Need-prioritized grants for athletes, coaches, and officials.
Fight Forward Foundation provides need-prioritized grants that help athletes and officials compete, train, and officiate without financial barriers standing in the way.
We currently fund athletes and officials in:
Judo
Muay Thai
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Support is focused on amateur and developing competitors, with expansion possible as funding capacity grows. We're especially interested in growing into other foundational combat sports that share the same roots of discipline, technique, and competition ours are built on.
We fund more than sanctioned competition.
We fund participation in sanctioned competitions recognized by governing bodies like IJF, WAKO, WBC-MT, ISKA, and IBJJF, as well as developmental events (scrimmages, smokers, and similar gym-hosted competitions) when they meet reasonable safety and oversight standards.
What grants cover.
Eligible
- Competition & travel
airfare, lodging, registration, licensing - Training support: camps, coaching, mat access, when tied to a competition
- Equipment support: required gear not otherwise provided
Not Covered
- Ongoing or indefinite gym memberships
- General fitness programs unrelated to a specific competition
- Apparel, uniforms, or branded gear
- Long-term coaching retainers
- Food, supplements, or personal incidentals
Support for the people who make competition possible.
Working capacity
Supported at sanctioned competitions only, since credentialing and assignment are tied to sanctioning. Eligible costs include travel, lodging, and required certification or recertification fees.
Developing capacity
Officials gaining supervised experience (shadowing or assisting) are supported at sanctioned or developmental events alike, covering reasonable travel and event-access costs.
Training
Covers recognized officiating certification programs: USA Muay Thai and ISKA courses, the IBJJF referee program, and Judo referee clinics, whether in-person or online. Programs must be issued by a recognized sanctioning body, not informal instruction.
No fixed grant caps this year.
We're running our first cycle without hard per-event or annual caps, to establish a real baseline before setting them. Funding decisions remain need-prioritized, and we may adjust as we learn what a full cycle actually looks like.