It is of no surprise to anyone that I am a big fan of the value laden products that Japanese companies continually release.  Therefore, it isn’t a very big shocker that BJJ Spirits vol. 4 is currently my favorite new jiu-jitsu instructional, magazine, and tournament DVD all wrapped up in one.  This product is currently the best value for jiu-jitsu and submission wrestling fans everywhere.

The 5th Budovideos.com magazine has just been released. In this edition, Leo Vieira talks about his new school and shows some sweet half guard techniques, Andre Galvao tells about his foray into MMA, Alvaro Romano is interviewed about Ginastica Natural, Martin Rooney discusses training for throws, and much more. Included free with any purchase!

Do you have a website or a blog? If so, you can make some extra cash by becoming a Budovideos Affiliate. All you do is put a link on your site and anyone that clicks on it and makes a purchase at Budovideos earns you a 5% commission. You can post a Budovideos banner or even write a product review with a link back to us. It’s easy to get approved, just contact us with your name, mailing address and website address and we’ll get back to you right away.

Have a pile of martial arts books or DVDs just sitting around the house? Why not trade them in for something new? While we can’t buy back everything, there are many items that we can. All you need to do is send us an email listing what books or DVDs you have to sell. We’ll get back to you with the amount of store credit we can give you for it. So trade those old books & DVDs in and get that new item you’ve been waiting for!

The 2nd annual Nogi worlds are right aroung the corner. Taking place on August 9th and 10th in Carson, CA, this event is one of the premier nogi grappling events of the year. While the athlete list isn’t complete, expect to see many of the biggest name in grappling competing for the gold.

The registration ends on Aug 2nd so if you haven’t signed up already hurry up!

The event takes place at Cal State Dominguez Hills - just like last year.

Check out the highlight of last year’s event and get the DVD here.

I thought I’d let you know about a new title that’s just on the horizon. Coming in August is a new title from Airyudo (the company that brought you the Alberto Crane Book/DVDs, Draculino Book/DVD, Baret Yoshida Book/DVD, and others. Customers always comment on how detailed the instruction is and what a great deal their products are at only 25 bucks for a book and a DVD.

I was excited to watch Felipe Costa’s documentary The Path to Success because it promised to show how an average BJJ fighter could become an expert competitor. Through three sections, “Felipe’s Story”, “Old Mistakes”, and “Techniques”, The Path to Success offers a new take on jiu-jitsu documentaries by showing how three aspects of jiu-jitsu combine to make a great competitor. Unfortunately, the actual content left me wanting more.

My father believed that a man in many ways could be measured by the strength and toughness of his hands. When I was growing up, my father and I would arm wrestle every weekend while watching sporting events like boxing, football, or the World’s Strongest Man competitions. For years, I was never able to beat him, but he was always there to help with advice on how I could someday win. A one time Olympic caliber rower, my father would brag of how thick the calluses once were across his hands and he would always impress me with feats of hand strength like driving a single finger through the lids of jars of peanuts and coffee. I also had an Uncle that was a three-star general in the Air Force who would crush my hand with his grip at every family reunion. No matter how hard or long you held his grip for, he would always wait until you released first. It was an impressive show of dominance of one man over another. These two men had powerful influence over me when it came to training my hands. I remember with joy seeing my first callus forming in my palm when I started lifting weights around 13 years old. As the years went on, my dad’s advice paid off and one Sunday evening our grips were locked in a battle and I almost beat him. Interestingly, we never arm wrestled again. Not only was he strong, he was smart too.
There were many years of training that went by following that time of my life when I was convinced that grip training was essential not just to being an athlete, but to being a man. When I began training jiu jitsu in 1998, I was again reminded not only that grip training was important, but also that my grip was not as strong as I thought. Training with the gi was tough on my hands at first, and although I had strong hands in the gym, I quickly learned that there was more work to be done before my hands could be considered battle tested. In addition to this, I started training and working with ADCC medalist and UFC veteran Sean Alvarez around this time. Sean was helping me with no gi takedowns one training session and he clamped down with both hands on my left wrist like a bear trap. Not only did I know I wasn’t getting my hand back, but I was also worried he was actually going to break my arm with the sheer power of his hands. This event was the final straw that made sure that grip work became a staple in my training with fighters. Since that time, many of the fighters (Renzo, Ricardo Almeida, Roger Gracie) may have cursed me for what we have done to our hands, but their grips have never let them down in competition.
Simply put, if you have a strong grip, you have an advantage. If you have a weak grip, you have a liability. Regardless of what you might like to believe if you fear training the hands hard, a vice-like grip can be the difference between getting the takedown or not, finishing the submission or not, or ultimately winning or losing. Without a strong grip, your hands become the weak link in the chain of the entire body. The deadlift is a great example of this statement. Imagine that you are trying to deadlift 450 pounds from the floor and you have the arms, back and legs that are strong enough to do it. The only problem is that your hands can only hold 300 pounds. Do you see that the heavy lift is now impossible and that the entire body will be limited in how much it can perform? Now take that same concept and apply it to your fight game. The last thing that you want is holes like this in your game holding you back.
Now that I have your attention, this article is designed to show you new ways for training the grip that you may never have either seen or tried before. The great news is that training the grip does not require expensive equipment. Most of the training we do is with simple pieces that you already probably have, or can get rather easily.

Marcelo Garcia, winner of five Brazilian jiu-jitsu world championships and a man many feel is the best pound-for-pound submission grappler of all time,unveils the secrets behind the most effective guard system in existence—the X-Guard. Unlike most jiu-jitsu instructional books, Garcia leaves no stone unturned. Not only does he show you how to sweep your opponent using the X-Guard from nearly every control position, he shows you how to do it both with a gi and without. Covering everything from grips to timing, this book will be a savior to anyone wishing to compete in jiu-jitsu tournaments, no-gi grappling competition or mixed martial arts.

Mauricio “Tinguinha” Mariano has done a lot of work for you. Besides playing a large role in the creation of many of the modern open guard moves while a student at the Gracie Barra Academy in Rio, he has also laid them all out for the benefit of everyone. In Tinguinha’s widely popular Ultimate Open Guard Series, Tinguinha takes all levels of practitioners through the Spider Guard, Sitting Up Guard, and Cross Guard, and later he puts them all together in one of the most dynamic volumes to date- The Extreme Open Guard. So, with all of the hype in place, let’s take a look at this series and decide once and for all of this is the Ultimate Open Guard Series.