Polaris Ruleset

Overview

Polaris publishes separate rules for individual superfights and for team-based Squads events. Individual matches use a round-based judging format, while team matches use a continuous winner-stays-on structure with team scoring.

Individual fights

Match format

Polaris superfights are split into rounds. Main-card bouts are 3 rounds of 5 minutes, while prelim bouts are 2 rounds of 5 minutes with a possible 3-minute overtime if the first two rounds are exactly tied.

Main-card rounds are judged with a 10-point must system, where the round winner receives 10 points and the opponent receives fewer based on the degree of control and effectiveness shown in that round. Polaris states that this format is intended to reward active engagement, initiative, control, and entertaining action rather than passive positional holding.

Judging criteria

Polaris says judges reward three main areas:

• Effective attacks and aggression — legitimate submission attempts, pace, risk-taking, and initiating exchanges.
• Escalating positional control — takedowns, sweeps, and positional improvement toward submissions.
• Effective counterattacks and dynamic escapes — reversals and strong defensive responses that change momentum.

Judges are instructed to view the aggressor more favorably than a defensive competitor, and fighters can be penalized for stalling, passivity, fouls, or poor sportsmanship.

Stalling and fouls

If one competitor is stalling, the referee gives a warning and starts a timer; continued inactivity can lead to a point deduction, and repeated stalling can result in the opponent being awarded a dominant position such as back control, side control, or mount. If both athletes stall, the referee can restart them standing or from a combat-base position depending on where the inactivity occurred.

Polaris also uses a broad "stalemate" rule that allows the referee to interrupt and reset almost any non-progressing position if the action is not moving toward a better position or submission. Competitors may also be penalized for repeatedly leaving the competition area, rolling off the mat to escape, or using illegal techniques.

Legal and illegal techniques

Polaris allows chokes and joint locks involving the shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee, and ankle, and neck cranks are legal in no-gi bouts. In gi bouts, spine or neck locks and heel hooks are listed as illegal.

Other prohibited actions include eye gouging, fish hooking, grabbing small extremities, posting on the face, one-handed windpipe grips, and slamming to escape a submission or position from above knee height.

Team fights

Team structure and format

Polaris Squads is the team format. Each team has six members: three under 80 kg and three under 95 kg, with a team captain managing order and timeouts.

The event is split into two 45-minute halves. Matches inside each half are 5 minutes long with a strict 30-second break, and the overall format is winner stays on.

In Squads, the first competitors are chosen in advance by the captains, and after that the next active athlete is chosen on the fly during the break. If a competitor loses by decision or submission, that athlete becomes inactive until the whole team has cycled through once; both teams reset again at the start of the second half.

Scoring

Every match must produce a winner, either by judges' decision or submission. A judges' decision is worth 1 point, a submission is worth 2 points, and an athlete from the under-80 kg bracket submitting an athlete from the under-95 kg bracket earns 3 points.

The team with the most points at the end of both halves wins the event. If the overall score is tied, the team captains compete in a 5-minute tiebreak superfight under Polaris superfight rules, unless an injured captain appoints a substitute.

Timeouts, injuries, and late-match rule

Each team may call one timeout per half, and that timeout extends the normal 30-second break to 90 seconds. The 45-minute half is strict, meaning the half ends when time expires regardless of how much remains in the current 5-minute round.

Polaris also notes a specific end-of-half rule: if 90 seconds or less remain in the final match of a half and no submission occurs, that match is rendered a draw because there is not enough time for judges to determine a clear winner.

If a competitor is injured and withdrawn, that athlete cannot return later in the event, and the team continues with reduced numbers. If a fighter withdraws after a match because of injury, the opposing team receives 1 point.

Team judging, stalling, and fouls

Squads decision criteria mirror the Polaris superfight model: judges reward aggression, meaningful submission attempts, positional advancement, counters, and escapes, while penalizing passivity and fouls.

Stalling is heavily penalized in the team format. A single stalling athlete can cost the team 1 point and, on repetition, concede a dominant position to the opponent. If both competitors stall, they can be restarted standing or from combat base, and the referee may also use the same broad stalemate reset rule used in individual fights.

Legal techniques

For no-gi Squads matches, Polaris states that all known submissions from IBJJF and ADCC are legal. For gi Squads matches, all IBJJF gi submissions are legal except heel hooks, which are specifically prohibited.

Main differences

Topic	Individual superfights	Team fights (Squads)
Core format	2 × 5 prelims or 3 × 5 main-card rounds.	Two continuous 45-minute halves with 5-minute matches.
Decision system	Round-by-round 10-point must judging.	Match result gives team points; judges' decision or submission decides each bout.
Scoring	Judges score rounds, with deductions possible for infractions.	Decision win = 1, submission = 2, lighter athlete submits heavier = 3.
Athlete rotation	Same two athletes fight the whole match.	Winner stays on; losing athletes become inactive until full team rotation.
Tiebreak	Prelims may go to 3-minute overtime; main-card rounds are judged.	If team scores are tied, captains fight a 5-minute tiebreaker.

Practical reading

In practice, Polaris individual fights are designed to reward initiative over passive control, so athletes usually benefit from visibly attacking, advancing, and threatening submissions rather than simply holding position. The team format keeps that judging philosophy but adds strategic roster management, point-value incentives, and momentum swings created by the winner-stays-on structure.

Sources

Adapted from Polaris' official published rules for superfights and Squads. See the official Polaris website for the authoritative, most up-to-date rules.