the same position. The exception: if the fighters were standing without an established locked position, they restart facing each other.

What is legal, by division

ADCC publishes a legal-techniques chart for Opens and I would print it and read it before you register. Key points for adults:

  • Allowed for adults: chokes (but you cannot use the hand to close the windpipe), armbars, shoulder locks, wrist locks, leg locks, ankle locks, heel hooks. On ADCC's legal-techniques chart, heel hooks are not marked illegal for adults. They are marked illegal for the Masters beginner and intermediate division.
  • Slams are illegal in the adult Opens. The rules say slams are legal only at ADCC adult Trials and Worlds.
  • Scissor takedowns are illegal for adult beginner and intermediate. They are not on the adult advanced illegal list.
  • Always illegal: striking, eye gouging, hair pulling, biting, grabbing the ears, neck cranks that trap both shoulders like a full nelson, and spiking an opponent on the head during a takedown.
  • Masters: the chart marks jumping closed guard from standing as illegal at both Masters levels.

Note that the chart and the rules text agree on slams and heel hooks, but the chart is the one built for each division, so use it as the final word.

Code of conduct

The documents are clear about behavior. You must treat staff, competitors and coaches with respect. If you submit your opponent, you must let go immediately when the referee stops the match. Taunting is not allowed. Coaches and parents may only coach their own athlete and may not enter the competition area during a match. Entry into the area can lead to disqualification of the athlete and suspension of the offending person. Taking part in an Open means you agree to ADCC's code of conduct.

What to bring and a suggested week-of checklist

The first two items below come from ADCC's documents. The rest are my suggestions, not rules.

  • Photo ID or passport for weigh-in (from the weights document).
  • No slippery substances on your body or clothing (from the rules PDF).
  • No-gi kit you have trained and competed in, since the event is no-gi only. I have not seen a rule requiring specific brand kit, so confirm the dress requirements on Smoothcomp.
  • Food, water, tape and whatever you use between matches.

Suggested week-of checklist (not ADCC rules):

  1. Confirm your registration, division and weight class on Smoothcomp.
  2. Read the Opens legal-techniques chart for your exact division.
  3. Plan for the no-points half: you can warm into positions without chasing points, but remember penalties for pulling guard start in points time.
  4. Decide in advance how you will handle overtime.
  5. Plan your travel around Friday's weigh-in at the venue (adults 5 to 7pm, kids 4 to 5pm), and lock in your hotel early.
  6. Know your mat time once the schedule drops, and be there 15 minutes early.

One tip, and this is my opinion, not an ADCC rule: treat Friday weigh-in as part of the event instead of an errand. The allowance is only 0.5 kg (1.1 lb), so know your number before you travel and leave yourself margin instead of cutting at the last minute. Your mat time is not set until the schedule drops after weigh-ins, so plan your food and water for a long, unpredictable day.

Sources