Charles and Ralph Gracie, in conjunction with our sponsors, would like to enthusiastically invite you, your students, friends and family to join us and compete in the United Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Tournament 2006. The competition will take place on May 6th, 2006 at the historic Kezar Pavilion Gymnasium located in Golden Gate Park at 755 Stanyan St., San Francisco CA 94117.The United Gracie will be reintroducing the team competition to the tournament. The top five schools will receive Team trophies to display in their respective academies. All Athletes, in first and second place, will be awarded gold and silver medals respectively. In addition to awards, all athletes will receive free tournament T-shirts.Every year the United Gracie Tournament tries, if possible, to create a totally new feature to our tournament. Our objective is to always welcome innovation in the interest of the continued growth of Jiu Jitsu. We are not afraid to try something that is not seen at any other Jiu-Jitsu tournament. This year we will have something new and exciting. Instead of just the regular traditional general divisions for each belt, we will also have the new ‘ADULT WHITE BELT NOVICE DIVISION’. We want to give beginners a chance to compete and enjoy the atmosphere as a competitor and not just a spectator. This will be a specifically for those adult students who have just begun to study the Art of Jiu Jitsu. To qualify for the Adult White Belt Novice Division. We will require a signed declaration from the participant’s Academy itself that testifies to each entrants experience being no more than six months. The cut off date for having started at their academy will be 11/01/2005. A competitor MUST have no more than SIX MONTHS of Jiu-Jitsu training. NO EXCEPTIONS! We are doing this solely to provide a special competition to students who are just starting out and who might not have an interest in competing against students who are far more advanced at grappling. We do not want advanced White Belt Jiu-Jitsu practitioners entering the United Gracie Tournament and taking advantage of inexperienced BJJ students. Our purpose is to give true beginners of roughly equal knowledge of, and abilities in, the sport of Jiu- Jitsu a chance to experience a real tournament free of the concerns of competing against advanced practitioners. The Adult White Belt Novice Division will be divided into sub divisions with respect to weight, age (adult, master and seniors); but all competitors will simply be White Belts with no more than SIX MONTHS training. Of course, we will still have all the same traditional WHITE Belt divisions for experienced students and practitioners but we always look for ways to help NEW students develop and grow in the sport. Remember that the ADULT WHITE BELT NOVICE DIVISION will be for the Adult Competitors of six months or less experience Only! The regular white belt divisions for more experienced students will still be part of this tournament.Our preliminary discussions with various Academies, who have had their students compete in prior United Gracie Tournaments and other Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, has indicated a surprisingly large amount of interest. This could be come a perennial event. ABOUT OPEN DIVISION / CHAMPION OF THE CHAMPIONS:The United Gracie Tournament we have eliminated the ?REGULAR OPEN DIVISION?. In its replacement we are introducing the ?CHAMPION OF THE CHAMPIONS? division. This will be a championship within each ADULT belt division. To qualify for the Champion of the Champions a competitor MUST take 1st or 2nd place in their weight division. The Champion of the Champions division will have two weight classes, (181.0 lbs and under) / (181.1 lbs and over). White Belts will compete against other White Belts, Blue Belts compete against Blue Belts, etc…Remember that the Champion of the Champions will be for the Adult Competitors Only!ABOUT MEN’S BLACK BELT PRO DIVISION:Men?s Black Belt Pro Division will feature a Light Weight Division (181 lbs. & under), and a Heavy Weight Division (181.1lbs. & Over), with a $1,000 cash prize, plus a Championship Belt, and a New GI, for the winner of each division. Anyone interested in competing in the Men?s Black Belt Divisions should contact us as before April 1st. In our highly anticipated 6th year, we expect over 600 athletes and over 3,000 spectators with even more exciting matches. Men, women, and children of all age groups and belt levels, from white to black belts are invited to compete and attend. We will have all the information regarding the United Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Tournament 2006 posted in our web site on 03/01/06, also we will post the tournament information on other web sites and we will send out information through our mailing list.To request the Tournament 2006 Full Information Package you can contact us by email at [email protected] or call us at (209) 832-9996.Sincerely,Charles GracieCharles Gracie Jiu-Jitsu AcademyTracy, CA – (209) 832-9996 Daly City, CA – (650) 756-7579San Mateo, CA – (650) 438-9528Reno, NV (775) 830-4279For more info: [email protected]www.charlesgracie.com