Competition Ruleset — CBI (Combat Jiu-Jitsu Invitational)

What CBI Is

Combat Jiu-Jitsu Invitational (CBI) is a submission grappling format founded by Eddie Bravo that adds open palm strikes to the ground game. It is a distinct event from the Craig Jones Invitational, which shares an acronym fragment but is mechanically and stylistically separate. CBI is a hybrid format — the takedown phase is grappling-only, but once a competitor is on the ground (defined by hand or knee touching the mat), open palm strikes become legal.

The format was developed to test the assumption that submission grappling techniques transfer to a context with strikes — an assumption that underlies the practical case for grappling as self-defence and as a base for MMA. CBI is not MMA: there are no closed-fist strikes, no kicks, and no strikes to a standing opponent. It is, intentionally, the minimum viable strike layer added to submission grappling.

The Ruleset

Standing exchange is grappling-only. No strikes are permitted before either competitor has gone to the ground. Once a competitor’s hand or knee touches the mat, open palm strikes are legal — both from the top player and from the bottom player. Strikes to the back of the head and strikes to the spine are prohibited. The match is decided by submission within regulation, and the format uses an overtime mechanism similar to EBI if regulation produces no submission.

The submission rules within CBI follow the broader submission-only family — heel hooks are legal, the leg entanglement game is unrestricted, and the format does not impose IBJJF-style submission division limits. The strike layer is the distinctive variable; the submission layer mirrors the no-gi submission-only standard.

The Mechanical Implications of Strikes

The presence of open palm strikes changes the bottom game in three specific ways. First, defensive posture must shield the head — the hands cannot be committed to grip-fighting or framing if the opponent is throwing. A guard player who is purely focused on hip framing exposes the face. Second, the bottom player loses the option of “burying the head” against an opponent’s chest — turning the face into the opponent’s torso, a common defensive option in pure submission grappling, becomes a position from which the opponent can strike the side and back of the head with palm shots. Third, top control becomes more dangerous in absolute terms because the top player’s structural advantage compounds with the strike option.

The implication for guard retention is that frames must be active and offensive rather than passive and defensive. A guard player who survives by spamming knee shields and hip frames while waiting for a sweep opportunity gives the top player a long, low-risk striking window. A guard player who threatens submission, sweeps actively, and disengages from prolonged contact denies the top player the static striking platform they need.

Bottom Position Becomes More Dangerous

In pure submission grappling, the bottom player who is being passed, mounted, or stuck under side control loses time but does not lose health. They can defend, frame, recover, and attempt to escape over an extended window. In CBI, the same time spent in a disadvantageous bottom position is taken under strikes. A competitor who is mounted under CBI rules is being struck while mounted — their defensive options are simultaneously the submission defences and the strike defences, and these are not always compatible.

The protection of the head changes guard priority. Closed guard, half guard with proper inside knee position, and active butterfly guard are favoured over open-guard configurations that leave the head exposed. The deep half guard becomes a riskier position than it appears in pure grappling, because the bottom player’s head is close to the top player’s striking arm with limited frame interposed. The mechanical question for any guard is: where is the bottom player’s head, and what is between it and the top player’s free hand?

Top Position — Strike-Aware Pressure

The top player in CBI is not, in mechanical terms, simply the same submission grappler with strikes added. A top player who divides attention between submission setup and striking risks producing neither. The format selects for top players who can apply structural pressure that pins the bottom player’s frame, then strike from positions where strikes do not break the pin. Mount with double underhooks, side control with the cross-face holding the bottom player’s head against the mat, and back control with the seatbelt are positions that allow strikes without ceding the controlling structure. A top player who lifts off the bottom player to strike with full extension is ceding control to gain power — which usually trades for a sweep or a submission attempt.

The integration of strikes into pressure passing is the distinctive top-game adaptation. A pass that arrives in side control and immediately produces controlled strikes from a held cross-face position is mechanically different from the same pass that arrives in side control and pauses to set up a submission. The former is CBI-native; the latter is pure submission grappling rewritten for a context where it does not match the format’s incentives.

How CBI Differs From Pure Submission Wrestling

The most significant difference between CBI-specific games and pure submission grappling games is that the bottom player has less time. In submission-only formats, a competitor caught in side control can frame, defend, and patiently work an escape over a long window. In CBI, that same window is taken under strikes — the bottom player must escape faster, accept worse positions in the escape attempt, or absorb damage. The strategic balance of “give up a position to set up a counter” tilts away from the bottom player.

The leg entanglement game is similarly affected. A heel hook entry that requires the attacker to be supine while the opponent stands or kneels exposes the attacker to strikes during the entry. Successful CBI leg attacks tend to be the entries that arrive at a position where strikes are not available — back exposure, fully-secured saddle with the opponent’s posture broken, or transitions through positions briefly enough that strikes do not land. The prolonged “feet-fighting” that characterises some leg entanglement exchanges is less viable.

The format does not reward submission grappling done slowly under control. It rewards submission grappling done at a pace that does not give the opponent extended striking windows.

Strategic Implications for Training

A competitor preparing for CBI should add three training elements to a pure submission grappling base: (1) head-position discipline in every guard position, with explicit attention to where the head is relative to the top player’s free hand; (2) mounted and side-control bottom escapes drilled under partner-applied light strikes (palm taps), so the escape sequencing accommodates a striking partner; (3) top-position pressure that holds while striking, drilled as a pinning-and-striking integration rather than as separate skills.

The format does not require an MMA background to compete in — but it does require the recognition that the strike layer changes the cost of every position. A competitor who arrives at CBI with pure submission grappling preparation is competing in a format that is fundamentally different from what they have trained for. The relevant Eddie Bravo profile documents the broader system from which this format emerged.