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.

DVD Review: Keith Owen - Favorite Moves - Volume 1 (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu)

In this review, we take a look at the first volume in a new Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructional series by Keith Owen, a black belt under Pedro Sauer with a school in Boise, Idaho.

As named, this DVD aims to cover Keith's favorite moves - in his own words (on his website): "This awesome dvd covers a wide variety of positions including sitting mount, side control, S-Mount, turtle position, and north south this dvd will give you a new page for your BJJ playbook."

First problem here - although we have watched this dvd multiple times, we cannot find any techniques covering the S-Mount nor can we locate any attacks from the north-south position.

What is actually on the dvd? There are 35 techniques presented (in 24 dvd chapters) and some of the highlights include the introduction of the 'Sitting Mount', a number of interesting America setups, and a few defenses that morph into counterattacks.

We have mapped out a chapter-by-chapter look in the pdf below that you may find useful if you are considering purchasing this dvd or if you already own it (note: we did not name these techniques as they are labeled on the dvd's own chapter menu):

CLICK HERE for the pdf map of what's on this dvd

Which brings us to our second issue with this dvd: we believe that the concept of having a dvd that focuses on 'favorite moves' is not ideal, unless the instructor is a famous competitor who is somewhat known for his unique moves in competition. Otherwise, this is essentially a 'random moves' dvd (a traditional tactic in bjj tapes) and does not follow the logical and growing trend of having better thought out grappling instructionals that are organized by technique or position, or even better yet, those that layout a gameplan based around an organic series of moves. In our opinion, a random selection of moves really limits the marketability of this disc and perhaps even obscures the fact that there are some interesting techniques presented.

That being said, we like Keith's demeanor when presenting these ideas and you can sense that he has a genuine enthusiasm for teaching. From time to time, he credits specific people that he has learned certain moves from, and as a native English speaker, one can clearly understand his instruction.

Most importantly is the question of the actual content; the techniques and teaching. We think that there are some interesting techniques shown, but details were not presented as carefully as we would have hoped. For example, Keith introduces the concept of the sitting mount (which is more similar to the knee-on-stomach position than a mount). It is a very interesting position and he shows it as a setup for a number of submissions depending on the opponent's reaction. However, at some points the details are glossed over a little, such as the transitioning to the position itself ("you can do this. . . it doesn't really matter"), and finer details on the execution of some of the actual finishes. As an example, we are of the view that the gogoplata from the guard is very poorly demonstrated, as pretty much anyone who has ever seen a gogoplata will just posture right out if they follow the way it is presented here (there is no clinching setup or anything to prevent this in the video). At times during this instructional, certain details were visibly absent.

Also, some of the content and ideas presented were fairly elementary. For example, although Keith states that he hasn't really seen anyone outside of the Pedro Sauer network teach the guillotine defense presented, it is in fact a very basic one that most white belts are taught. Keith goes on to show after escaping and passing if the opponent keeps holding your head, you can crossface to break the grip and then transition to an armbar. Although the initial defense is sound, the reality is that only beginners at brazilian jiu jitsu will continue to hold your head in a guillotine once you've passed, and therefore, this is a very poor setup for an armbar.

We had a major complaint with the chapter menu setup, which has a master screen with all of the techniques listed by name (rather than the traditional number) which theoretically makes it much easier to use the dvd as a learning resource. However, this was a classic 'good idea / poor execution'. Several of the names are inconsistent when comparing the listings on the menu and the listings on each technique's intro screen (ex. "Gi Choke from Top" and "Half Guard Gi Choke" are actually the same move, and connected to this it should be noted that this is actually a technique that is presented from the knee-on-stomach position). Further, the left side of menu screen is slightly cut off in standard resolution on our televisions and it was slightly annoying that the extended introduction could not be fast forwarded if one was to watch the dvd in entirety. Coincidentally, the arrangement of the moves is somewhat random on the dvd.

We believe this dvd would also greatly benefit the viewer if each move was shown in full speed at some point, either before or after the instruction, with a bit of resistance from the opponent (more than the highlight clip during each intro screen). All of these production issues can be cleared up in the future - but importantly, they relate to the overall usability of the dvd as a standalone training tool at this time.

In terms of other production comments, we should mention that the sound quality is pretty good, which, as you may know, is not the standard for BJJ instructionals. Further, there are good angles shown on most of the techniques with the introduction of a very clever cutaway idea - where a move is being discussed and shown from a certain angle, and then the camera switches to different camera angle in slow-motion, while the narration continues in the background. This is a good addition and is definitely helpful to the viewer.

We noticed several other reviewers of this dvd are of the opinion that it is extremely well priced at $24.95, but in our opinion, that is premium or top level pricing as that calculates to ~$150 per six dvds, which is the same price of most of the six dvd sets from World Martial Arts, whom we believe to be the industry leaders at this time. Can we recommend this dvd for purchase? In comparison with all of the other material currently out there covering jiu jitsu, it is difficult to have a high recommendation for Keith Owen's Favorite Moves - Volume 1.

We are not meaning to be overly critical of this dvd, but the standards have been raised in teaching brazlian jiu jitsu in recent years. . . perhaps we'll leave you with a quote from Keith that suggests somewhat unusual advice: "Practice slowly with a friend. Get it down before you do it in class."

For further information on purchasing this dvd instructional, and perhaps to see what other reviewers had to say about it, check out Keith Owen's website [click here for the link]

Enjoy it.