Extracted from FILA´s website:
“There are many styles of submission fighting, but only one opportunity to prove to the world who the true Master of submission is ...”
The World Grappling Committee (WGC) was created under the authority of FILA to promote the physical and mental well being of the individuals involved in grappling. The objective of the WGC is to make grappling an exciting and attractive sport for spectators and to regulate its practice all over the world with the goal of making it an Olympic discipline.
On 20 and 21 December 2008, the first FILA World Grappling Championship will be held in the city of Lucerne (Switzerland).
Around 300 athletes from 50 countries are expected to compete in this event. All athletes will be allowed to compete in both styles (Gi and No-Gi), so one can expect a very large number of fights divided into 5 male weight categories and 4 female weight categories. The number of participant per country is not limited and each country has the opportunity to go back home with 18 titles (9 categories in Gi and 9 categories in No-Gi).
All fights will be broadcasted on the official championship website, allowing all interested parties worldwide to have access to all the footage shot during the two days of competition. By the end of the competition, around 600 fights will have been shown with a total of over 20 hours of video broadcast.
At this moment, television coverage is being negotiated with a one-hour weekly sports show (Trans World Sport) that is broadcasted on 70 TV channels worldwide (with a potential extra 100 channels according to their programming directors’ decision). The hottest tournament finals and award ceremonies will be featured on this show, potentially reaching 200 million households throughout the globe.
The event will be held at Messe Lucerne, in the heart of the most visited city of Switzerland. With its 4000 square meters, this hall can seat up to 3500 spectators (around 1500 to 2500 spectators are expected to attend the event). The hall also offers 20 toilets to the general public (10 male and 10 female toilets), 5 dressing rooms with toilets for the athletes, 1 doctor’s office, 1 fully equipped press centre, and 1 VIP room where refreshments will be served. In addition, advertisement boards and commercial spaces will be made available to provide sponsors with the best exposure of their products. The potential of this venue is unprecedented for such competitions in Europe.
The fighter’s accommodation also deserves some attention. The “Jailhotel” is one of the finest accommodations in the region. This historical building was built in 1862 and was used as a prison until autumn 1998. Where prisoners attempted to escape for more than 135 years, today tourists and residents of Lucerne enjoy the unique atmosphere of the “Jailhotel” and “Alcatraz-Bar”. Some theme rooms are available to its guests such as the library room (“Spend the night in the former prison library surrounded by walls of books. A one-of-a-kind experience”) and the director’s suite (“Located in the former jail warden's office, you get a real taste of power”). This hotel will certainly make the athletes’ stay in Lucerne an unforgettable experience.
Sounds like it´s going to be a very interesting grappling event. More info can be found on the oficial website: www.d4-world.com
I have no idea why the website is called d4-world though....
Representing the US are:
Men 62kg
No-Gi / Gi
Matt Sanchez, Brian Peterson
Men 70kg
No-Gi / Gi
Ricky Lundell, Tom LeCuyer
Men 80kg
No-Gi / Gi
Jacob Volkmann, Michael Kelly
Men 92kg
No-Gi / Gi
Raphael Davis, Ian Murphy
Men 125kg
No-Gi / Gi
Jeff Monson, Peter Becker
Women 48kg
No-Gi / Gi
Lisa Ward
Women 55kg
No-Gi / Gi
Felicia Oh, Tara LaRosa
Women 63kg
No-Gi / Gi
Molly Helsel
Women 72kg
No-Gi / Gi
Miesha Tate, Angela Poe
TTT for Raphael Davis
I thought they had a tournament last year Turkey or somewhere like that..
Have they picked the coaches yet?
ttt
sakubaba - Extracted from FILA´s website:I don't understand why they keep saying "first." They did one last year in Antalya, Turkey. I took gold last year... so, does that not count? I don't get it. shrugs
On 20 and 21 December 2008, the first FILA World Grappling Championship will be held in the city of Lucerne (Switzerland).
The Canadian qualifier is going on next weekend in Calgary.
http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=forum_framed.frame&thread=1372139&page=1
ttt
ttt