CARLINHOS NO GI:

Carlinhos Gracie speaks about No-gi Worlds

Early registration brings discount

Set for December 15th, the 1st No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu World Championship promises to bring together some of the sport’s greatest stars in the California State University Dominguez Hills gymnasium, in Carson City, in greater Los Angeles. Sign-ups are already open, and can be done online on the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation website. Those to sign up before Wednesday, the 28th, will pay a special promotional price of US$ 80, whereas those to sign up between November 29th and December 8th, the deadline, will pay a fee of US$ 100.

President of the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation, instructor Carlos Gracie Jr. is working on making the no-gi Worlds see the same organizational success as the gi world championships are known for. GRACIEMAG.com contacted Carlinhos, who direct from California spoke on his perspective on how the coming championship will unfold.

GRACIEMAG.com: How have preparations for this event been coming along?
“I’ve received a lot of emails and there is a lot of murmur about the championship, we expect it to be a success. We’ll hold the championship in one day only, since it’s the first one, and will be a great experience, which is why we’ll have a limited number of athletes. So it is very likely the maximum number of sign-ups will be reached soon, which is why you should not delay in signing up,” he said.

GRACIEMAG.com: How will the event be organized?
Carlos Gracie Jr: The event will be in the International Federation format, or in other words, a large scale event, as is the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, which was held in August. We hope to have fighters from all over the world, even though this is the first championship to take place.

GRACIEMAG.com: What’s the difference between this world championship and other submission grappling events taking place out there?
Carlos Gracie Jr: Submission grappling is nothing more than Jiu-Jitsu without the gi, although there are many championships around that adopt different rules for certain types of athletes. At this World Championship we’ll adopt Jiu-Jitsu rules, thus favoring our fighter so they’ll be able to compete the way they are used to competing, in true Jiu-Jitsu form. The goal is to hold our art in greater esteem.

GRACIEMAG.com: What is your view on the growth of submission grappling around the world?
Carlos Gracie Jr: The style is becoming very popular, and the Jiu-Jitsu fighters are the ones that have been fighting and winning these tournaments in every corner of the world. Now they will have the chance to fight in a tournament the way they enjoy and learned to, since Jiu-Jitsu is largely responsible for this popularity.

www.ibjjf.org/nogi2007registration.htm