The registration period for the NY Pride XX in Manhattan is coming closer to its end. But first, the discount must expire and lucky for you the deadline for the early registration period is Oct. 26.

The NY Pride will be held on Dec. 6 at Baruch College in Manhattan, NY. There are divisions available for kids, juveniles, adults and masters.

Here are the current registration prices:

Kids / Juvenile 1 Division: $75.00
Kids / Juvenile 2 Divisions: $95.00
Adults / Masters 1 Division: $85.00
Adults / Masters 2 Divisions: $105.00

The address for the venue is One Bernard Baruch Way New York, NY 10010.

You can register here: http://t360reg.com/nypride/nypride.aspx

The venue for the Kids World. Photo: Kids World

Running its sixth annual event, the Kids World International BJJ tournament is a great opportunity for the younger generation to compete at an elite level. The tournament located in San Bernardino, CA is one that promotes involvement with the art and the sport aspect.

Founder Rommel Dunbar believes that this opportunity is the answer for parents because the sport requires hard work, dedication and pride.

Division are available in gi and no-gi with categories from age four to sixteen.

The event will be held on July 20 and 21 at Coussoulis Arena – Cal State San Bernardino: 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407. Registration is now open.

If you are interested in participating, supporting the competitors, or would like more information please visit www.kidsworldbjj.com or email kidsworldsbjj@yahoo.com. The doors will open at 7:00 a.m. for spectators and the competition will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21.

Arraina and Richard Lee at the 2013 IBJJF Chicago Winter Open. Photo: Personal Archive

Families who train together are becoming more and more popular. Being that the martial art has much to offer for all ages, a father and daughter team learned this fact at a time when it was most needed.

Richard Lee (35) and his daughter Arraina Lee (16) train Jiu-Jitsu together in Chicago, Illinois. Before she was born, Richard lived in Minnesota with his parents who moved from Chicago, worried that their son was getting into too much trouble. At the age of eighteen he became a parent and Arraina was born. Tragically, when Arraina was six years old, her mother Marianne Van Buskirk died of small-cell lung cancer and the father-daughter pair moved back to Chicago where Richard’s roots lay and so Arraina could have more opportunities. This is where Jiu-Jitsu came into their lives:

“I had found out about BJJ through the Gracie Combative DVD’s and first started going to Carlson Gracie MMA school in Merrillville, Indiana when she was thirteen years old. When my daughter turned fourteen we transferred to Uflacker Academy in Chicago, Illinois,” the single parent says.

Unfortunately the team would undertake another reason to mourn as Richard’s parents, Arraina’s grandparents, both passed away from cancer five months apart from each other in 2012. But through Jiu-Jitsu, the two have been able to strengthen their bond and also use Jiu-Jitsu for positivity in their lives.

Richard wins the blue belt master middleweight division at the 2013 IBJJF Chicago Winter Open in March. Photo: Personal Archive

Both Richard and Arraina compete in every NAGA and IBJJF event that comes into town near Chicago. Only three months after the passing of his mother, Richard placed first at the 2013 IBJJF Chicago Winter Open in the blue belt master middleweight division.

“Me and my daughter went through a lot of deaths including my parents which made us realize how important family is and made us closer. Jiu-Jitsu made us have father and daughter time and a way to escape from the struggles of the real world. Jiu-Jitsu gives us a time to bond and to compete against each other and helped us become stronger and more fit. It also makes me feel more comfortable of the safety for my daughter. It also disciplines me and helps me relax so I will not go crazy from stress,” Richard explains.

Arraina now competes as a juvenile blue belt and will be in attendance at the 2013 IBJJF Chicago Summer Open in August and the No-Gi Pan American Championship in New York later this year alongside her father.

Training can be a simple stress-reliever or go as far as strengthening a family through difficult times. Richard and his daughter are just another example of what Jiu-Jitsu gives back.

2013 Jiu-Jitsu by the Sea Summer Invitational

The registration for the 2013 Jiu-Jitsu by the Sea Summer Invitational is now open. The tournament held by Claudio Franca will be on June 15 and early registration ends June 3 so make sure you sign up before then. The prices will go from $35 to $45 for kids and $50 to $60 for adults after the discount window closes.

The tournament will be located at GMA Claudio Franca Jiu-Jitsu Academy: 2-1507 East Cliff Drive Santa Cruz, CA 95062

There will be divisions for kids of all ages and belts, juveniles, adults, females, masters and also a senior division for belts white to purple.

With a new refund policy, you will have your registration fee refunded if you have no matches the day of the event.

Sign up now and get your summer competition in the books. For more information and to sign up please visit www.claudiofrancabjj.com

Francisco “Sinistro” Iturralde has competed consistently since a juvenile, winning the best tournaments under the Alliance banner. For him, competing is where he likes to have fun. But in the process, he has won many major titles since the one in this video below including the world championship three times, the Pan Ams three times and the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup in both gi and no-gi.

As a juvenile, you have the advantage of learning about competition before entering the divisions more noted on a resume. If competition results are your aim, you can enter the adults division as a prior champion with much more experience than most of your bracket.

The Pan American Championship is the largest tournament in Jiu-Jitsu, allowing juveniles to join in on the prestige. This year the competition lands along five days extending from Mar 20 to Mar 24.

The location is at the UC Irvine Brenn Event Centere 100 Bren Event Center Irvine, California 92617.

The registration deadline is nearing so don’t wait for your championship resume to bloom or else you may have to wait another year. Register before Mar 12 and you can click here to register.

Make sure you have your membership completed as all juveniles must have an IBJJF ID card to register and compete.

Enjoy the video and allow it to prove that being a champion at juvenile can easily extend into adulthood: