TMAA San Francisco Chapter will host Triangle Games 19 (TG-19) on Saturday April 26, 2008 at Hwa Rang Kwan Martial Arts Center,  371  5th Street, San Francisco, California in association with Hwa Rang Kwan Martial Arts and United Martial Arts Clubs of America.

"These games will form a precursor and preparation for our Triangle students to begin preparing for the next Federation of Gay Games event in Cologne, Germany in 2010" said Grand Master Ken Craig, TMAA President. "While it may seem that Gay Games VIII is quite far off, preparations and planning need to begin now for students who wish to participate in two years time at the games."

TG-19 will follow the now familiar format with six divisions for players to participate in:
o Traditional Forms
o Creative Forms
o Team Demonstration
o Self-Defense
o Breaking
o TMAA Freestyle Sparring

"Ensuring the safety of all players is of paramount importance" notes Grand Master Martin Marcus, TMAA International Program Director of Tournament Operations and Procedures. "We therefore require that all players attend an orientation and training class prior to participation, and that all instructors who will send players to the games do likewise in order to help their own students prepare and participate." Orientation classes will be conducted on Friday April 11, and Friday April 25 from 7pm to 9pm at Eureka Valley Recreation Center, 100 Collingwood Street, San Francisco, CA 94114. These classes are free and player identification cards will be issued during check-in at the TG-19 event on April 26. "We do ask that any player intending to attend either of these orientation classes confirm their intention by e-mail so that we can get a better idea of numbers to expect" continued Grand Master Marcus. Send your name, rank, school name, and the orientation class you would like to attend to TriangleGames@TriangleMAA.org.

"As we prepare for Cologne in 2010 some of the proceeds from TG-19 and our future games will be allocated to our Team Assistance Fund (TAF) which helps those who are less financially able to afford such an expensive excursion to attend and participate" continued Grand Master Craig. "Thus, not only will you have fun participating in TG-19 with us, but you will also be helping to send a strong Team Triangle USA to the Gay Games VIII martial arts event in Cologne in 2010. Our TAF initiative actually helped two Triangle students attend Gay Games VII in Chicago in 2006 by paying for airfare for one and partial accommodation for another. With two years before Cologne, we hope to raise enough funding to help all of our students who may need assistance to attend the next games."

Application forms to participate in TG-19 are available from any TMAA instructor and are available on the Triangle Yahoo Groups page at:
 http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/TriangleMartialArts/files/Triangle%20Games%20Information/

or send an e-mail to TriangleGames@TriangleMAA.org and we'll be happy to send you a PDF version of the application form.