Is the knee bar legal?
Rules for the knee bar in 5 rulesets.
Rules change. Check the official rulebook for your event before competing. This site is not affiliated with IBJJF, ADCC, NAGA or Grappling Industries.
- IBJJF: legal for adult and master brown and black belts, except adult no-gi and above
- ADCC: legal for adults, beginner and intermediate and above
- NAGA no-gi: legal for teens 14 to 17 and above
- NAGA gi: legal for brown and black belt
- Grappling Industries: legal for blue belt, and purple belt in the gi and above
IBJJF
ADCC
| Division | Status |
|---|---|
| Kids 12 and under | Illegal |
| Teens 13 to 14, beginner and intermediate | Illegal |
| Teens 13 to 14, advanced | Illegal |
| Teens 15 to 17, beginner and intermediate | Illegal |
| Teens 15 to 17, advanced | Illegal |
| Adults, beginner and intermediate | Legal |
| Adults, advanced | Legal |
| Masters, beginner and intermediate | Legal |
| Masters, advanced | Legal |
| World Championship and Trials | Legal |
NAGA no-gi
| Division | Status |
|---|---|
| Kids 13 and under | Illegal |
| Teens 14 to 17 | Legal |
| Adult novice and beginner (white belt) | Legal |
| Adult intermediate and expert (blue belt and up) | Legal |
NAGA gi
| Division | Status |
|---|---|
| Kids 13 and under | Illegal |
| Teens 14 to 17 | Illegal |
| White belt | Illegal |
| Blue belt | Illegal |
| Purple belt | Illegal |
| Brown and black belt | Legal |
Grappling Industries
| Division | Status |
|---|---|
| Under 18 | Illegal |
| White belt | Illegal |
| Blue belt, and purple belt in the gi | Legal |
| Purple belt in no-gi, brown and black belt | Legal |
See also
Data from bjj-data by Grapple Flows (grappleflows.com), licensed CC BY 4.0; reformatted into tables on this page.
Data: bjj-data (Grapple Flows) (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.