Friday, August 3, 2012

"Bad Ref"

I came across this match with a search for "BJJ Bad Ref" on Google and I think it contains a good teaching moment towards the end.  

Here's the match, but you probably don't want to watch the whole thing.  I've linked to the parts I want to talk about below.



The referee stops a leg reap around 2:25 after the competitor complains about it.  To be fair, he is on the wrong side to notice it, but ideally the referee would be pacing as opposed to standing still.  Pacing around a match helps you miss fewer calls because you're out of position or have the wrong angle.

The most interesting part of this match is at 4:05.  Blue gets a sweep, but Black comes on top into a full mount before Blue can settle.  

This sequence would break down as follows:
  1. Blue initiates a sweep that puts Black down on his butt.  Blue has earned a minimum of an advantage for this sequence.
  2. Black comes back on top before Blue has been on top for 3 seconds.  Since Blue just swept him and has not settled, Black is not eligible for sweep points.  However, he does prevent Blue's sweep from scoring points and limits him to just an advantage.  
  3. Black would not be eligible for a guard pass because he swept directly to mount.
  4. Black is eligible for mount points regardless of how he got there because unlike sweeps and guard passes which are "Action" points, the mount is "Position" points.  All Black has to do is hold on for 3 seconds...
The controversy in this match is centered around how long Black holds the mount.  It's very close to 3 seconds.  I counted ~2.5, but I can't fault the referee for awarding the points because it's so close.  If you think Black had the mount for more than three seconds, the correct call is advantage Blue, 4 points Black.  If you think he didn't hold mount long enough then it's one advantage each.

Despite the video title, I don't think this guy is a "Bad Ref".  His biggest mistake is awarding the mount points too long after Black lost the position.  If he'd have been quicker with the points, the coach would've hopefully been less irate.  Waiting to issue the points makes it look like the Referee was scoring unstabilized time in the mount when Blue had reacquired a guard.

And regarding the irate coach, the Referee should have issued a warning to him after the match because yelling four-letter words in a venue with children is unacceptable.