At the risk of sounding like Jerry Seinfeld; What’s the deal with… Jiu Jitsu referees?? Now, I know it’s a thankless job, and I always go out of my way to show respect to my referee. In fact, I’ve never disputed a referees call, and I’ve been on the losing end of some pretty sketchy decisions. However, there are a couple things I DO see happening that I think are completely avoidable in most cases.

POINT #1

How long can it take to count to 3?!?! I regularly see a 3-count take 6-8 seconds. (yes I’ve gone back over footage and timed it) We’ve all heard of using “One Mississippi” to accurately count seconds, but these can turn into more of a “One Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana” count instead. Surely in this day of small, handy, cheap gadgets we could find a 5 dollar, hand-held device to tell us when 3 seconds is up.

POINT #2

I’ve seen many times where a ref turns around to watch another match, or have a conversation. Most of the time these are brief occurrences, but in BJJ a LOT can happen in just a few seconds. Specifically with safety issues. An illegal move can be used and release all within a fraction of a second. Or toes/fingers caught in gis. Not to mention advantage points. Now I really don’t like playing a points game in my matches, but if we’ve both given it all we’ve got, and the score is even, and a decision needs to be made… 1 advantage point can make a huge difference in the outcome. I don’t mind losing on merit, but I do mind if it’s due to an avoidable mistake by the ref.