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MMA Training Book Review: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Technique

MMA is mixed martial arts and by definition combines several arts like boxing, wrestling, kickboxing and submissions. For one to train mma, one has to have a good base art. Some mixed martial artists are primarily submission specialists like UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira or UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn. Many of these submission specialists have a background in one of today’s most popular grappling arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ).

"Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Theory and Technique" with authors Renzo and Royler Gracie on the cover

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of the integral arts to mma training. In fact many practitioners discovered BJJ from Royce Gracie’s performance in the first few UFC’s basically making those pay-per-view events, an infomercial for jiu-jitsu. The book “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Theory and Technique,” by veteran fighters and trainers in mma Renzo and Royler Gracie, is a good book for learning the basics of BJJ. The book focuses mainly on gi training. Keep in mind however, that many of today’s top grapplers feel their game is more complete, tighter or that they have better technique thanks to gi training. (That gi vs no-gi debate can be discussed better in another place. For now let us focus on the benefits of this book for having a foundation prior to beginning mma training.)

The book itself has information presented in a concise, accurate, format that has a good flow. E.g. technique A is standing up in the closed guard. Technique B will then be sweeping someone who stands up from the closed guard. Technique C will feature a counter to that sweep. Technique D will then be the armbar counter to the sweep counter. Photographs are color-coded and well-arranged. There is plenty of text to enhance one’s learning process. Hand positions and other details are pointed out well. The color coding is somewhat questionable though because many techniques can be done by advanced students no matter their rank.

Advanced practitioners may be turned off by the basic techniques presented in BJJ: Theory & Technique. Thing is, even the best student in bjj or the best fighter training mma may have forgotten a few details along the way. This book can help sharpen one’s techique in various sweeps or submission. To illustrate, many of Nogueira’s submissions came from basic triangle chokes and armbars. BJ Penn’s highlight frequently has him finishing off contenders with a rear naked choke, the hold he used to win the welterweight and lightweight belts.

So if you’re thinking of training mma, you have to build a foundation in an art. Training all aspects of the fight game from the beginning is not always recommended. If the foundation you want is submissions and jiu-jitsu is the art of your choice, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Technique is an excellent manual to have when starting at the bottom rung of your bjj/ mma training ladder. It is also a good place for an advanced submission wrestler to brush up on their basics, the key to success in the art.

MMA Clothing: NoGi Industries

No-gi industries is an action sports clothing company that is owned and operated by mixed martial arts veteran Chris “The Westside Strangler” Brennan.  It is not necessarily an mma clothing company, but has sponsored some mixed martial arts fighters in the past and continues to do so.  This company has no relation to the No-gi company out of Brazil who specialize in mma clothing.  No-gi industries has a variety of t-shirts and other accessories including kids apparel, available of at their own company website or other websites specializing in the mma clothing.  No-gi offers 7 separate designs of t-shirts for the adults and 5 different designs for kids.  With the most expensive shirt only costing $17.99 and the rest of the adult t-shirts at $9.99, the kids t-shirts are valued at $8.00.  I was fortunate to get a couple of their t-shirts with designs that are no longer available through the company website, but can still be found through other websites.  Also a couple of other t-shirts still available through the company website.

The main thing that caught my attention with No-gi was their simple design on all their clothing.  This is what makes these t-shirts different from other companies associated with mixed martial arts. Usually a simple “No-gi” is written somewhere in the front of the t-shirt in some simple lettering that still draws the attention to the casual on-looker but not their complete attention.  The No-gi logo at times also appears somewhere on the t-shirt if it’s not the main character in the middle.  The logo is sometimes located in the lower back of the t-shirt off to one side.  These simple designs aren’t for some people but for this author it was perfect.  The t-shirts are of great quality made of 100% ring-spun cotton. 

No-gi also has some great board shorts available. As I own a pair of their board shorts, and have had them for over two years.  They are also a very comfortable pair of board shorts, but the only draw back that I see is that they are a little loose around the waist even though I ordered my size.  They are made of great quality and have not ripped or frayed in the two years I’ve had them. I’ve used these shorts to train, swim and just lounge around. These shorts can also be seen being worn by the likes of Hermes Franca, Jeff Monson and of course Chris Brennan. Here are some pics of the new line of board shorts they have.

The No-gi website has gone through some changes throughout the years but they still have a good selection of clothing, and as mentioned before their apparel is also available through other mixed martial arts websites. 

MMA Clothing: Tap Out Board Shorts Review

Alright check out these shorts with a camo design that you can buy at your usual place for mma clothing.

mma clothing: tap out shorts

If they look familiar its likely because Tap Out shorts are seen on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and other mixed martial arts organizations. Tap Out sponsors several well-known fighters including Keith Jardine, Stephan Bonnar, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes and even Kimbo Slice. They of course, wear this mma clothing inside the octagon (and probably outside as well). Wearing Tap Out mma clothing then allows fans to identify with their favorite mixed martial artists, particularly those mentioned.

The particular shorts in the photo may be very familiar to certain people. Yes, former welterweight champion Matt Hughes wears camo shorts in the UFC but it’s not exactly the one in the photo. If you’ve ever wanted to purchase Tap Out shorts for mma training or just for everyday mma-related clothing, you may have come across the camo design. Why? Because all the other cooler and louder color schemes are usually sold out or sized out. (No research was done there; just my personal experience when shopping for mma clothing so please do not quote me on that.) So if you’re not one to go for loud designs and are okay with camo design the shorts in the photo can be an option for mma, bjj and submission wrestling training or even everyday wear. Keep in mind though, that mma shorts do not have pockets if you decide to use them outside the mats. Oh yes, for kickboxers you can conveniently perform a high kick while wearing the shorts to Muay Thai class. (Convenient that is, if you are flexible enough. Wearing the shorts does not guarantee easy high kicks, low kicks or submissions despite the name.)

Tap Out shorts like the one above are among the more expensive type of mma clothing with prices ranging from under US $40 to over $60. In this reviewer’s personal experience, the board shorts are durable enough after nearly a year of constant use (at least once a week). The laces can be hidden and are of high quality. They are not the kind to loosen up into shreds after numerous training sessions and washings. Are they worth the amount of money you would give up to purchase a new pair of mma shorts? It depends on how big US $40 is for you to drop on a pair of board shorts. One advantage is your kimura defense improves. Hell if you’re going to hold on to $40 mma clothing to prevent a chickenwing lock on your arm during mma sparring. You’ll think of a another escape or better, avoiding the guard pass that makes that submission possible altogether.  Still, they definitely make a good gift as clothing or gear for an mma fan, athlete or weekend warrior.

MMA Training: Review of BJ

BJ Penn is presently the UFC lightweight champion and one of the most recognizable mixed martial art fighters on the planet.  He has fought all over the world has found success in all aspects of the fight game.  Whether it was capturing UFC titles or being the first American black belt to win at the brazilian jiu-jitsu mundial BJ was always game.  You either love BJ Penn or you hate him BJ his for cockiness.  But you cannot deny BJ immense talent for the fight game. 

BJ brings his vast knowledge and experience to the table in his book “BJ Penn’s Mixed Martial Arts: The book of knowledge.”  Together with Erich Krauss, Glen Cordoza, and Victory Belt publishing, BJ lays out his views, strategy and techniques he uses while fighting.  He manages lay out detailed instruction through use of colored photographs from multiple angles.  BJ covers every aspect of the fight game, striking, ground’n’pound BJJ, wrestling, etc.  BJ does something that many have not done with any instructional, this in my opinion is what sets this book apart.  BJ combines all these martial arts disciplines into one effective style.  BJ details how to set up submissions by striking, how to set up takedowns with striking, how to pass the guard by setting up the pass with strikes.  BJ does not hold anything back, and the beginning of every section BJ explains his philosophy regarding the section he is going to cover, and outlines some key points the reader should remember when reading the section.

BJ also has a section on how to fight against the cage. I can’t find any book that covers this particular aspect of fighting.  Section after section BJ lets it all hang out, you will notice this with his subsections that he has. Covering a failed takedown and how to defend a guillotine is an example of one of these subsections.  This author found it interesting how BJ detailed how to use the De La Riva guard in mma.  This book presents a variety of techniques where you the reader can also build your own game with or add to an already existing game.  This book is truly for the mixed martial arts fighter.

Lastly in the beginning there is a little history of BJ Penn and his journey to become one of the most successful mixed martial arts fighter in the world today.  Also a section on fitness as BJ gives you some examples of the workouts he uses to prepare for an upcoming.  YES BJ Penn covers fitness!!!  An interesting note that the crossfit “fight gone bad” workout was actually made specifically for BJ Penn himself, so that workout is also included.

This book is the most complete instructional on MMA training that there is on the market today. Here are some pictures detailing how BJ practices what he teaches.  This pictures are from BJ Penn vs Joe Stevenson.  They have been floating around the internet so please excuse the graphic nature of the photos.

MMA Clothing: A Review of the Knoxx Gear Hoody

I have a Knoxx Gear hoody that I bought at the mixed martial arts clothing area of a gym in Northern California. It’s supposedly 100% knit cotton but this reviewer is not that kind of person who can tell the material in clothing. This one hoody cost $49.99 (plus tax) making it slightly less pricey than more popular brands and just about as expensive as other mma clothing.

MMA clothing: Knoxx hoody

The hoody itself is black/ dark blue with a white Knoxx logo on the chest and left forearm. I’ve placed this article of clothing in the washing machine and dryer and it still looks pretty good afterwards.

There is nothing particularly special (good or bad) about the hoody. It keeps you warm at night (in the western United States anyway) and that’s about it. Buying mma clothing is not about practicality of course (considering this is about $50 for a sweater). It’s about showing you know of or train in mixed martial arts. Or it can be about being a rebel by wearing supposed outlaw mma clothing… like everyone else.

One may get tired of seeing plenty of people wear Tap Out, Sprawl or Affliction gear (whether these people train or not) because these brands of mma clothing are too common or too loud. Knoxx is a good alternative to these brands. The design, i.e. logo placing, of the Knoxx hoody is simple. If loud logos that scream “I want attention” or “Hey I watch the UFC!” are not your thing, then Knoxx is a good choice to make.

Ultimate Fighters sponsored by Knoxx gear include Chris “Lights Out” Lytle and Jake O’Brien. Other sponsored, popular mixed martial artists outside the UFC are Cung Le and Josh Thompson, both champions in the San Jose-based Strikeforce organization. Heavyweight UFC veteran Paul Buentello also wears Knoxx mma clothing. Knoxx gear is then something to consider if you want to wear the same clothing with the Sanshou practitioner who broke Frank Shamrock’s wrist.

Wearing mma clothing these days makes one just another face in the crowd but it came in handy for this reviewer one night. I was standing outside Vivid in San Jose trying to call my friends who were already inside for a postfight party. I was within sight of the bouncer who was checking if people came from the mma event just an hour before. The bouncer was actually future Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson and seeing me wearing this Knoxx hoody, he let me in with a pass to the “V.I.P. section” of the party where I met up with my friends (conveniently chatting up girls instead of answering their phones). That positive experience made my Knoxx mma clothing memorable but to be fair, gives this review some potential bias.

MMA Training: Review of Bas

Bas Rutten is a well-known name among mixed martial arts fans from his work as a color commentator for Pride, Dream, IFL and being a coach for the IFL.  But before his various appearances on TV, Bas was a three-time king of Pancrase, and the first heavyweight champion for the UFC.  He has also created numerous instructional videos and books dealing with self- defense and fitness.  Bas’ pride and joy is mma, and because of that he first created his, Big Books of Combat, then he followed with his Big DVD’s of Combat.  Bas does have some other instructional floating around but nothing is complete as these DVDs.  This set can be bought from numerous websites but I got mine from BasRutten.tv.  This set is available for $149.95; it contains 7 Dvd’s, which amounts to over 12 hours of instruction by Bas himself and his training partner Amir Rahnavardi.  One word of warning if you are expecting a traditional mma training DVD; ITS NOT!  Bas is anything but traditional; this set can be best described as unorthodox.  It’s good to have an open mind when watching these Dvds, especially if you have a submission background or striking background.  Bas’ striking is very unorthodox; his stance he uses in the striking portion of the set is not traditional. 

Bas covers everything in these DVDs. His first dvd covers warm-ups and positioning.  Bas introduces the viewer to what he calls a Japanese warm-up.  No doubt he learned this combination of calisthenics and gymnasts during his time learning submissions at the Pancrese gym.  Also he has section on drills you can do with a partner.  Dvds 2 and 3 cover everything striking, ground striking, stand-up striking, thai pad training and striking from your back. He also has a section on combinations that he has made up or from what he has seen work.  Half of the third Dvd is dedicated to takedown and takedown defense.  This is the point that Bas walks away and hands over the instruction to Mansour Heidari, the wrestling coach at Beverly Hills Jiu-jitsu club and member of the Iranian national wrestling team.  He has a very thick accent, and is hard to understand at times but still manages to get through this section.

Dvds 4-6 deal with submissions and submission escapes.  An interesting note that most people might not know, Bas has more wins by submission than he does by knockout.  Bas loads up the submission, as he has countless amount of techniques in each Dvd.  He covers chokes, and neck cranks, leg submissions, and arm submissions.  After showing each technique Bas also shows the escape for each.  The last dvd covers positional escapes from guard, half guard, mount, and side control.  This dvd also includes an interview with Bas, and also footage from various MMA fighters and trainers showing their favorite technique.  This list includes, Marc Laimon, Matt Hughes, Randy Couture, Murilo Bustamante, and an appearance by Gene Lebell.

These dvds also contain two of Bas’ fights, one with Frank Shamrock and the other with Masakatsu Funaki.  As mentioned before you must have an open mind when watching these dvds, as his submission and striking aren’t for the traditionalist.  But you have to respect Bas for his vast knowledge of the fight game and his willingness to put it on video for everyone.

MMA Gear Review: Everlast Grappling Gloves

Since my fellow MMA gear reviewer, Gary, reviewed Everlast boxing gloves, I got the idea to take a look at and write about my own Everlast mixed martial arts grappling gloves. The kind of mma gear I have is colored black with white linings. According to online merchants, these gloves are made of durahide and not from leather. (Vegans won’t be griping about cow-killings here.) It is open palm in design for easier grips. A velcro strap that tightens the mma gloves is located dorsally (i.e. the part of your hand you’re looking at when doing normal push-ups). There are some oriental characters on this strap but I am unable to translate them. Check out the gear in the photo.

This particular pair of mma gloves from Everlast are a bit tight around the knuckles but otherwise work well enough. Plenty of padding is present and they can be tightened so as not to slip off during mma training, i.e. bag work, focus mitts, sparring. One should not be in a hurry removing the mma gloves though. This is as previously stated, due to them being somewhat tight around the knuckles.

During groundfighting or submissions training, the Everlast pair are about as comfortable as other mma gloves. That is, you really don’t care because you have to pay attention to your training partner. That being said there is nothing particularly uncomfortable about this mma gear from Everlast.

As with all mma gloves, applying the rear naked choke is not as easy when having no gloves becase of the additional thickness when needing to slip the hand area beneath a training partner’s chin/ neck area. In addition, holding a training partner’s wrist provides a good grip due to one’s hands being wedged on the partner’s glove, a technique that cannot be pulled off in no gi submission wrestling.

Some other net reviews of Everlast boxing gloves have negative reviews calling the product “Neverlast” instead. This reviewer however, found no such problems with this pair of grappling gloves. At only $39.99, it’s also a lot less expensive than the standard $60 mma gloves found elsewhere.

MMA Gear Review: Everlast Gloves

Everlast is a company that has been around since 1910. Since then it has been synonymous with boxing and boxing equipment.  Boxers however, are not the only ones that have been using Everlast’s equipment.  Muay thai fighters, and also MMA fighters have been using Everlast equipment for many years.  Which brings me to review some great quality gloves, which are available from Everlast.  I was turned onto these pair gloves by my muay thai instructor about a year ago.  He has been using this particular pair of training gloves for a few years and was raving about them.  I took his word, as he has many muay thai fights and mma fights under his belt and he vouched for their quality and ability to hold up through the most intense training sessions throughout the years.

Unfortunately his pair of gloves was stolen from his car, so when I decided to buy mine I also was buying another pair for him.  Let this be a lesson to everyone; keep all training equipment in the trunk of your car or bring into your house.  I ordered my pair and his through the Everlast website.  Each pair of gloves was $89.99 plus shipping.  These gloves are made of top quality leather and have an air vent in the middle of the palm to promote airflow.  But the best features of the glove have to be the 4 layers of protective foam and the thumb lock. 

I never had a glove with so much padding in the front.  This is very important when sparring or hitting the heavy bag.  As hand and wrist injuries can quickly end a training session or prevent a fighter from fighting.  Another thing that I noticed and was echoed by my instructor was how snug they fit around your hand really enclosing your hand in the glove.  The loop feature provides some great wrist support.  Here is a picture of the gloves.

For over the past year these gloves are still in great condition and are worth money.  Big props to Everlast for producing some great gloves, and thanks to my instructor for his great suggestion

MMA Training: Jiu-Jitsu Unleashed by Eddie Bravo

Cover of Jiu-Jitsu Unleashed by Eddie Bravo (for MMA training)

Jiu-Jitsu Unleashed: A Comprehensive Guide To The World’s Hottest Martial Arts Discipline is authored of course, by Eddie Bravo, BJJ black belt and cannabis enthusiast, and Eric Krauss. Joe Rogan is his training dummy in a few sections. This was published about 3 years ago. It is in paperback format and contains black and white photographs which will be described later.

Bravo gives credit to some mma training techniques he got from other competitors such as Ken Shamrock (for a toe hold) and Nino Schembri (gogo plata).

Mma training techniques include sections on the half guard, butterfly guard, twister side control and mount. (Twister side control is a variant of side control wherein the person on top is facing his opponent’s feet in a reversed kesa gatame.) These are all described well enough though due to space limitations, one might feel that there are not enough techniques per section. In fact, I recall there being only 5 guard passes taught in here.

Upon closer scrutiny of Eddie Bravo’s explanations for his techniques, it is clear that either the instructions in text are missing details, there are not enough photographs or both. (In fact Eddie Bravo admits to this in his next submission wrestling/ mma training book, Mastering the Rubber Guard.) For example some hand positions need alternate viewing angles and there is a lack of exposition on his leg movement for some sweeps such as the Old School.

Despite these negative aspects however, Unleashed is still a good book for training mma or BJJ. In fact this author suddenly understood more about the half guard from Unleashed alone. I was doing underhooks, staying on my side and continuously performing the Old School or Plan B sweeps.

Due to the black and white photos, this training book is less expensive than Mastering the Rubber Guard. This makes it accessible to more people, particularly those who are merely curious about the rubber guard and are not sure if they intend to incorporate it into their mma/ bjj training routine. Anyhow, the limited illustration of Bravo’s techniques can be circumvented by doing the moves oneself and adding in their own details by checking out what works (e.g. hand placement, weight shifting, timing). Or one can opt to buy his more expensive, $30 follow-up in the previous review.

MMA Training: Mastering the Rubber Guard: Jiu-jitsu for Mixed Martial Arts Competition

Eddie Bravo, whom many fans have heard score individual round in the UFC, had an mma training book out nearly two years ago. It was “Mastering The Rubber Guard: Jiu-Jitsu For Mixed Martial Arts Competition.” Co-authors are Erich Krauss and Glen Cordoza who have also produced other well-received books on various martial arts relevant to mma training. Various students appear as Eddie’s uke in the book including Fear Factor and UFC pay-per-view host Joe Rogan.

This mma training book is a paperback with glossy paper and plenty of colored photos. This of course is likely the reason for the book’s retail cost of $30.

MMA Training: Eddie Bravo's Mastering the Rubber Guard...

Eddie Bravo’s moves are well-detailed with alternate angles as necessary that emphasize placement of the hand or knee as needed. He covers his version of the closed guard, the rubber guard, as well as a few chapters on the butterfly guard and some top positions. This is definitely useful for mma training as there are various methods illustrated for getting armbars, triangles, omoplatas and other moves from the famed rubber guard. For martial artists-in-training who like to improve their guard game, the numerous and meticulously-detailed moves will the purchase a well-spent $30.

The only aspect of the book that may turn off potential buyers are the first dozen or so pages. Bravo and Rogan detail of course how Eddie got famous; his submission of Royler Gracie at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission wrestling tournament. However he goes on too long, rambling on and on about his marijuana use and how cannabis is not so bad. Some may not like him putting cannabis in a good light but what’s more important is that these were several pages wherein Bravo could have taught a few more submissions or guard passes. This blogger does not personally think cannabis use is relevant to mma training at all. Still, for people who would like to train mma or jiu-jitsu, this is definitely a great book to have in one’s library… just skip the marijuana-laced introduction.