Need some opinions here, do you think there are enough BJJ practicioners that 3 major BJJ tournaments could be created for anyone in Canada to compete in?
I mean, what if Canada had a state( I MEAN PROVINCIAL!) championships or National Championships or even a Team Championships for BJJ like in Brazil. Do you guys and gals think we would have enough support?
I dunno.
Sorry.
I know that there would be a base to work with but as far as complete support? I just don't know.
I think a National Championships recognized at a world level would be cool. We've had a few "Nationals" and opens, but it would be cool to have official national champions in each weight class. Oh, and... Canada doesn't have states.
ttt
I think an association would need to be set up to organize events like that. No more CJA but a Canadian BJJ association. It would be great if we could get some help from Judo Canada for something like that.
Not to sound pessimistic but it just seems that we are running around in a disorganized fashion at times.
As far as enough competitors I don't think at this point yet but give it a few years and I am sure we will.
Sound like a great idea Rick. You got my support.
SS
It would be great to have a National championships but it wont happen any time soon. The people who train BJJ coast to coast in this country live in cities that are in some cases very far from each other. There is no location that would suit everybody and it is understandable that many skilled athletes would not be able to make the trip. This would cause anyone's gold medal to seem illegitimate because people would come on here and say that so and so would have won if the event was in his city or if he could afford to travel to the competition.
Another problem is that at purple belt and above, the divisions would get very thin because a lot of the top guys are focusing on teaching, fighting or doing no-gi.
I think that we need to hold a real BJJ tournament in Ontario for starters, and let it grow from there, just like the OSW Invitational has grown rapidly. You could hold the Team Championships on the same day or on the same weekend.
I'm with psychokiller. BJJ federation, more competitors, then go for a National championship. Probably not for a few years.
How about provincials as a start?
Take the biggest / most successful tournaments from each province and regognize it as the provincials. (If there are more than one, you alternate it between them every year) Standardize the weight classes (I would recommend using the ADCC weights or the mundial weights) and make residency in that province and canadian citizenship (and possibly amateur status) the only pre-requisites for competing.
Then you have a provincial champ in each weight class. This would make it easier to get sponsorship for those recognized provincial champs to travel to and compete in the nationals, which could be hosted in different provinces every year. The host gym could then work out a boarding system where the travelling athletes could stay at participating gym members' houses, or a sponsorship deal could be worked out with a local small hotel to reduce travel expenses.
This would make winning (or placing) at the provincials a pre-qualifier for the nationals. Sure, some provinces would be easier to qualify in than others (ie: I don't doubt the NWT delegate will get eaten alive by the Ontario delegate, for example), but you would have a limited, and more important, doable national championship.
You piggy back the national championships on a local tourney (like the Showdown ADCC qualifyers piggybacked on a gi tourney (or vice versa) ) and end up with a self-funding tournament. Package the whole thing properly, present it to the right companies (TKO, APEX, Sports Canada, McDonalds, whatever) and try to drum up some press and I think it would fly.
Of course, I can say this because the huge stress of organizing and running the provincial and national championships would fall to someone else.
I think it's very doable, and all it would take would be for the big tournament players, the Joslins and Gamma's, for example, of Canada to get together and decide to do it.
Cheers!
joe
Joe,
You have some interesting ideas, but you have to be careful about running events that exclude competitors from out of province. IMO we should not purposely be restricting the size and competitive level of our tournaments when our ultimate goal is to make the BJJ tournament scene grow. For now, bigger is better.
My solution for the time being would be to hold a sport BJJ tournament in Hamilton or Toronto and focus on making it as impressive as possible. I would encourage non-Ontarian's from places like Quebec, the U.S. and elsewhere to attend by giving them early notice of the event and discounted fees to somewhat compensate for their travel expenses.
I would have mandatory pre-registration for purple belts and above so that they would know in advance if there will be people in their division or if they are just training for nothing. The belt divisions and weight classes could be modified in order to match people up or even single superfight-style matches could be proposed by the promoter in advance in order to get the most skilled guys in action. It's really important to do this because they will put on the show that will inspire the newer guys.
I would involve the big BJJ schools early on in the process to get feedback on what they think, what they want and to find out how they can help. The academies will benefit from a stronger scene so it's in their own interests to help.
These are some things that will make a tournament fun and interesting, to keep people coming back. I think that this is how you prepare the way for a national championship and you can do so without a BJJ federation for now.
Through the efforts of a few people, the competitive scene in Ontario is starting to suck less. We can do so much more if we work together.
It's frustrating because I've been to NJ, checked out the scene there and I think that we could be just as good. Anyways that's enough for now, somebody tell me if I'm on the right or wrong track or just troll me if you want.
NWT has polar bears in their heavy-weight brackets. Talk about getting eaten alive...
Hey Rene!
Less talk, more photos/video! ;o)
Psychokiller:
Great plans for building great tournaments, many of which are already being implemented by various tourney's and with any luck will continue to grow over the years. I was focussing more on building for a national championships in the short term (like 2005/6.
You make a good point about limiting attendance and the inherent risks. That being said, ADCC NA qualifyer had limited attendance as well, yet was a success.
Nice that we're talking about it though. Now if Sled Dog were to get the itch...
Cheers!
joe
Joe,
I'm trying dude!
BTW- You can have combined tournaments like Joe mentioned Showdown/ADCC where there's an open tournament for everyone, alongside provincial championships (for those who meet the criteria).
You already have GAMMA in Montreal, and several in TO (though Joslins really needs to be held on a Saturday if its to increase its out-of-town attendance).
Thanks, Rene.
My lady leaves next weekend (23rd) so any time before then (sooner the better) is fine.
TTT for Nationals!