DVD Review: Marcelo Garcia - Series 4 - Submission Grappling

Marcelo Garcia's newest jiu jitsu instructional was highly anticipated ahead of its release a few months ago, mainly because of his reputation as one of the most innovative and successful submission grappling competitors in the world.

As the name implies, "New Game Jiu Jitsu", is a different kind of dvd series from Marcelo. No armdrags. No x-guard. No back attacks. Fans of Marcelo (pretty much anyone who has ever watched him compete) will note that this is a major departure away from moves that he is famous for and has presented on his previous sets (CLICK HERE for our Series 1 review, CLICK HERE for our Series 2 review, and CLICK HERE for our Series 3 review).

Instead, Marcelo gives us four dvds on one move, the Omoplata, which perhaps has been the least used position out of the core techniques of jiu jitsu. Meaning, though many people know the Omoplata, not many people actually effectively use it as part of their game when competing at a high level. Perhaps Eddie Bravo is the only other jiu jitsu innovator who has built the Omoplata into his game in recent years. In the first four discs of the series, Marcelo shows setups for the Omoplata from a variety of positions including from closed and open guard variations, all of the top positions, and even as a counter to takedowns. He also explains comprehensive positioning details that show that his approach to the Omoplata is quite unique.

There are many interesting things on those discs, but we should mention two other areas of note. First, Marcelo covers a comprehensive portfolio of finishing options from the Omoplata position, in response to certain defenses an opponent will use. In fact, we count sixteen options covered in this section overall. Second, the Omoplata disc also keenly explains a move Marcelo has created and been mastering for a while - the Monoplata, named for the fact that it is similar to an Omoplata, but you only have one of your legs attacking his arm, instead of two.

Disc five is Marcelo's set of guillotine techniques from a variety of positions. If you've watched some of Marcelo's other tapes, you will note that Marcelo prefers a modified no-arm guillotine that we call the French Guillotine. And yes, if you were wondering, Marcelo's deadly north-south choke is on this dvd. The sixth disc covers Marcelo's entire Crucifix game, with a number of innovative approaches to transitioning to this position.

You might be asking yourself where these techniques are coming from - has Marcelo abandoned his bread and butter jiu jitsu game? No, instead Marcelo explains that even though he has been very effective in competition with moves such as the armdrag, x-guard, and taking the back, he realizes that people are beginning to learn and better understand how to defend against these things. Therefore, he believes that he needs to continue to innovate to stay a step ahead of the competition. He mentions that he has been thinking about and perfecting these moves over the last several years, but that the majority of people don't know this unless they have trained with him over this time.

Even though Marcelo is a fierce competitor and is probably the best pound-for-pound jiu jitsu fighter in the world, what drives him to train so hard is the desire to keep jiu jitsu interesting and fun, with constant learning and evolution.

In fact, when you have a closer look at this gift to the jiu jitsu community, Marcelo's New Game, it becomes clear that this is not a random set of techniques, but rather that these moves are actually beautifully interconnected attacks that flow into each other and build on the foundation of Marcelo's core game. The Omoplata seems to have partially developed from the opportunities that open up when playing Marcelo's open guard game. The Monoplata builds on top of that. Marcelo's guillotines and neck attacks add another layer of devastating chokes that are well suited for the nogi game. The Crucifix is another weapon for attacking the turtling opponent, and is essentially a sibling to Marcelo's back game.

But don't take our word on it, just have a look at these chapter-by-chapter maps that we've created in the pdfs below - we hope you find them informative:

Chapter-by-Chapter Maps (Click on the Titles for the PDFs)

• Discs 1-4 - Omoplata (bottom)
  
• Discs 1-4 - Omoplata (top)
  
• Disc 5 - Guillotine
  
• Disc 6 - Crucifix

or CLICK HERE for the entire series map in pdf

As usual, Marcelo's speaks in Portuguese, which is translated nicely into English. The rest of the production is sharp, which is what we have come to expect from World Martial Arts.

Overall, we give strong recommendation to this set for those jiu jitsu players who are looking to expand and broaden their game ahead of the traditional learning curve. For those looking for fundamentals, perhaps other sets are more suitable, but advanced grapplers will probably find Marcelo's New Game Jiu Jitsu very appealing.

For further information on purchasing this dvd instructional series, check out the product page on World Martial Art's website [click here for the link]

Enjoy it.