The IBJFF world championship, the Mundials, is generally regarded as the most prestigious tournament for gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It’s competitors of the highest order and a who’s who of the sport’s royalty.
On the podcast this week, we talk about why this is an event that every jiujitsu practitioner should attend at least once. Seeing that many elite competitors and legends of the art in the same place is a one-of-a-kind experience — so in person is always going to be the best way to watch. But not everyone is in that position, and even if you’ve made the trip, chances are that you’re not making the trip every year.
So what is the best way to watch the Mundials — or at least keep track of the results — if you can’t make the trip? I have a method that I talk about on the show and that I want to share here. (It’s actually two methods, but one involves a Flograppling subscription, and one is absolutely free albeit less satisfying).
First, know who you want to watch. You probably have friends and teammates that you want to keep track of. Maybe you have favorite athletes that you know you enjoy watching. With 12 mats going and presumably multiple people you want to follow, making a list helps. That way you don’t miss anything you want to see.
You can find out who is registered by looking at the IBJJF’s registrations by academy and registrations by division. Those links are updated as new registrations come in, so you can be sure the person you want to watch is registered and see what division they’ve signed up for. You can listed to this week’s show for several folks I think you should follow!
Second, make a list of match times and what mats the people you’re interested in watching will be on.
The IBJJF has an events page that, after the brackets come out, has a regularly-updated list of who will compete at what time and on what mat. Here is the link: this is active for most major tournaments a few days before the event.
I’ll be making a list of all the local competitors to North Carolina, along with friends of mine and athletes I admire. I’ll post that to this blog and the Facebook page a few days out if you just want to crib off of my list.
Third, sign up for Flograppling Pro. If you haven’t already signed up, Flo is the best way to follow tournaments that you can’t attend in person. They offer high-quality streaming video and multi-mat technology so that you can switch back and forth.
Usually, I have one tab open with the video streaming and another tab open at events.ibjjf.com, because the Big Board is constantly updated. Tournaments are dynamic, and I don’t want to miss a friend’s match if the time gets moved up.
What if you don’t have access to FloGrappling? The best way to watch an event like this is live. The second-best way is on streaming video. What’s the other option?
Every year on Facebook (and this year on DirtyWhiteBelt.com, we post open threads where people can post real-time results. I’m almost always obsessively posting results, photos, screenshots and videos. The morning of each day, I’ll post an open thread on our Facebook page and link to it on the blog. So each day of the Mundials check this blog or our Facebook page, and we’ll keep you updated.
You’ll know well in advance who I’ll be watching, since you’ll have the list I already mentioned. If I left anyone out you want results on, please let me know.