On the same weekend as the ADCC in Sao Paulo, on the other
side of the globe, Abu Dhabi’s love for jiu-jitsu continued with its first of
four major tournaments in Tokyo. The United Arab Emirates Jiu-Jitsu Federation
(UAEJJF) has planned a seasonal grand slam series that will not only help
elevate the status of the sport, with its top-notch organization and TV
broadcasting, but also provide prize money for black belt medalists.
The series is to be held in areas that the UAEJJF considers
to be the hubs for jiu-jitsu around the globe, each in a different corner of
the world; Tokyo for Asia, Los Angeles for North America, Rio de Janeiro for
Brazil, and London for Europe.
Even though many of the top athletes were busy with the
no-gi spectacle of the ADCC in Sao Paulo, the Tokyo Grand Slam was successful
in attracting the likes of Marina Ribeiro, Celsio Vinicius, Gregor Gracie, Mike
Fowler, Faisal Al Ketbi, Lagarto, Erberth Santos, Clark Gracie, Rodrigo
Caporal, homeland favorite – Roberto Satoshi, and many others.
They crowned their first absolute champion with Erberth
Santos, beating Lagarto twice. Erberth Santos is one of the top future ultra
weights to monitor right now. He is only 21 years old and is doing remarkably
well. It’s extremely exciting to ponder how he will fare against the other top
athletes as time passes. It will also be interesting to see if he will be able
to win the other three Grand Slams and become a kind of “grand champion”.
In addition to creating these awesome additional prize money
tournaments, the UAEJJF will implement a ranking system that will give bonus
prize money if you are highly ranked. The point system will take into account
all the tournaments under the UAEJJF, this includes the global trials for the
World Pro, the Grand Slam tournaments, and the World Pro itself (held in Abu
Dhabi). However, it should be noted that you earn more rank points depending on
the prestige of the tournament. So, for example, you could win 3 trial
tournaments, but you would gain more points if you win just one grand slam. The
entire premise here, ultimately, is to further develop the struggling
‘profession’ of jiu-jitsu. Imagine a world where jiu-jitsu players had a chance
to travel the world to make a living just training and competing.
Right now, people are complaining that the $2,000 USD prize
money for the gold medalist is a joke. Sure, it doesn’t compare to boxing or
even MMA. But if you’re complaining about the amount of prize money given, then
maybe you should help the cause. Get more people to compete in these
tournaments. If the tournaments grow, so will the prize money. At the end of
the day, any tournament must be a sustainable business. Boxing and MMA pay out
more because they have a spectatorship relative to the size of the paycheck. If
you don’t like the prize money, get more people to watch jiu-jitsu too. If
everyone does their part, we will most likely see our children making decent
money in the sport.
