Governing Body Blocks Two Blue Belts From Competing Against Each Other At Family Reunion; Cites Exclusive Gym Membership Contracts Both Signed At Same Family Reunion

TRURO, MA — Forty minutes before cousins Dylan Ferraro, 26, and Micah Ferraro, 24, were scheduled to grapple on a tarp in the backyard of 118 Highland Road, the Ferraro family reunion was interrupted by a process server from the North Atlantic Jiu-Jitsu Commission, who handed each cousin a 12-page cease-and-desist letter, a separate 40-page rider, and what Grandfather Joe Ferraro, 71, described as 'a laminated thing with a QR code on it.'

According to the letter, both cousins are in active violation of their Exclusive Member-Gym Athletic Representation Agreements. The contracts were signed last year, at the same family reunion, at a folding table next to the ice chest.

'I remember Dylan telling me that a guy named Bradford had come to talk to him about representation,' said Aunt Diane Ferraro-Galluzzo, 58, a licensed Massachusetts notary who had been brought in to stamp the cornhole bracket. 'I didn't think anything of it. He was also selling kettlebells.'

Dylan, a blue belt (three stripes) at Bay State Jiu-Jitsu in Quincy, and Micah, a blue belt (two stripes) at Riverstone Grappling Academy in Providence, had planned the match during a group text earlier in the week. According to screenshots reviewed by NAJJC compliance officers, the message 'lmao we gotta roll at the reunion' was sent by Dylan at 8:47 p.m. on Tuesday. The commission has flagged the message as binding solicitation.

'The integrity of contractual exclusivity must be protected at all cost, including the cost of Thanksgiving,' said Bradford Lemieux, 47, the NAJJC's Director of Athlete Contract Compliance, in a prepared statement delivered from the driveway. 'A blue belt at a recognized member institution is not permitted to engage a blue belt at a separate recognized member institution in any form of friction-based grappling outside of a sanctioned event. This is not about money. This is about the sanctity of a system we invented fifteen months ago at this exact reunion.'

Lemieux, who was wearing a collared shirt embroidered with the NAJJC crest and carrying a binder, declined to specify how many of the 200-plus attendees at last year's reunion had been approached about representation. He did confirm that at least 11 contracts were executed on-site between 2:00 and 4:30 p.m., including one signed on the hood of a parked Subaru Outback.

Grandfather Joe Ferraro, a retired general contractor who has hosted the annual Ferraro reunion since 1994, expressed frustration that what he described as 'two kids who've been wrestling since they were seven' now required institutional clearance.

'These two have been wrestling since they were seven,' Ferraro said, repeating himself for emphasis. 'Now I need to read a forty-page rider to let them spar after dinner. There's a clause in here about broadcast rights. For my yard. There is nobody broadcasting anything. My wi-fi doesn't even reach the tarp.'

The rider, a copy of which was reviewed at press time, contains provisions that extend well beyond the proposed match. Section 7(c) stipulates that any grappling, wrestling, horseplay, 'brotherly or cousinly' roughhousing, or 'incidental body-to-body contact occurring within 50 feet of a cooler' between contractually affiliated athletes shall be considered a representation event and is subject to prior written approval by both member institutions, the NAJJC Compliance Desk, and, in Dylan's case, the Bay State Jiu-Jitsu Athletic Board, which consists of Professor Kevin Colbert and his wife Mary.

Lemieux confirmed that the NAJJC would 'consider' a one-time exemption, but only if both member gyms submit joint waivers, notarized insurance paperwork covering up to $250,000 in bodily injury, a signed acknowledgement that the match is 'non-promotional in nature,' and 15% of any proceeds from 'family-reunion-adjacent grappling activity,' a category the letter defines elsewhere as 'including but not limited to tips, wagers, reunion gift cards, leftovers exchanged in lieu of payment, and any form of social-media engagement.'

The cousins, who spent 20 minutes trying to read the document on a picnic bench while Dylan's four-year-old attempted to unfold it into a hat, said they did not fully understand what they had signed last year.

'I thought it was a waiver,' Micah said. 'Bradford told me it was a waiver. He also gave me a free rash guard. I'm not saying the rash guard was part of it, but the rash guard was definitely part of it.'

Dylan's gym owner, Professor Kevin Colbert, a fourth-degree black belt who was reached by phone during an open mat, expressed support for the cease-and-desist. 'We protect our guys,' Colbert said. 'Dylan is a Bay State athlete. Bay State athletes represent Bay State. If he rolls with a kid from another gym in a non-sanctioned environment, and that kid taps him, what does that do to our brand? What does that do to the Instagram?'

Riverstone's Professor Dan Moretti offered a similar position, though he added that he 'would be open' to a one-time exemption if Bay State agreed to share any viral content 50/50 and tag both gyms in Instagram captions 'above the first line break, not buried in the hashtags.'

Late Sunday afternoon, Aunt Diane attempted to notarize a joint waiver, but was disqualified by the NAJJC for being a named party to the event. Grandfather Joe offered to notarize it himself, 'like we used to,' and was informed that is not how notaries work. A second notary was summoned from Hyannis at a rate of $175 plus travel, but arrived after the cousins had opted instead to play three rounds of horseshoes — an activity the NAJJC's on-site auditor was observed photographing from behind a hydrangea.

At press time, Uncle Frank Ferraro had been cautioned by Lemieux for putting his 10-year-old nephew in a headlock, which the commission was investigating as possible unsanctioned grappling between a non-member and a presumptive recruit.

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Sources

• IBJJF To Introduce Changes To Gi Uniform Rules
• Understanding The Rules Of Rickson Gracie's New Federation (JJGF)
• IBJJF, ADCC, EBI: Confused By BJJ Rulesets?