DVD Review: Marcelo Garcia - Series 1 - Submission Grappling
With Marcelo Garcia recently winning another world title of submission grappling at ADCC 2007, his worldwide popularity as a jiu-jitsu fighter has never been higher. Watch any of his matches and you will know that this is for a good reason, too, as he is a panther, attacking quickly and without reprieve.
In 2003, Marcelo exploded onto the scene by not only by winning ADCC, but also on how he competed, showing a unique jiu-jitsu style with moves that are now known to be part of the "marcelo game" - open guard, x-guard, arm-drags, taking the back, rear-naked chokes - all executed against opponents typically bigger and stronger than Marcelo.
Afterwards, he released his first instructional series, a six DVD set which we claim is an amazing submission grappling (no-gi) resource. At the time of this review, he has also released two additional follow-on sets (one gi, one no-gi), which we plan to review in the future.
From a production point of view, this instructional set is good, with Marcelo showing the right angles, and discussing details and his strategy at all times. Although Marcelo speaks in Portuguese on the tapes, a narrator translates what he is saying.
The content is arranged by position/move and mainly focuses on Marcelo's fast and aggressive offensive game. For each of the dvds, Marcelo first shows a move, and explains what he is trying to accomplish, and then usually shows multiple follow on options depending on how the opponent reacts and counters.
Keeping with our philosophy of trying to make MMA products more useful, we have mapped out a chapter-by-chapter look at each DVD both for prospective purchasers and those who already have this set (to increase its usefulness). Check out the pdfs below - we guarantee that you will find them valuable:
Chapter-by-Chapter Maps (Click on the Titles for the PDFs)
- Disc 1 - The Arm Drag Series
- Disc 2 - Mastering the Back
- Disc 3 - Passing the Guard
- Disc 4 - The Guard (X-Guard)
- Disc 5 - The Guard (Sweeps)
- Disc 6 - Submissions
Overall, we highly recommend this set for those wanting to pattern their submission grappling game after possibly the best pound-for-pound jiu-jitsu fighter in the world. For further information on purchasing this set, check out the product page on World Martial Art's website [click here for the link]
Enjoy it.
