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MMA Training Book Review: The X-Guard by Marcelo Garcia

Marcelo Garcia is yet another accomplished grappler with a book that can be used for Brazilian jiu-jitsu, submission wrestling or even mixed martial arts training. After winning several Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships and many bjj competitions, he also tried his hand at the mma world debuting at K-1 Hero’s back in October 2007.

The X-guard is one of Marcelo Garcia’s signature moves. Generally, he uses nearly the length of his whole body to separate a partner’s legs. This creates tremenodous havoc on the other guy’s balance and can clear the way for sweeps or getting the back. In addition, he shows various control options such as lapel, sleeve and hand grips. There are of course, submissions galore in Garcia’s instructional with armbars, shoudlerlocks, chokes, kneebars and heelhooks from the X-guard.

Upholding the reputation of publisher Victory Belt, “The X-Guard” shows these techniques very well with multiple colored photos, multilple angles, for gi and no gi. The gi techniques can easily be converted to no gi for possible use in submission wrestling and mma training. The book even has handy coding for easy reference as to which moves are preferable for gi, no gi or both.

BJJ/ No Gi/ MMA Training: The X-Guard by Marcelo Garcia (cover)

Some practitioners will at first be intimidated by the flexibility and complicated moves that Marcelo Garcia shows in using the X-guard. Garcia though shows the basic concepts of the move in the first few pages so that beginning users of the X-guard can start slowly and learn at their own pace.

Another reason for purchasing this instructional book is Marcelo’s use of the butterfly guard. His concepts and sweeps from the position are extremely detailed, more so than most bjj or mma training books.

A few negatives are present though. This is another one of those instructionals that are not meant to be a beginner’s book for jiu-jitsu. Some basic moves have to be ingrained into a practitioner before trying out the X-guard, that can easily be taught by a legitimate bjj instructor. The X-guard is also something not too often seen in mma. This could be because trapping an opponent’s legs can leave his arms free for punching. Still, the sweeps from this open guard variant can easily be used in mma to obtain superior positioning, if not submissions. Something more useful inside the octagon or ring is Marcelo’s section on the butterfly guard. That section makes this book a must for those training mma and would like to improve their open guard instead of relying solely on the closed guard (or the referee to stand the competitors up).

For those who use the open guard or want to use it, Marcelo Garcia’s “The X-Guard” is a good instructional for advanced white belts and up.

MMA Training Book Review: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Techniques by Jean Jacques Machado

This reviewer is not aware of the history for Jiu-Jitsu instructional materials. A few years ago however, the first two books on the art I’ve seen were “Theory and Technique” by Renzo and Royler Gracie and “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Techniques” from Jean Jacques Machado with Kid Peligro. These were among the few books out there available for those training bjj or mixed martial arts.

A 6th degree black belt, Jean Jacques was one of the dominant grapplers from the 1980’s to the early part of this millenium. He won several titles in the sports of bjj and sambo. He is most famous for his wins in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships. This makes him very qualified to author such an instructional book that can help many training in mma or bjj. In addition, he has done all this with a deformed left hand.

The book itself, published back in 2003, is in full color, adequately displaying Jean Jacques’ techniques. When needed, alternate views or close ups are utilized to emphasize grips and general hand placing. This is a great trend that would be repeated in most mma-related, written instructional material that came out in the following years (that have also been reviewed here on mma-gear-news).

In Black Belt Techniques, Machado shows 112 of his techniques, 85 in gi and 27 for no gi. Most of the first 85 moves can be translated for use in no gi although Jean Jaqcues does not actually show ow that is done. There are several submissions, guard passes and immediate submissions off a guard pass in the book that can be done securely or by moving quickly or in a flashy manner to surprise one’s training partner. Personally I think the gems of the book are Jean Jacques’ passes. Submissions he shows include armlocks, chickenwings, chokes, kneebars, footlocks, toeholds, calf crushers, the Twister (the move made famous by his student Eddie Bravo) and even heelhooks.

As the title of the instructional material implies, Black Belt Techniques are for somewhat advanced students. An adequate knowledge of basic moves is needed because Machado does not show how submissions are finished not does he explain some basic hip movements needed. To add, some of his movements are better seen on video, rather than exlained in text format. (That’s where YouTube becomes very useful.) Nevertheless, this is a good, organized book to get for those into bjj for sport grappling or for training mma.

BJJ Black Belt Techniques cover

MMA Training Book Review: Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu: Revolutionizing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Dave Camarillo is the jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts trainer at Amercian Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California. He, along with other trainers, provides instruction for fighters based at AKA like Josh Koscheck, Josh Thomson and his latest jiu-jitsu black belt, Jon Fitch. He also wrote a book, Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu: Revolutionizing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, not too long ago. As is consitent with Victory Belt published works, full color and detailed photographs shed much light on the author’s teachings.

MMA Training: Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu by Dave Camarillo (choking brother Dan in the cover)

This instructional book was made by a high level judo and jiu-jitsu competitor. Years of experience in both arts have made Dave Camarillo into a champion judoka feared for his submissions and a champion in jiu-jitsu feared for his throws. As such, this makes the author uniquely qualified to combine techniques from both arts and teach them to those doing bjj or training mma.

Dave’s book starts in the first chapter, Incorporating Judo and Jiu-Jitsu with fundamental judo techniques on how to roll, fall, grip, break an opponent’s balance and do the standard throws. These are of course, available in any basic judo instructional. In this section, Dave also includes stopping a wrestling shot, balancing on one leg during a single leg takedown and how to counter the single leg into judo throws (e.g. single leg to inner thigh reap or uchimata). These are techniques that should also be part of submission wrestling and mma training. Also included are ways to throw an opponent who is standing in a low position or even kneeling. Dave adjusts the grips for both gi and no gi.

The second chapter is Throws to Submissions where grapplers can learn how to better position themselves for submission attempts after a takedown, definitely something good for mma training. Camarillo does this through the Impact Control Position, where one can easily attain a position for an easier submission attempt. This is through knowing a partner’s body position after a takedown.

Camarillo’s last chapter is on flying attacks, which though rarely done in sport jiu-jitsu or in mma is a work of art when it is successfully performed. Now not all martial arts practitioners are athletic enough to perform such maneuvers. However, Dave Camarillo was able to do these innovative aerial moves in international judo and bjj competions by training flying armbars over and over. So constant training as well as the right instruction is needed in order to pull of the moves at bjj or mma training.

So Guerilla is one of those nearly perfect martial arts resources. In this case bjj guys aren’t the only ones who benefit but judokas as well because of Dave Camarillo’s wealth of experience. Judokas can turn the throws they do in their sleep into excellent submission transitions. BJJ fighters can also learn some stand-up techniques from the book and easily transition into more familiar ground positions. And of course, flashier athletes can adopt the flying maneuvers into their repertoir.

Cons? Not much but I guess the lack of lower limb attacks (e.g. footlocks. kneebars) and no sections on actual defense to the flying armbar are negative aspects. And I suppose the really old-fashioned practitioners of judo would frown on the flying attacks.

MMA Training Book Review: Judo For Mixed Martial Arts by Karo Parisyan

Taking the fight to the ground for ground-and-pound or submissions in the sport of mixed martial arts is usually done through single leg or double leg takedowns. This places a degree of importance to the sports of Greco Roman and freestyle wrestling as a component of mma training, whether it is done to initiate ground fighting or to prevent it and keep the fight a kickboxing bout

Karo Parisyan, welterweight contender for the Ultimate Fighting Championship has his own style of takedowns that are not seen as often as the wrestling-based throws.

Karo Parisyan's mma training includes judo throws as seen in this fight with Chris Lytle.

Karo “the Heat” Parisyan’s apparent ease in his takedowns comes from his judo background, a style he has been practicing since age 9. This is all detailed in “Judo For Mixed Martial Arts” which is another winner from Victory Belt, the same group that gave us training books from Eddie Bravo, Dave Camarillo, Randy Couture, Marcelo Garcia and BJ Penn. The introduction to Parisyan’s instructional material also states how his father pushed him into the olympic sport and how thankful he is for that motivation.

MMA Training: Judo For Mixed Martial Arts by Karo Parisyan (cover)

The book for review starts with some wrist control and clinching techniques. It includes Karo’s set up for his standing Kimura/chickenwing control (which is not taught in all jiu-jitsu schools). He also shows some striking tactics for avoiding tie-ups as well as to establish the clinch. What makes the book a must-get for martial arts practitioners training mma and/or judo is the section on throws. Several judo techniques are covered from harai ogoshi (hip throw), seionage (arm-shoulder throw), osoto gari (large outer reap), uchimata (inner thigh reap) to tai otoshi (body drop). Karo of course, shows how to adjust the grips to execute those throws without the opponent wearing a gi, which is the setting in most mma and submission wrestling matches. He also includes counter throws. The rest of the book covers groundwork which is similar to, but slightly different from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu-based instructionals.

Just like other offerings from Victory Belt, meticulous, colored pictures from multiple angles are used for full appreciation of Karo Parisyan’s mma training techniques. One must be warned though, that Karo does not cover basic judo in this book. While he does show his grips for executing takedowns, readers must already have the hip movement necessary to pull off those high angle throws. Such basic instruction can be found through instruction at the local martial arts gym, which is necessary to get good while training mma, bjj or submission wrestling. This book alone won’t make one be able to suddenly perform a judo throw but it helps immensely.

MMA Gear Review: Everlast Free Standing Heavy Bag

All boxing and kickboxing gyms I’ve seen have heavy bags hung from their top. This is an essential gear in mixed martial arts training as well. It greatly improves one’s striking power when used properly. Used improperly (i.e. no hand wraps, full force strikes by children) heavy bag work can cause injuries such as boxer’s fracture, a fracture of one of the hand bones.

As stated some heavy bags are hung from the top. Pedestal-type heavy bags on the other hand, are mounted on a solid base. This has the advantage of not requiring the chains and a stable fixture from which to hang the heavy bag. Because of this, it can be used as training gear at home. Everlast, a world-renowned boxing and mma gear supplier, sells such pedestal heavy bags.

MMA Training Gear: Everlast Free Standing Heavy Bag

Here is the product description from Everlast’s website:

“Ideal for use in home, gym, school, dojo, fitness and cross-training workouts.

The Everlast Freestanding Heavy Bag combines the world-renowned features of the Nevatear™ bags with a precisely engineered, reinforced, high-density LDPE base that provides maximum flexibility with outstanding durability and resilience. Spring action provides awesome workout. Three height adjustments allow bag to stand from 52″ to a full 70″ tall. Base holds up to 24 gallons of water (approx. 200 Lbs.) for extra sturdy use. Comes unfilled. Professional work-out, professional results!

Product features:

• Rounded Design allows easy movemnet around target increasing cardio & leg conditioning & hand-eye coordination.
• Air-Foam Chamber provides lifelike feel.
• High Density Base easily filled with water or sand (approx. 250 lb.). Solid base provides easy-to-hit target maximizing your workout.
• Adjustable Flex Neck provides six height settings for multiple workout options including boxing, kick boxing & mixed martial arts.”

The product being sold in the picture costs US $99.99 plus taxes and shipping. Black and gray versions are also available, strangely enough at US $129.99 plus plus. Their descriptions are the same, so unless the color of the bag is extremely important, I suggest getting the red one pictured above.

I find that the Everlast Free Standing Heavy Bag has a swivelling mechanism that decreases the impact to one’s hand and wrist bones. As stated in the product description, the height is easily adjusted for transitioning from targetting the top of your opponent (head and arms) to body shots to leg kicks. The heavy bag is quite soft so it’s somewhat more comfortable than the usual heavy bag at the gym.
However, if you’re one of those people who hit real hard this gear will move during training. This will happen even with the base filled to the brim with sand. You will then need more support for the bag such as those sandbags at stage plays. This is a disadvantage not present in the hanging-type heavy bags. Perhaps a metal base instead of a plastic stand would have added some more weight. There is some fun in chasing the bag until you wander into the training space of a high-intensity mma fighter and well… try it and see what happens if you get in Mirko Cro Cop or Wanderei Silva’s way. In addition, the base of the bag as mentioned, is plastic and the bag does not appear to be high in quality. It appears that continuous full-force striking of this mma training gear is not recommended. Maybe it’s made more for leg kicks or not too intense training at home. But then, that won’t strengthen your strikes and large muscle groups as much as you may desire.

This Everlast Free Standing Heavy Bag is not bad to have at home for some training there. It looks cool as well as long as not much full force workouts have been done on it. Still, more than US $100 a pop is expensive and it is this author’s recommendation that the product is not a replacement for the heavy bags at the local boxing, kickboxing or mma gym.

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 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 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 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.