New rules, fee raise concerns for jiu-jitsu athletes in Manitoba

The province wants to changerules around combat sports in Manitoba and introduce an annual fee for competitors, but somejiu-jitsu athletes and organizers say the proposed rules could limit the ability to host major competitions here.

"It really hurts the community, the growth of the sport and just like the city as a whole," said Michael Santarsieri, an instructor at Socius Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Winnipeg.

Under the province's newly proposed regulations, jiu-jitsu matches will be conducted, officiated and judged according to the regulations adopted by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation.

But Santarsieri said there are about a half dozendifferent tournaments across the province, and eachevent uses a different rule set to judge and score a match.

"We don't even know how they determined that that was the rule set that they want to use," said Santarsieri.

The new regulations couldlimittournaments and affect the number of people who come toManitoba for competitions, he said people who are booking hotels, eating at restaurants and spending money on things to do in the city.

"We get a lot of people coming in from outside of town to compete," Santarsieri said. "So it hurts tourism as well."

Randal Boiteau is a jiu-jitsu athlete and an organizer of the open jiu-jitsu championship, a twice-yearly Manitoba competition that has attracted hundreds of competitors in the past.

He said forcing Manitoba's competitors to abide only by the IBJJF rules will affect the performance of Manitobaathletes when they go tolarger tournaments outside the province.

"The allowable techniques are all different. We have a variety that we use for our sport, and we need those rule sets for our athletes to compete well internationally," said Boiteau.

He alsosays jiu-jitsu, which is based largely on grappling and submission holds, has different safety requirementsthan other combat sports, like boxing or mixed martial arts, where the goal is"to inflict damage on an opponent."

"Our sport is the opposite, where we're trying to control somebody without hurting them," he said.

"It's unfortunate the minister's office is prescribing these rule sets without understanding our sport."

Licensing fee

The new rules are included intheCombative Sport Amendment Act (Bill 40), introduced in spring 2023. It's changes are not yet in effect.

When askedhow hisministry decided which set of rules to apply tojiu-jitsu events, Glen Simard, the minister responsible for sport, said the decision was made afterconsultation with members of the jiu-jitsu community.

"We reached out to a number of players in the field," said Simard. "The feedback was such that we came up with this."

A provincial website says the regulations are intended to outline "safety measures, conduct of contests, and event requirements" to "increasesafety and protection for athletes, officials, coaches and spectators" in combat sports.

Theregulations are intended to help organizers of combatsports sanction their own events, said Simard.

But he also noted the changes are not in effect, and consultation is continuing through the province's public engagement website. That includeslooking at feedback from surveys, he said.

"It's important for people to understand that this is not a completed project yet," said Simard.

In addition to the rule changes, the province of Manitoba is also proposing ayearly competitor licence fee of $30.

Boiteau said thatfee, which everyathlete will be required to pay in order tocompete, is an added financial barrier for Manitobans.

"I work with tournaments around the world, and this is quite unheard of," said Boiteau. "This is something that's not done anywhere else in the world."

Boiteau said many provincial support organizations for sports do charge annual fees, but those fees provide benefits to athletes.

But with the new licensing fee,there's no transparency around howthe money will be used, he said. It's not clear whether it will go back into the sport, or who will decidehow it will be spent,said Boiteau.

"Where is the money [from this fee] going? Why do we need one for jiu-jitsu?"

Boiteau said his organization was in touch with the provincial government twice before the regulations were posted, but was only told aboutthe licensing fee not the proposed rule changes.

He said he saw the regulations posted on the province's website, where a consultation draft of the changeshas also been posted, by chance. His organization had limited time to gather feedback for the province before the public engagement period ends on Sept. 15, he said.

"The regulations were published weeks before I even found out," Boiteau said.

The jiu-jitsucommunity "needs a seat at the table" on the proposals, he said.

"This is our sport and we should be involved," said Boiteau.

"We are pro regulation, we are pro oversight, we are pro safety," he said. "We just want to make sure that it's pro athlete."