Preview – Houston’s Elbert Hebron talks about his upcoming Battle of H-Town tournament

HOUSTON, TX, October 10, 2012 – The latest Houston area Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and No-GI Submission Grappling tournament is all set to come to town with Grand Prix Grappling’s Battle of H-Town 2012 set to hit the Don Coleman Coliseum on Saturday, October 20^th.

We recently spoke to tournament promoter Elbert Hebron to talk about this event and all the latest strategies he’s incorporating in order to make this one his most successful yet when it comes to competitor satisfaction.

With this being the 10^th anniversary of his Battle of H-Town series, he’s looking to make this his best one yet.

Here’s Mr. Hebron with more.

Interview – Elbert Hebron (Grand Prix Grappling)

Thanks for talking to us Elbert. It looks like you’re back with another exciting event with this year’s ‘Battle of H-Town.’ Tell us a little bit about it.

This year marks the tenth anniversary for the Battle of H-Town. It is currently one of the longest running and most successful BJJ events in the Southwestern United States. We have divisions for ages 4 & up and all skill levels including adults, masters, seniors, and women’s divisions. For this event we’re offering a prize of $1,000 for the Overall Team Champion. We have championship belts for winners of the Adult No-Gi Absolute Divisions along with double points for their team. We have beautiful 3.5” custom medals for every competitor who places also so it should be pretty exciting.

What’s different about this event compared to those you’ve held in the past?

Unlike past events, this tournament will not feature any superfights.  We will run a smooth and efficient event, and focus on tallying points throughout the day for team results.  So at the end of the day we will be able to announce the winner of the $1,000 team prize. As always we will have the best referee staff available, all IBJJF certified referees.

Just to rewind back a little bit, tell our grapplers a little bit about yourself and your history as a promoter.

As a two-discipline Black Belt in Kung-Fu and Karate, I started promoting events in 2003 doing both a Karate and BJJ event.  I organized the Karate portion and partnered with Alvis Solis and the Solis Martial Arts family to organize the BJJ portion of the event. This dual promotion quickly grew into one of the largest martial arts events around. Close to five thousand spectators and competitors attended the event in 2006 at Klein Collins High in Spring, TX. The size of the crowd exceeded all expectations, making it a challenge to find a venue with two large gymnasiums to accommodate both Karate and BJJ. We made the decision to focus on BJJ only  due to explosive growth of this sport. Throughout our history, Grand Prix Grappling events have attracted some of the top competitors in the world such as Cobrinha, Bill Cooper, and Kyra Gracie, just to name a few.

How are you looking to keep making your tournaments better and better?

We’re looking to create more excitement with the team competition.  We want to encourage more women to compete so we’re offering a strong incentive for them to compete at our events. For the younger competitors, ages 4-9, who may be new to the sport, we are offering a consolation bracket so that each child will get at least two matches, sometimes more depending on size of the division.  Without a doubt we provide the absolute best venues in Houston. We only use the best high schools available and of course our last event was held at the Don Coleman Coliseum in West Houston. The positive response to that venue was incredible so now we’re going back. We will make the investment for our clientele to have the best experience possible.  As always we are expecting another huge turnout.

You’ve got some registration promos for this one right. Care to give a little more detail?

Right now we have our early bird pricing in effect through Sunday 10/13. For the first time, we are offering a 50% discount on the women’s divisions. This offer is good thru the end of online registration on Friday 10/19.  Women who hold Purple Belts and higher can compete for free.

Anything else grapplers should know?

You don’t want to miss another great Grand Prix Grappling event on October 20th. Also look for us to take our events to other cities in 2013.

Any last words?

Visit  www.grandprixgrappling.com to register for the event, order spectator passes and t-shirts, get directions, event schedules, etc.