Roger Gracie has been calling England his home for a number of years. His academy in London is one of the Europe’s staple bjj academies.
He’s just announced the formation of the United Kingdom Jiu Jitsu Federation – a new collaborative governing body meant to foster a collaborative relationship between existing bodies in order to develop the sport in Great Britain.
Gracie Will be governing the body – he is the chairmen of the UKJJF. Other notable jiu jitsu players involved are Gus Oliveira, Steve O’Keefe and Oli Geddes.
UKJJF is recognized by the event organizers IBJJF and UAEJJF as well as Rickson’s federation – JJGF.
PRESS RELEASE – The United Kingdom Jiu Jitsu Federation, a non-profit regulatory body for jiu-jitsu in the UK and a fully ratified member of the Jiu Jitsu International Federation, has reached a historical agreement with the other leading Federations of the sport.
The International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) and the United Arab Emirates Jiu Jitsu Federation (UAEJJF) – the two leading competition organizers – have agreed, from this point forward, that they acknowledge the UKJJF as the sole and unified regulatory body for jiu-jitsu in the United Kingdom.
UKJJF Chairman Roger Gracie said: “This is very exciting, we’ve worked on this for a long time. It is very important for the future of jiu-jitsu that we work together for the benefit of our overall vision for the sport. We can now pull our collective resources and amplify our effectiveness.”
Gus Oliveira, UKJJF Managing Director, said: “The UKJJF and its volunteers will continue to work hard in the background towards our mission, to bring jiu-jitsu to the level of professionalism you see with all the other biggest sports in the world.”
Russell Christopher, UKJJF Commercial Director said: “Now we have brought together the biggest federations with their blessing, it allows us to do so much more, not just for the sport but for the wider society through our charitable foundation and various social projects, this is what really excites me.”
Mission statement from the site ukjjf.co.uk:
To create a professional, standardized regulatory body, a single governing entity that unifies all other Federations in the UK. To work in partnership to oversee all competitive federations. To maintain a universal ranking system for the purpose of Olympic qualification and to provide a supporting network and a platform of collective resources to promote Jiu Jitsu to the level of an Olympic sport. To provide access to the highest levels of Jiu Jitsu for all communities in the UK, in order to bring the positive effects of Jiu Jitsu to society at large.
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