Safety, Assumption of Risk and Event Responsibility Notice

Effective Date: June 17, 2025

Last Updated: June 17, 2025

This Safety, Assumption of Risk and Event Responsibility Notice applies to athletes, coaches, parents, legal guardians, managed athlete profile managers, spectators, academies, organizers, referees, staff, volunteers, and any person who uses Grip Culture in connection with tournaments, academies, events, brackets, registrations, rankings, results, or related activities.

Grip Culture provides software tools that allow organizers, academies, coaches, athletes, and users to create, manage, display, and interact with tournament and academy information.

Grip Culture does not operate, supervise, manage, inspect, insure, sanction, certify, or control organizer-created tournaments, academies, gyms, venues, training sessions, weigh-ins, matches, brackets, referees, medical staff, physical activities, safety procedures, or in-person event operations unless Grip Culture expressly states otherwise in writing.

1. Combat Sports and Physical Activity Risks

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, grappling, wrestling, martial arts, combat sports, tournaments, training, warm-ups, weigh-ins, physical conditioning, and related activities involve inherent risks.

These risks may include, but are not limited to:

  • Bruises.
  • Cuts.
  • Scrapes.
  • Sprains.
  • Strains.
  • Dislocations.
  • Fractures.
  • Joint injuries.
  • Neck injuries.
  • Back injuries.
  • Head injuries.
  • Concussions.
  • Choking or airway restriction.
  • Loss of consciousness.
  • Skin infections.
  • Blood exposure.
  • Dehydration.
  • Heat illness.
  • Exhaustion.
  • Cardiac events.
  • Medical emergencies.
  • Permanent injury.
  • Disability.
  • Death.

These risks may arise from actions or omissions of athletes, coaches, referees, organizers, staff, volunteers, spectators, venues, equipment, mats, surfaces, weather, facility conditions, crowd conditions, scheduling decisions, medical decisions, rule enforcement, or other circumstances.

2. Assumption of Risk

By registering for, attending, participating in, coaching at, managing, organizing, or otherwise engaging with a tournament, academy, or event listed or managed through Grip Culture, you understand that combat sports and physical activities involve inherent and unavoidable risks.

You voluntarily assume the risks associated with participation, attendance, coaching, management, spectating, or involvement in these activities.

If you are a parent, legal guardian, or authorized adult managing a minor athlete or managed athlete profile, you confirm that you understand the risks of participation and accept responsibility for deciding whether the athlete should participate.

Grip Culture does not determine whether any athlete is medically, physically, mentally, or legally fit to participate.

3. Organizer Event Responsibility

The organizer is solely responsible for the tournament or event they create, publish, or manage.

This includes responsibility for:

  • Venue selection.
  • Venue authorization.
  • Venue safety.
  • Mats and competition surfaces.
  • Equipment.
  • Event staffing.
  • Referees.
  • Check-in.
  • Weigh-ins.
  • Bracket operation.
  • Schedule management.
  • Rules enforcement.
  • Emergency planning.
  • Medical support.
  • Security.
  • Crowd management.
  • Athlete communication.
  • Parent or guardian communication.
  • Waivers and releases.
  • Minor athlete requirements.
  • Insurance.
  • Permits.
  • Licenses.
  • Local law compliance.
  • Refunds or event remedies when applicable.
  • Tournament cancellation or postponement handling.
  • All in-person event operations.

Grip Culture is not responsible for an organizer’s failure to provide safe facilities, qualified staff, emergency support, accurate rules, proper scheduling, adequate mats, medical coverage, insurance, permits, or legally required waivers.

4. Academy and Coach Responsibility

Academies, coaches, team representatives, and athlete managers are responsible for their own decisions and conduct.

This includes responsibility for:

  • Determining whether an athlete is ready to compete.
  • Training and preparation decisions.
  • Weight class decisions.
  • Belt or rank accuracy.
  • Registration accuracy.
  • Minor athlete supervision.
  • Communication with parents or guardians.
  • Athlete conduct.
  • Coach conduct.
  • Compliance with event rules.
  • Compliance with academy policies.
  • Compliance with applicable law.

Grip Culture does not verify that an academy, coach, or team representative has properly trained, supervised, cleared, or authorized an athlete for competition.

5. Athlete Responsibility

Athletes are responsible for participating only if they are medically and physically able to do so.

Athletes should not participate if they are injured, ill, medically restricted, impaired, dehydrated, or otherwise unable to safely participate.

Athletes are responsible for:

  • Following event rules.
  • Following referee instructions.
  • Competing honestly.
  • Providing accurate rank, age, weight, academy, and registration information.
  • Stopping participation when unsafe.
  • Seeking medical care when needed.
  • Reporting unsafe conditions to the organizer.
  • Respecting opponents, referees, staff, coaches, and spectators.

Grip Culture is not responsible for an athlete’s decision to compete or continue competing.

6. Parents, Guardians, and Managed Athletes

Grip Culture user accounts are only available to individuals who are at least 18 years old.

Minor athletes may appear through managed athlete profiles created or managed by parents, legal guardians, coaches, academy representatives, or other authorized adults.

If you register, manage, pay for, or authorize participation for a minor athlete or managed athlete, you confirm that:

  • You are at least 18 years old.
  • You are the parent, legal guardian, or authorized adult responsible for the athlete, or you otherwise have legal authority to manage the athlete’s participation.
  • You understand the risks of combat sports and tournament participation.
  • You are responsible for deciding whether the athlete should participate.
  • You are responsible for reviewing the organizer’s rules, refund policy, cancellation policy, waivers, venue details, and safety information.
  • You are responsible for obtaining any required medical clearance, parental permission, emergency contact information, or legal authorization.
  • You understand that Grip Culture does not verify parental consent, guardianship, medical clearance, waiver validity, or minor athlete eligibility unless Grip Culture expressly states otherwise in writing.

7. Medical and Emergency Responsibility

Tournament organizers are responsible for determining what medical support, emergency procedures, first aid, security, and safety personnel are required for their event.

Grip Culture does not provide medical advice, emergency care, first aid, athletic training, referee medical judgment, injury assessment, concussion assessment, or event medical staffing.

Participants, parents, guardians, coaches, and organizers should seek advice from qualified medical professionals when appropriate.

In an emergency, contact local emergency services immediately.

8. Waivers and Releases

Organizers may require participants, parents, guardians, coaches, spectators, staff, volunteers, or others to sign event-specific waivers, releases, consent forms, medical forms, or assumption-of-risk agreements.

Grip Culture may provide tools that allow organizers to reference, upload, link, or collect waiver-related information, but Grip Culture is not responsible for drafting, approving, enforcing, validating, or guaranteeing the legal effectiveness of any waiver or release used by an organizer.

The organizer is responsible for ensuring that any waiver, release, consent form, minor authorization, or medical document complies with applicable law and is appropriate for the event.

Participants, parents, guardians, and authorized adults should carefully read any organizer waiver or release before signing or accepting it.

9. No Grip Culture Event Control

Grip Culture does not control:

  • Whether a tournament occurs.
  • Whether a venue is safe.
  • Whether a venue is properly reserved.
  • Whether mats or equipment are safe.
  • Whether referees are qualified.
  • Whether medical staff are present.
  • Whether insurance exists.
  • Whether an organizer follows applicable law.
  • Whether an athlete is properly matched.
  • Whether an athlete is medically fit.
  • Whether divisions are safe or appropriate.
  • Whether minor athlete permissions are valid.
  • Whether waivers are enforceable.
  • Whether the organizer provides refunds.
  • Whether the organizer operates the event as advertised.

Publication of a tournament, academy, or event on Grip Culture does not mean Grip Culture has inspected, verified, sponsored, endorsed, certified, supervised, insured, guaranteed, or approved the physical event or its safety conditions.

10. External Payments and Event Attendance

If a tournament organizer uses an external payment link, payment platform, QR code, invoice, direct transfer, cash payment, third-party checkout, or organizer website, payment is made directly between the participant or authorized adult and the organizer or external payment provider.

Grip Culture does not process external organizer payments and is not responsible for refunds, chargebacks, cancellations, payment disputes, failed services, or fraud claims related to money collected outside the platform.

Payment for a tournament does not guarantee safety, medical support, insurance, event quality, venue readiness, organizer reliability, or event completion.

11. Spectators and Event Attendees

Spectators, parents, guardians, coaches, teammates, staff, volunteers, vendors, and other attendees may also face risks at tournaments or events.

These risks may include:

  • Slips and falls.
  • Crowd movement.
  • Equipment hazards.
  • Facility conditions.
  • Weather exposure.
  • Parking risks.
  • Security incidents.
  • Medical emergencies.
  • Actions of other attendees.
  • Event cancellation or delays.

Organizers and venues are responsible for crowd management, facility safety, venue rules, emergency procedures, and attendee safety at the event.

12. Reporting Safety Concerns

Users may report suspicious, unsafe, misleading, fraudulent, unauthorized, or harmful tournament activity to Grip Culture.

Grip Culture may review reports and may hide, restrict, suspend, label, or remove tournament listings, organizer accounts, academy profiles, or related content if Grip Culture believes there is a safety, fraud, legal, or platform integrity concern.

Grip Culture is not required to mediate every safety dispute, injury claim, refund dispute, or event complaint, but may take platform action when necessary to protect users or the platform.

13. Platform Rights

Grip Culture may restrict, suspend, hide, remove, label, or investigate any tournament, organizer, academy, profile, listing, content, payment link, or user account if Grip Culture believes there is risk involving:

  • Safety.
  • Fraud.
  • False information.
  • Misleading event details.
  • Venue disputes.
  • Minor athlete concerns.
  • Medical concerns.
  • Injury complaints.
  • Insurance concerns.
  • Organizer misconduct.
  • External payment disputes.
  • User harm.
  • Legal exposure.
  • Platform misuse.
  • Violation of Grip Culture policies.

Grip Culture may preserve records related to safety reports, organizer actions, athlete registrations, managed athlete records, waiver confirmations, payment warnings, external payment link activity, complaints, injuries reported to the platform, and policy acceptances for safety, fraud prevention, dispute review, legal compliance, and platform integrity.

14. No Medical, Legal, or Safety Advice

Grip Culture does not provide medical advice, legal advice, coaching advice, safety certification, referee certification, emergency planning, venue inspection, insurance advice, or risk management advice.

Information displayed on Grip Culture is for platform, tournament, academy, profile, ranking, registration, and informational purposes only.

Users should consult qualified professionals when medical, legal, insurance, safety, or event operation advice is needed.

15. Relationship to Other Policies

This notice works together with:

  • Grip Culture Terms of Service.
  • Grip Culture Privacy Policy.
  • Academy Registration and Verification Policy.
  • Organizer External Payments and Tournament Responsibility Policy.
  • Organizer Paid Services and Subscription Policy.
  • Tournament Listing and Publication Rules.
  • External Payment Warning for Participants.
  • Any organizer-specific waiver, release, refund policy, cancellation policy, or event rules.

If an organizer requires a separate waiver or release, that document is between the organizer and the participant, parent, guardian, coach, spectator, staff member, volunteer, or other person accepting it.

16. Acceptance

By registering for, publishing, managing, attending, coaching, competing in, paying for, authorizing, or participating in a tournament, academy, event, or related activity connected to Grip Culture, I confirm that:

  • I understand combat sports and physical activities involve inherent risks.
  • I voluntarily assume those risks for myself or for any managed athlete I am authorized to represent.
  • If I manage or authorize a minor athlete, I confirm I am the parent, legal guardian, or authorized adult responsible for that athlete.
  • I understand Grip Culture does not operate, supervise, insure, inspect, or guarantee organizer-created tournaments or academies.
  • I understand the organizer is responsible for event operations, safety, medical support, waivers, venue conditions, and compliance with applicable law.
  • I understand Grip Culture is not responsible for injuries, accidents, event safety, venue conditions, medical decisions, organizer conduct, external payments, refunds, cancellations, or disputes connected to organizer-created events.
  • I understand I should independently review event details, organizer information, waiver requirements, refund terms, safety information, and medical readiness before participating or authorizing participation.
  • I accept the Safety, Assumption of Risk and Event Responsibility Notice.