Rules & Regulations
Minors Rules & Equipment Guidelines
Minors Division
12-17 years old // 2026 Season
Rules Snapshot
The minors rulebook bridges youth safety and amateur structure, preserving the three-round format while restricting head strikes for fighters 17 and below.
Round
01
Doble Baston
2 sticks
Full weapon engagement with two official Arnis sticks.
Round
02
Solo Baston
1 stick
One-stick format with limited empty-hand body strikes.
Round
03
Mano Y Mano
Empty hand
FMA striking, takedowns, grappling, and no weapons.
3
Rounds
2
Transitions
Checked
Equipment
Weapon Progression
Round 1
Doble Baston
2 sticks
Round 2
Solo Baston
1 stick
Round 3
Mano Y Mano
Empty hand
The fight evolves from weapon-to-weapon, to single-stick control, to empty-hand combat.
Allowed Target Areas
Legal: Head, body, arms, and legs where allowed by round.
Protected: Back of head, spine, groin, throat, and eyes.
Round-based: Youth and weapon rounds apply stricter head-target rules.
Competition Principles
Safety First
Protect athletes and keep the competition environment controlled.
Fair Competition
Skill, strategy, and control decide the outcome.
Respect
Respect opponents, officials, and the rules.
Weapon Progress Gear
- Grilled headgear, preferably XS or Small.
- Red/blue MMA gloves, groin guard, hand wraps, MMA shorts or compression shorts, breast plate, rash guard or sports bra for female fighters, arm guards, and shin guards.
Mano Y Mano Gear
- Boxing headgear, red/blue MMA gloves, groin guard, hand wraps, mouth guard, MMA shorts or compression shorts, breast plate, rash guard or sports bra for female fighters, arm guards, and shin guards.
Allowed Actions
- Doble Baston: body kicks/knees, takedowns, sweeps, and stick disarms.
- Solo Baston: body kicks/knees, takedowns, sweeps, disarms, body elbows, punches while holding the stick, stick chokes, standing submissions, and hand switching.
- Mano y Mano: FMA/BJJ integration, punches and kicks to legal targets, elbows/knees to body, takedowns, sweeps, and submissions.
Prohibited Actions
- No strikes to the head for fighters 17 and below.
- No oblique kicks, butt-end strikes, thrusting strikes, spine/back-of-head attacks, ground-and-pound, suplexes, or excessive-force jumping takedowns.
- No punches or elbows if the stick is lost in Solo Baston.
- No headbutts, eye gouging, fish hooking, biting, spitting, hair pulling, throat attacks, small joint manipulation, cage grabbing, grounded head knees, heel hooks, 12-6 elbows, soccer kicks, stomps, spikes, or fingers in wounds/orifices.
Safety Parameters
- The 12-17 division uses youth-sized headgear where appropriate.
- All head strikes are prohibited for 17-and-below fighters.
- Mano y Mano requires boxing headgear, mouth guard, arm guards, shin guards, groin guard, and breast plate.
Compliance & Penalties
- Point deductions.
- Disqualification.
- Removal from the event.
- If a no-contest scenario occurs beyond half of Round 2, judges determine the winner by scorecards.
Ready To Compete?
Know The Rules. Train Hard.
Review the rulebook, register your gym, and confirm athlete requirements before event week.