This would a good competition to enter. I expect lot of teams travelling to AUckland to participate. Steve told me that he is planning to use 6 areas of tatame mats. It also be hosted into a stadium. Where: The Trusts Stadium, Henderson, Auckland Link to register http://nzgrappler.co.nz/bjj-gi-tournament-registration/ Entry Fee: NZD 50. Weight Categories: Up to 55 KG Up to 60 KG Up to 66 KG Up to 74 KG Up to 84 KG Up to 96 KG Up to 120 KG Over 120KG I understand that weight in will be without the gi.

Listening to a Judoka lamenting about the state of Judo made me think about the current state of Brasilian Jiu Jitsu. The problem was that the IJF took away most of his favourite newaza in their competition. Of course, there is nothing new about the fact that most Judokas are against the new IJF rules. In F12 (a notorious grappling forum on sherdog.com, where we waste our time responding to trolls and bashing on nogi guys), judokas keep repeating similar information and even worse: "Do not let the IBJJF take your BJJ to the Olympic games and turn it into something useless for the sake of making the sport more spectacular to the public!". I think BJJ will never make it to Olympic level. The sport is too clannish and controlled by a few people. The grass seems always greener on the other side of the fence. I read about this problem but hearing about it face to face reminded me of my pet peeve with my cherished Jiu Jitsu: its lack of stand up. Is BJJ is going downhill...

You can now book your diary for the next BJJ competition (Auckland, New Zealand) I think saturday 17 august 2013 will be the adult day and sunday will be the kids day. The event is always well run, heaps of prices. IBJJF rules and points systems (no advantages rules for this one however). For more details: http://nzgrappler.co.nz/upcoming-tournaments/ for IBJJF rules link http://www.ibjjf.org/rules.htm