Who's all repping 10P at NoGi Worlds this weekend?

[Jack Hanley]

Awesome post Jack. Seriously.

Personally, I believe that Geo would've taken gold or at least medaled last year if the IBJJF would've let him compete. They won't let him compete until he completes a certain time frame. They say he got promoted too quickly. I think the same happened to Boogeyman.

While resisting the IBJJF machine is making a strong statement, it still hinders the 10th P name in a lot of people's minds. Pans and worlds happen yearly. ADCC happens every 3 years. So it's hard to build a name off of ADCC.

Even now, while 10th planet has more black belts than before, we still don't have as many competition focused black belts as other orgs. Most of our black belts have to focus on other things, like running schools. Teaching classes. Coaching other guys. Working full time jobs. Yeah, there are elite IBJJF champs who do all of that. But they also had the benefit of being competition black belts for years before opening their first schools. Prior to that, they were full time competitors with no responsibilities. I'm sure that plays a factor into their success.

Even still, 10th Planet is currently having one of its best years ever as far as exposure, success, and respect. The guys who thought Eddie was a fluke were proven wrong. The guys who claimed it wasn't good for MMA have been proven wrong. The guys who say 10th doesn't do well in comps are still yapping, sure. But the yapping is getting quieter because 10WO keeps showing up to comps and tapping guys out.

Little by little, 10wo keeps getting bigger, better, stronger, faster, smarter. More black belts are being added with lots of young competition addicts working their way towards black. It's only a matter of time before one of our blacks snatches an IBJJF gold. And when that happens, mf'ers will still hate and say, "well, that's just one medal." And then we'll rack up more and more. People need to remember that 10th Planet is a super young org compared to other orgs. And most of the dominant comp teams are just offshoots of long existing comp groups before them. So in reality, their starting point is still like a 90 year head start compared to 10th Planet's birth.

10th is going to get respect regardless of getting gold at IBJJF. But at the same time, I still believe that one of our blacks will still show up and take home a gold, just to prove a point. And why not? Until another org can lure away the big names, IBJJF is still going to carry a very high level of prestige. So why not?

Pardon the rant.

These are all fair points.

I totally agree about the momentum behind 10th Planet. When an organization is deeply infused with an open minded competition mentality that embraces "everything that works in tournaments", the inevitable result is what we are seeing right now: a tidal wave of competitors that just gets stronger, faster, and bigger the further you go down the timeline. 10th Planet is, and will be, successful no matter what...as long as it sticks to this same principle.

But, I ask myself what would be cooler 5 or 10 years from now: something closer to Scenario A or something closer to Scenario B.

Scenario A
10th Planet caves to pressure from the BJJ community and starts sending it's competitors to No-Gi Mundials en masse. To accommodate the ridiculous rule set there, 10th Planet starts drilling the same "pull guard, sweep, and stall" drills that every other team does to optimize performance under those rules. Moves that might get competitors DQ'd, like twisters and basically every good leg attack, are de-emphasized. Takedowns are ignored. Going for the sub is de-emphasized in favor of a points centered strategy. 10th Planet starts taking a lot of medals at No-gi Mundials, but it has had to change a lot of it's character to do so. Also, by succumbing to the IBJJF mentality, 10th Planet has helped no-gi submission grappling as a whole move even further away from the combat effectiveness that once gave it such a prestigious position among other martial arts.

Scenario B
10th Planet refuses to cave to the IBJJF pressure. It occasionally sends super commandos like Geo and Orchard over there to wreck house, but on the whole maintains it's focus on tournaments with more open rule sets. Matches like Geo/Glover keep happening in showcases like EBI. People notice. Guys like Orchard keep cleaning house in tournaments in the tradition of the GQ UFC Fan Expo Pro Tourney (RIP GQ), and only lose to other super elite grapplers like Tonon. People notice. 10th Planet gets more and more guys through the ADCC trials and starts taking the ADCC podium spots. The IBJJF starts losing prestige because those among their black belt champions who focus only on their rule set keep getting their asses kicked in more open rule sets (think Rodolfo's failure in ADCC despite IBJJF dominance). Also, the rest of the non-Brazilian no-gi grappling world sees what 10th is doing and realizes they don't have to capitulate to the ridiculous IBJJF rules and biased reffing. More and more grapplers join 10th in boycotting them. Meanwhile, 10th Planet guys are doing better and better in these open rule sets and start taking out the IBJJF focused black belt Champions. The IBJJF starts losing money due to smaller registration numbers and is forced to open their rule set and eliminate the biased reffing or face of future of increasing irrelevance. Consequently, no-gi grappling as a whole effectively moves closer to it's combat effective roots and further away from martial LARPing.


It won't necessarily be strictly one scenario or the other. But, I know which future looks brighter to me.

[David Rosado]

I like option B better. Honestly, I just couldn't imagine 10th Planet ever going with scenario A.

Again, great post.

[John Mejia]

These are all fair points.

I totally agree about the momentum behind 10th Planet. When an organization is deeply infused with an open minded competition mentality that embraces "everything that works in tournaments", the inevitable result is what we are seeing right now: a tidal wave of competitors that just gets stronger, faster, and bigger the further you go down the timeline. 10th Planet is, and will be, successful no matter what...as long as it sticks to this same principle.

But, I ask myself what would be cooler 5 or 10 years from now: something closer to Scenario A or something closer to Scenario B.

Scenario A
10th Planet caves to pressure from the BJJ community and starts sending it's competitors to No-Gi Mundials en masse. To accommodate the ridiculous rule set there, 10th Planet starts drilling the same "pull guard, sweep, and stall" drills that every other team does to optimize performance under those rules. Moves that might get competitors DQ'd, like twisters and basically every good leg attack, are de-emphasized. Takedowns are ignored. Going for the sub is de-emphasized in favor of a points centered strategy. 10th Planet starts taking a lot of medals at No-gi Mundials, but it has had to change a lot of it's character to do so. Also, by succumbing to the IBJJF mentality, 10th Planet has helped no-gi submission grappling as a whole move even further away from the combat effectiveness that once gave it such a prestigious position among other martial arts.

Scenario B
10th Planet refuses to cave to the IBJJF pressure. It occasionally sends super commandos like Geo and Orchard over there to wreck house, but on the whole maintains it's focus on tournaments with more open rule sets. Matches like Geo/Glover keep happening in showcases like EBI. People notice. Guys like Orchard keep cleaning house in tournaments in the tradition of the GQ UFC Fan Expo Pro Tourney (RIP GQ), and only lose to other super elite grapplers like Tonon. People notice. 10th Planet gets more and more guys through the ADCC trials and starts taking the ADCC podium spots. The IBJJF starts losing prestige because those among their black belt champions who focus only on their rule set keep getting their asses kicked in more open rule sets (think Rodolfo's failure in ADCC despite IBJJF dominance). Also, the rest of the non-Brazilian no-gi grappling world sees what 10th is doing and realizes they don't have to capitulate to the ridiculous IBJJF rules and biased reffing. More and more grapplers join 10th in boycotting them. Meanwhile, 10th Planet guys are doing better and better in these open rule sets and start taking out the IBJJF focused black belt Champions. The IBJJF starts losing money due to smaller registration numbers and is forced to open their rule set and eliminate the biased reffing or face of future of increasing irrelevance. Consequently, no-gi grappling as a whole effectively moves closer to it's combat effective roots and further away from martial LARPing.


It won't necessarily be strictly one scenario or the other. But, I know which future looks brighter to me.

Beautifully put. You know its a problem when this type of stuff exists that talks about strategy and grey areas of rules