$9,000 TN tournament payout


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WILSON CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL
419 Wildcat Way, Lebanon, Tennessee 37090

Doors open at 8am for registration.
Spectator entry fee $15

$9,000 AWARDED TO COMPETITORS
$500 TO LARGEST TEAM

ADULT MEN'S OPEN BELT GRAND PRIZES:
145lbs champion $500
155lbs champion $500
170lbs champion $500
185lbs champion $500
205lbs champion $500
HWT champion $500

ADULT MEN'S NO GI GRAND PRIZES:
145lbs champion $500
155lbs champion $500
170lbs champion $500
185lbs champion $500
205lbs champion $500
HWT champion $500

WOMEN'S OPEN BELT GRAND PRIZES:
130lbs champion $500
+130.1lbs champion $500

WOMEN'S NO GI GRAND PRIZES:
130lbs champion $500
+130.1lbs champion $500

HIGH SCHOOL MALE OPEN BELT GRAND PRIZE:
Champion $300

HIGH SCHOOL MALE NO GI GRAND PRIZE:
Champion $300

JUVENILE GI DIVISIONS GRAND PRIZES:
Age 4/5 champion $125
Age 6/7 champion $125
Age 8/9 champion $125
Age 10/11 champion $125
Age 12/13 champion $125

CUSTOM MEDALS WILL BE AWARDED TO THE TOP 3 PLACERS OF EACH DIVISION.
THERE WILL ALSO BE DIVISIONS FOR GI WHITE BELT, GI BLUE BELT, AND NO GI WHITE/BLUE BELT.
(These divisions will also receive custom medals as well, but will NOT receive any monetary awards. So we encourage white and blue belts to enter the pro division as well as their belt division to get even more matches)

TTT Phone Post 3.0

Hope to see you on the mat baby-silverback. This is a great opportunity for grapplers to recoup some expenses and also test their skill set in our open belt format. We are trying to make some positive changes in grappling.

Damn. Already have plans that weekend. Hopefully it will go great so I can do the next one! Phone Post 3.0

Jessy we plan on having event 2 in a region more accessible to you. Check out our website. We are really driven to change the focus and structure of sport grappling.

WWW.PROGRAPPLINGOPEN.COM

Do you think elite black belts would show for 5,000 prize money? Phone Post 3.0

Currently we are paying $500 for a gi division win and $500 for a no gi division win. We are not just trying to attract "elite black belts." Are goal is to give all grapplers and even MMA fighters the chance to enter a grappling event and be compensated for the sacrifices they make.

Would elite black belts show up for $500? Why not? They currently show up to other events just to win a medal that has no value outside of the bjj world. $500 has global value. And heck, if a person has a great day and wins the gi and no gi they go home with $1,000. Not a bad initial payday considering you did not get punched or kicked.

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Good to see your rule set includes points for reversals other than sweeps and also 1 point for escapes.  

We appreciate that you like what we are doing with the rules. Current bjj tournament rules are not preparing grapplers for the cage or the street. We are aiming to devise a tournament series that will lead to great grapplers and great fighters.

I am going to get right to the verb: traditional sport BJJ tournaments do not prepare grapplers for mixed martial arts or self-defense scenarios. There was a time when BJJ tournaments really geared towards developing fighters. Tournaments had simple rules, very few divisions, and a lot of "cross pollination" of entries from other arts that wanted to see what this BJJ was all about. This time period also saw mixed martial arts being dominated by BJJ practitioners... Rickson Gracie, Ze Mario Sperry, Bustamante, the Nogueira brothers, the late Ryan and Renzo Gracie, Fabio Gurgel, Ricardo Arona.... This is just a short list of some of the most popular BJJ/MMA fighters from that Golden Era. Sadly, many BJJ practitioners today would not recognize the majority of names on that short list.

It was initially stated that tournaments were created to get practitioners the feeling of a live encounter. But today, most tournaments have become a game that does not relate well to fighting prowess. It is an all too common site to see two grapplers simultaneously flopping to their backs looking for guard during a match. This has become prevalent because many practitioners lack takedown games. And due to their focus on competitions that do not penalize guard jumping it really hurts BJJ fighters when they cross over into MMA and even during a street encounter. When you look at the current UFC champion list only two of them come from backgrounds that do not stress putting an opponent on their back: Jose Aldo and Anthony Pettis. The other champions all come from heavy takedown arts. NO PAST BJJ WORLD CHAMPION, EXCLUDING BIBIANO IN ONE FC, CURRENTLY HOLDS A MAJOR MMA WORLD TITLE. It is clear that sport BJJ competitions are failing us when it comes to making the transition to fighting.

If we in the BJJ community want to stress the benefit of our art for self-defense and sport fighting we must change how our tournaments are structured. We have to attack the problem of stalling. We must address the significance of being in top positionally. We must harp on the peril of getting reversed, which in BJJ sport tournaments is a allowed without points being awarded because it is seen as a non-technical technique. We also must decrease the match time. Olympic judo uses a five minute match. International wrestling utilizes a six minute match. MMA uses a five minute round. And street fights typically end in under 60 seconds. The 10 minute clock used in black belt matches helps facilitate stalling and it really makes our art spectator unfriendly.

Please help spread the word about our mission. We are driven to make BJJ more relative and effective for mixed martial arts and street self-defense by attacking the abundant rule flaws in current BJJ tournaments. We also realize to grow grappling we must make it more spectator friendly by having more action in our matches and a more intuitive point system that will be easier for newcomers to understand. Please support our August 2 Nashville event and help us elevate BJJ back to it's Golden Era.


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INFO@PROGRAPPLINGOPEN.COM

Dude I love your ideas and attitude about grappling events... I'm going to spread the word we need more of what you are talking about..... But are you worried from a business perspective that you can survive with such large payouts? Phone Post 3.0

Of course we realize the common thing to do is host an event. Give out a marginal medal. Hit the next city with the same business model. WE WHOLE HEARTEDLY BELIEVE THAT IF WE COMPENSATE THE GRAPPLERS WE WILL ATTRACT A LARGER TALENT POOL AND WE WILL MAKE GRAPPLING MORE EXCITING. In addition, we plan on increasing the payouts as our events grow. We just need grassroots support and we need the grappling community to back the changes we are bringing in order to progress the art.

WWW.PROGRAPPLINGOPEN.COM
INFO@PROGRAPPLINGOPEN.COM

That's the weekend of my anniversary...I'll have to catch the next one. I like the re set & concepts you have. I look forward to being on your mat sometime Phone Post 3.0

HAPPY EARLY ANNIVERSARY! Make sure you do something nice for that woman.

While attending university, I like to use that term because it makes me sound like I was educated in Europe and therefore more intelligent, professors would talk about the growing trend of grade inflation. Simply put grade inflation is the lowering of academic standards in order to push people along. I initially thought these professors were just looking for reasons to fail students, but now I see college degreed individuals scrapping for any part time job that they can land. I see the validity of their statement. Unfortunately, the world of grappling is suffering from medal inflation. Which is the over abundance of events that are actually insignificant yet we rally around them in order to feel accomplished.

Let us start with the IBJJF. When I first started grappling an IBJJF medal was extremely prestigious and rightfully so. They effectively had two events a year: Pan-Am and the Mundials. To place at either of these two events designated you as an elite grappler. Sure, part of the status was because only the people that truly believed in their grappling ability would compete. But, the other part that made medalling so coveted was that the events were rare. The scarcity of IBJJF competition is what made us desire their awards. In short, scarcity led to prestige.

Over time, The IBJJF realized it can make a lot more money by offering a lot more events. The month of August will hold a total of nine IBJJF events! Of those nine events, six of them will be held in North America. I am sure the federation will say it is because it is trying to grow Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but it is safe to say once the TV show The Simpsons parodies your activity in an episode you have officially made it. The reality is the more North American events they host the more money they can make because registration fees are higher in North America then they are in Brazil. What grapplers fail to realize is the more events the federation holds the less prestigious their medals become.

When you sit down and analyze the structure and model of the federation it is hard to believe that they are operating with the goal of growing grappling. Registration fees are high. There is no pay out to the competitors. They are now requiring belt registration and fees. It is nothing short of a cash grab.

We ask all fans of grappling to please spread the word about our paid events. We believe that competitors should be financially rewarded for competing. This will grow a stronger base of competitors and it will lead to more action packed matches. We are also excited about giving all grapplers the opportunity to compete in the paid division. Although we will have white and blue belt divisions we would love to see white and blue belts also venture into the paid division. Our Nashville event will pay $500 to the largest team and will pay an excess of $9000 to division champions. As our events grow so will our payouts! Please spread the word about our vision and help us grow grappling by truly giving back to competitors.

I'll be there and will try and bring some others Phone Post 3.0

ChipW we appreciate your support! All we are doing is actually acting upon all the suggestions grapplers have made over the years concerning the tournament experience. We are not trying to usurp the IBJJF. We are just offering competitors and spectators a different rule set and award system to mix into their tournament schedules. The more a grappler varies his form of competition the better s/he will be. Let us not forget it was Rolls Gracie that cross trained and competed in JJ, judo, Greco-Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling and I believe even some Sambo and he is considered the GOAT!

Keep it up man I like your attitude... Looking out for the competitor. I believe this has the ability to become big if you run an organized tourney... I'll try to get as many guys from Alliance Atl to come out Phone Post 3.0

ALLIANCE ATL IS A MEAT-GRINDER OF TALENT. We were hoping to attract some competitors from the 9x ibjjf world champion squad. We deeply appreciate your support. We do not doubt event one will have some hiccups. We only ask for people to keep supporting us as we get our formula right.

It is a common sight in gyms all across America each winter. A young man disrobes from his warm ups, clothes himself with his courage, and ventures onto the mat to test himself against an opponent that is more physically and technically mature than himself. Although they both compete under the banner of "varsity" one opponent is freshly in his teen years while the other is newly stamped an adult. I am describing the very common showdown between a freshman wrestler versus a senior wrestler.

More often than not the senior typically takes the match. Moreover, The match ends within minutes rather than periods or seconds instead of minutes. While outsiders may feel that this trial by fire is unfair, those that are a part of our grappling community understand that this experience leads to the emotional and physical development of the grappler. It teaches the novice how to bravely present himself even though the odds are not in his favor. It gives him the chance of feeling the skill that he can possibly possess one day through hard work, determination, and commitment to his craft. But, maybe most importantly, he learns that there is no shame in an unfavorable outcome as long as he competes with all of his spirit.

The PGO wants to give this experience to submission grapplers as well. While we recognize and applaud the hard work it takes to "darken" your belt we do not think that you should be disqualified from testing your ability against others because you lack a certain belt. Losing a tournament match does not belittle your ability. In reality it can give the grappler insight to a deficiency that they have in their game. Our open belt format will give grapplers the much needed opportunity to elevate their game and to find a way to possibly overcome a competitor with more experience. Remember, competition was created to allow us to get live grappling experience to better prepare us for street defense situations. THERE ARE NO BELTS ON THE STREET!