When I first thought of the idea of showcasing a certain athlete and his material, Rigan Machado was the first person to come to mind. The reason is simple… Rigan has a ton of knowledge, experience, and product both written and video from multiple publishers, therefore he was a prime candidate for the Essential Series. In addition, Rigan is respected as one of the greatest BJJ practitioners of his era and is also one of the five famous Machado brothers of jiu-jitsu.

Carlos Machado recently released his new set after receiving a lot of hype, but how does it stack up to other well liked sets like Saulo Ribeiro’s Jiu-Jitsu Revolution 1? After many long nights watching and rewatching both sets, I think its time to find out.

When I first heard about the soon to-be released BJJ Spirits Vol. 2, I was more than excited - I was ecstatic. The previous BJJ Spirits and its follow up, Submission Spirits were two of my favorite Japanese publications, but each for different reasons. I really enjoyed BJJ vol.1 for its solid mix of written and video media. I found the book to be incredible - it featured Leo Vieira, Andre Galvao, Rany Yahra, Shinya Aoki, and Mike Fowler as my personal favorite sections. The DVD was also really cool - it had techniques by Fowler, Telles, and Galvao as well as sparring footage of the former TT members and a great bjj match featuring Fredson Paixao. I felt that BJJ Spirits vol. 1 would be a tough act to follow. Then came Submission Spirits.