# Ju-Jitsu International Federation

The Ju-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF) is an international sport federation founded in 1998 after the expansion of the European Ju-Jitsu Federation (EJJF) for the propagation of the modern competitive sports version of Jujitsu, also known as Sport Ju-Jitsu.

## History

The Federation commenced as a coalition of three countries' associations. In 1977, delegates form Germany, Italy and Sweden founded the European Ju-Jitsu Federation (EJJF). As the number of member Nations increased, in and out of Europe, in 1987 the Federation changed its name to International Ju-Jitsu Federation (IJJF) and the original European nucleus of the Federation became the first Continental Union (EJJU) of the IJJF. Following a series of changes of its Statutes and a change to its membership structure, in 1998, the IJJF decided to change its name to the Ju-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF).
In the early 1990s the IJJF became a provisional member of the General Association of International Sport Federations (GAISF), member of International World Games Association (IWGA – part of the Olympic Movement together with the IOC) and affiliated to the Sport for All Federation (FISpT). During the 1998 GAISF Congress the JJIF obtained full membership status.
Ju-Jitsu under JJIF rules has been an event at the World Games since the 1997 World Games in Lahti, Finland.
* 1977: European Ju-Jitsu Federation (EJJF)
* 1987: International Ju-Jitsu Federation (IJJF) / European Ju-Jitsu Union (EJJU)
* 1998: Ju-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF)
The JJIF is a member of GAISF and IWGA, and both organizations are in close cooperation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The organisation is striving to establish Sports Ju-Jitsu as an Olympic event in the future.
JJIF is a member of the General Association of International Sport Federations (GAISF) and the International World Games Association (IWGA). The JJIF is currently the only Jujutsu/Ju-Jitsu organization recognized by the GAISF and IWGA; Ju-Jitsu under JJIF rules is a part of the World Games, World Combat Games and Asian Games.

## Regions

All 112 nations in the year 2022:
| Region | Name | Abbreviation | Members |
| Europe | Ju-Jitsu European Union $_{[de]}$ | JJEU | 35 |
| Asia | Ju-Jitsu Asian Union | JJAU | 37 |
| Oceania | - | - | 4 |
| Africa | Ju-Jitsu African Union | JJAFU | 16 |
| America | United Society Ju-Jitsu Organization | UPJJ | 20 |

## Events
### World

* Ju-Jitsu World Championships
* Para Ju-Jitsu World Championships
* Juniors Ju-Jitsu World Championships
* Masters Ju-Jitsu World Championships

### European Championship

| Edition | Start | End | Country | City | Sources |
| 40 | May 26, 2022 | May 28, 2022 | Israel | | |

### Asia

| Edition | Year | Country |
| 1 | 2016 | Turkmenistan |
| 2 | 2017 | |
| 3 | 2018 | |
| 4 | 2019 | |
| 5 | 2021 | |
| 6 | 2022 | |

## Traditional Jujutsu and Sport Ju-Jitsu

Different schools (ryū) have been teaching traditional jujutsu in Japan since the 15th century. The JJIF is not a governing body for any of these schools of traditional Japanese jujutsu – the JJIF does not exercise authority over traditional Japanese jujutsu Koryu styles, which are often instead headed by leaders who claim leadership from unbroken lineages of transmissions from different Japanese ryū, with some of them hundreds of years old.
Rather, the JJIF was founded as an international federation solely for governing Sport Ju-Jitsu, a competitive sport derived from traditional jujutsu.

## Executive committee

| Name | Role | Country |
| Panagiotis Theodoropoulos | President | Greece |
| Abdulmunem Alsayed M. Al Hashmi | President of Asian Union | United Arab Emirates |
| Nuvin Proag | President of African Union | Mauritius |
| Robert Perc | President of European Union | Slovenia |
| Miguel Angel Percoco | President of Panamerican Union | Argentina |
| Séverine Nebie | Athletes representative | France |
| Faisal Alkitbe | Athletes representative | United Arab Emirates |
| Margarita P. Ochoa | appointed Board member | Philippines |
| Medha Goodary | appointed Board member | Mauritius |
| Georgiy Kukoverov | Honorary Vice President | Russia |
| Tomo Borissov | Honorary Vice President | Bulgaria |
| Igor Lanzoni | Honorary Vice President | Italy |
| Joachim Thumfart | Director General | Germany |
| Luc Mortelmans | Director Finance | Belgium |
| Toni Dahl | Head of Entourage Commission | Denmark |

### Committee Fighting System

| Name | Role | Country |
| Dana Mihaela Mortelmans | Sport Director Fighting System | Romania |
| Ralf Pfeifer | Head Referee Fighting System | Germany |
| Seyed Amir Khoshbin | Members | Iran |
| Patrik Tremel | Members | Austria |
| Andreas Kuhl | Members | Germany |
| Jonathan Charlot | Members | Mauritius |
| Jose Dominguez | Members | United States |
| Michael Piaser | Members | United States |
| Licaï Pourtois | Members | Belgium |

## Rules of Sport Ju-Jitsu

JJIF currently regulates three different types of competitions at the international level: the Duo system', Fighting system and Ne Waza.

### Duo

The former is a discipline in which a pair of Jutsukas (Ju-Jitsu athlete) from the same team show possible self-defence techniques against a series of 12 attacks, randomly called by the mat referee from the 20 codified attacks to cover the following typologies: grip attack (or strangulation), embrace attack (or necklock), hit attack (punch or kick) and armed attack (stick or knife).
The Duo system has three competition categories: male, female or mixed, and the athletes are judged for their speed, accuracy, control and realism. It is arguably the most spectacular form of Ju-jitsu competition and it requires great technical preparation, synchronicity and elevated athletic qualities.

### Fighting

With a different approach, the Fighting System is articulated in a one-on-one competition between athletes. The system is divided in several categories according to weight and sex
(Male categories: −55 kg, −62 kg, −69 kg, −77 kg, −85 kg, −94 kg, +94 kg; Female categories −48 kg, −55 kg, −62 kg, −70 kg, +70 kg).
The actual competition is divided in three phases (Parts): Part I sees the jutsukas involved in distance combat (controlled attacks with arms and legs and atemis of various nature – punches, strikes and kicks). Once a grab has been made the Fight enters Part II and hits are no longer allowed.
The jutsukas try to bring one another down with various throwing techniques (and points are given according to how "clean" and effective the action was). Also – despite being uncommon – submission techniques as controlled strangulations and locks are allowed in part II.
Once down on the tatamis (mats) the match enters its Part III. Here points are given for immobilisation techniques, controlled strangulations or levers on body joints that bring the opponent to yield.
The winner is the Jutsuka who has accumulated most points during the fight. Automatic victory is assigned to the Jutsuka who gets an "Ippon" (clean action, full points) in all three parts. This type of competition requires timing, agility, strength and endurance.

### Newaza(bjj)

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the associated competition discipline is called Ne-Waza, which is a fairly new discipline in the official JIF competition program. It was included in 2010, and established in the World Games 2013 in two initial categories (men -85kg and women - 70kg). From 2014 the competition is held in 10 weight divisions:
* Male: -56kg, -62 kg, -69kg, -77kg, -85kg, -94kg, +94kg
Female: -49kg, -55kg, -62kg, -70kg, +70kg
2019 the number of female categories was increased:
* Female: -45kg; -48kg; -52kg; -57kg; -63kg; -70kg; +70kg