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 Saturday, May 6th, 2006 at the historic Kezar Pavilion Gymnasium located in Golden Gate Park at 755 Stanyan St., San Francisco CA 94117.

In 2005 we had record numbers of almost 500 competitors and 2,500 spectators to view one of the most completive and skillful Jiu-Jitsu contests. 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.

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.

The United Gracie Tournament has been a big success and gets bigger and better every year. This year is going to be no different. We strive to make the tournament better and take it to a higher level. We guarantee that the spectators and the athletes will be very happy with the new twists!

We would love to see all athletes, spectators, family, martial artists, etc. gather in this friendly atmosphere that will help promote the great art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

If you have any questions, please, feel free to contact us at any time.

Warm regards,

Charles & Ralph Gracie
United Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Team