I don't know Brazilian jiu jitsu, (due to there being no place to learn in my area), I've had an interest in it for the past few months from watching UFC, so I thought I'd buy this DVD to see what its all about, and its a great set.
I know its always better to learn from a teacher instead of a video, but you can pick up quite a bit of info on these discs, Cesar Gracie does a great job demonstrating the moves, he makes them very easy to follow and shows you what to do and what not to do on each move, and it's not cheesy like some older martial arts videos I've seen.
I've been practicing the moves with a couple of buddies in my dining room and they actually work, its pretty cool,(except for the carpet burns). I know I'd get tapped out in a second by 99% of white belts who actually take classes but I've only had the DVDs for 2 weeks. Its pretty fun, I've gotten to the point where I can spot out and pull off some chokes, armbars, sweeps, and takedowns when wrestling around with my buddies, so you know, you will pick up some stuff from the videos, if you sit down and practice everything on the DVDs you could do all of the moves, thats how easy Cesar Gracie makes it to understand the moves. There are moves for sport (with gi) and street (w/o gi), for most people like me, some of the "sport" moves you can't do unless you happen to have a gi laying around or you practice on someone with a coat on or something, but most of the moves you could do with or without a gi.
I don't know what someone who knows BJJ would think of the videos aside from the other reviews written on here, but for the average person like me who would like to learn some stuff, and has no other way, I would highly recommend this, its really well presented. I'm not trying to say these moves are easy to do, because most of them aren't theres a lot of thinking involved in these moves, but they ARE easy to learn how to do, I can't stress enough on how good of a job Cesar Gracie does explaing the moves.
Scott - NV
I have almost every jiu-jitsu instructional video set on the market and this is one of the best out of them all. Cesar is a great teacher, very technical and detail oriented, which makes all the difference. You will see an immediate improvment in your gi game guarented. I am a purple belt and ill tell u, what I learned from just his basic set alone is worth the price of this whole dvd set. His breakdown of how to behave and how to pass someones guard , with the gi on, is by far the best of any video set out there. Actually I thought this set was going to be like the videos of 10 years ago with basic self defense and all but it was so much more. The only bad thing I will say about this set is that he shows you a few moves that everyone already knows like standing headlock escape but still 90% of the stuff on here i didnt know and hadnt seen anywhere else. Well worth the money especially if you are just starting in Jiu-Jitsu. You wont be dissapointed with this set.
Unknown
The video is great- this instructional video is at the perfect pace- and is very accurate in its moves.
Francesca T. Bernabe - Orange, CA
I have several other BJJ DVD's and so far this is the best one. It is straight forward, clearly demonstrated from several angles, well spoken and kept simple. I found it easy to follow because it was very matter of fact, methodical and broken down very well. There is no irrelevant rambling or waffling on, just great technique expertly demonstrated one after the other. Very to the point, no fluff. When I bought it I did not realize it had three DVD's in it, gotta love the value!
Abu Conga - Melbourne, Australia
The three DVD's are organized by level of instruction - beginner, intermediate, and advanced techniques. Cesar Gracie is a very good teacher and explains the techniques in great detail.
I am currently a student of BJJ myself and find this DVD set a good companion to lessons from my academy.
Tien Shiah - Unknown
The Videos are very good. There is alot of material on the three DVD's and they are presented in a well organized and thought out format. They are easy to understand and each technigue is covered several times and from different angles. I would highly recommend these DVD's to all martail artist who are interested in learning Brazilian Jujitsu.
B.Roberts - Unknown
This is a nice series to add to your BJJ collection. Cesar explaines the techniques, and shows them with realistic variations to counter what your opponient might do given the situation. If you are new to BJJ this is probably the best intro to techniques out there.
Eddie. H - Great Bend, Kansas
Excelllent! Cesar has very clear speech, great techniques, and he's actually funny too. A must have for anyone interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
C. R. Woodson - Philadelphia, PA
During my first 5 days of BJJ lessons, the instructor would show the whole class certain moves and we would practice it with a partner. When it came down to "rolling" during my first few lessons, I didn't know what to do. I kept getting tapped out or choked while in the guard and didn't have any moves to apply or really know what I was doing or how to defend. I didn't have any GAME. After watching the video it dawned on me. This video tighten my GAME and I am no longer being used as a training dummy. Suddenly I'm a challenge to the Advanced Players, I'm not that easy to tap out anymore. Thanks to this video! What I really like about this Video is that Cesar Gracie goes over the moves in different angles and explains in great detail on how to execute, and apply the techniques correctly and the reason behind each move. EXCELLENT WORK! JOB WELL DONE!
A great blend of gi and no-gi fighting for both sport BJJ and street. Great detail in the instruction without boring you with too much repetition. Best DVD set on the subject that I have found.
M. Greene - Mansfield Ctr., CT
