[4] In 2004, Jason Townsend and members of the Titan Wrestling Club at Cal State Fullerton, including Chris Carlino and Art Barker, started developing a set of rules and an official international rulebook for grappling.
The ISWA applied for admission with the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF),[5] which in turn contacted FILA regarding the application.
FILA and ISWA representatives also met with Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi Combat Club, Guy Neivens, and Renzo Gracie.
Team USA dominated, winning all 9 gold medals with prominent athletes like Jeff Monson, Ricky Lundell, Darren Uyenoyama, and Felicia Oh.
Since various forms of submission fighting are traditionally practiced both with and without gi, FILA implemented both trends in order to cover the full spectrum of techniques associated to each particular style.
Therefore, FILA tournaments generally had gi and no-gi divisions to enable all submission fighters to compete to their highest ability no matter what their fighting background might be.
The progression was reset if the opponent managed to bring the fight back to neutral (be it standing or on the ground) or to score a dominant control position in his or her turn.