Quintet - Grappling Team Survival Match
Quintet is a Japanese submission grappling promotion created by Kazushi Sakuraba.
However this is not the typical one on one super fight event or a tournament. This is a grappling team survival tournament! How it generally works is that each team has five members and two teams will compete. The first members in the rotation of each team will face off against each other. If a submission is achieved by one of the competitors then that person is the winner. The winner stays on the mats and the loser is out. Then the winner will take on the next person in the other team's rotation. This continues until one team has no members left. But there are a few wrinkles in this simple formula. If there is a draw between two competitors due to the time running out, they are both eliminated!
If one or both competitors look to be stalling or not advancing towards a submission they will receive a penalty. Once three penalties have been given to a competitor they are then the loser of their match. One scenario that has happened is when both teams only have one person left and that match goes to a draw. In that cause the winning team is the one with the fewest number of penalties awarded over the course of each match. Another interesting rule is that each match is usually eight minutes long, but when there is a certain weight differential between two competitors the match will only last four minutes. To promote action in the matches holding someone in closed guard is not allowed. Also heel hook submissions are not permitted. Between the rounds of the five vs five matches, super fights are often held at Quintet events.
As far as entertainment and presenting grappling to a general audience goes Quintet is the premiere event in the world. Eddie Bravo Invitational and Combat Jiu Jitsu events have tried in that area, but to me Quintet is head and shoulders about the rest of the field that includes Polaris and Submission Underground.
I've heard talk that the Quintet rule set was inspired by Kosen Judo tournaments, but I cannot confirm if this is the case.
Quintet events can be watched on the UFC Fight Pass streaming service. Their most recent event was Quintet Fight Night 6 featuring four all female teams in a tournament. Also Sakuraba's son had a super fight as part of that event!
Here is an example of Quintet in action. Please enjoy!
This is my day 73 post for #100daystooffload
This work by Thomas Lloyd is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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