Attack of the Killer Butterfly & The Human Crucifix!
This is a preview of the upcoming Jiu Jitsu Theater Double Feature 3 disc DVD set featuring Nino Schembri, available soon at www.Budovideos.com

Attack of the Killer Butterfly & The Human Crucifix!
Two Movies, One Admission, Multiple Submissions!

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the turtle historically has been seen as a conduit to either recovering guard or getting your guard passed (or possibly being submitted). However, over the last few years a lot of these views have changed as the turtle has become an offensive staging ground for sweeps, reversals, and even some submissions. While some have been slow to accept this changing paradigm shift about the turtle, others have embraced the unique aspects of this game. Nowhere else is this change so obvious than in the two Turtle specific volumes by Josh Russell and Eduardo Telles. Following is a cross comparison review of both instructionals where there can only be one winner and it isn’t the hare.

Recently, two of the largest jiu-jitsu instructional producers went head to head with nearly simultaneous releases of the newest Marcelo Garcia vol. 4 instructional and the highly anticipated Braulio Estima set. Although the timing is certainly hard on the wallets, these instructionals couldn’t have been any more different and both are definitely worth checking out.

Marcelo Garcia vol. 4- As the latest iteration of the famous franchise, Marcelo breaks new ground in this volume entitled New Game Jiu-Jitsu. Gone are the x-guard, back attacks, and arm drag DVDs of volumes 1-3. In its place is a whole lot of submission grappling specific omoplata, guillotine, and crucifix attacks. This is definitely new ground for the series.

For this week’s Essential Series Entry, we’re looking at my favorite ten gi less grappling events or specials. The criteria is simple, these are the ten events that I feel everyone could be happy with as a part of their collections. The only guideline that I have imposed on myself is that I pick only one event from each production.

When looking at the current crop of champion factories in the BJJ and MMA world, one cannot overlook the powerhouse Cesar Gracie Competition Team. With champions and fighters like Dave Terrell, Gil Castillo, Nick and Nate Diaz, Jake Shields, and Gilbert Melendez, it is clear that Cesar Gracie offers something important as an instructor. To discover what this special “something” is, we are going to be diving into Cesar Gracie’s DVD legacies, his 3 disc Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Instructional by Ultimate Imports as well as the self produced 6 volume Gi-Less Jiu-Jitsu set.

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.

Many including myself have lauded the Baret Yoshida DVD/Book combo by Airyudo Books as one of the best buys on the market. It has it all, a huge library of techniques from a myriad of positions, a convenient book with easy to read English, and best of all- a companion DVD that includes every move. For 25 bucks, I still believe that this is one of the best buys out there. However, besides its price point and value laden content, what could have been done better with this product and how does it fit into the framework created by the first Baret Yoshida 3 DVD Set (formerly only available on VHS)?