At the Pan Kids IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Art of Jiu Jitsu (AOJ) finished atop the team standings with 437 points, a total that didn’t just edge out the competition — it buried it.
The Numbers Tell the Story
Here’s how the top five academies stacked up in the overall team rankings:
- AOJ — 437 points
- Gracie Barra — 366 points
- Alliance — 206 points
- CheckMat — 197 points
- Pablo Silva BJJ — 163 points
That’s not a narrow win. AOJ finished 71 points clear of second-place Gracie Barra, a gap larger than the entire point total of the fifth-place team. To put it another way, AOJ’s margin of victory over Gracie Barra alone is bigger than what fourth-place CheckMat scored for the whole tournament. In a sport where team titles are usually decided by a handful of gold medals, this wasn’t close.
Why This Matters
The Pan Kids Championship is one of the most competitive junior events on the IBJJF calendar, drawing youth competitors from academies across the globe. Building a youth program strong enough to top that field isn’t about one or two standout kids, it’s about depth, something which AOJ clearly has. A result like AOJ’s requires medal-worthy performances across multiple weight classes, belt levels, and age divisions, all pointing back to the same academy’s mats and the people behind the team, most notably in this case, the Mendes brothers and Tainan Dalpra.
For a team to outscore the field by that kind of margin, their competitors had to be showing up and winning consistently, not just occasionally cashing in on a big final.
The Bigger Picture
Gracie Barra’s 366 points is still a strong showing by any normal standard, it would good enough to headline most tournament recaps on its own. It’s a reminder of just how deep the traditional powerhouse academies run their kids’ programs. But this year, it wasn’t enough to keep pace with AOJ’s showing.
Alliance, CheckMat, and Pablo Silva BJJ rounded out the top five, each fielding competitive youth squads, but the gap between third place and first widened to more than 200 points, which is over double what Alliance brought home.
A freelance journalist with more than seven years of experience covering a wide range of topics, with a focus on delivering accurate, engaging, and well-researched reporting. He studied at the University of Birmingham, where he developed a strong foundation in journalism and communications. Martin is a 10th Planet BJJ brown belt and has been training for approximately 10 years and a keen follower of submission grappling.
