Customer Reviews

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Basics (Mastering the Essential Techniques)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Every Martial Artist Knows that there is nothing more important than the Basics. Simco hits the nail right in the head with this book and really serves up a good deal with an included DVD.

The book is exactly what all newcomers to BJJ should know and what all of us should be working on.

Clear and detailed explainations, good photos, great DVD.

This should be the first book in everyone's BJJ library.

Unlike a lot of other BJJ publications, Gene Simco is able to explain how to do Jiu-jitsu to normal everyday people like you and me. It seems as if most people writing books have been doing it their whole lives and don't even remember what its like to not know it. If you are naturally gifted, born into a martial arts clan or a champion, you don't understand or remember what its like to struggle with the learning process of martial arts and should stick to fighting, not writing! This book is the most helpful publication in the world of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu to the student looking for a clear and solid foundation.

I've been practicing the art of Jujutsu for 27 years in a variety of forms, including Judo and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. For 14 years of that time, I have been a professional martial artist. There are hundreds of books for beginners that I recommend to my students for the art of Judo and traditional martial arts, but until now, there was absolutely nothing on the market that I would consider useful for someone starting out in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

Mr. Simco does a fantastic job of breaking down the essential basics of BJJ for a beginner by position, starting with standing techniques for self defense. In this chapter, everything is clear and sound, including his detailing of necessary 'ukemi' or breakfall techniques, of which he does a fine job describing. From there, he details the finer points of guard passing, hold downs from the top, guard work (sweeps and submissions) and escaping technques.

For the beginner, there is no other book out there that will send a white belt on their way to blue belt better or describe the essential techniques of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu more clearly, because of this, there isn't a student in my school who does not own a copy.

Having only recently started out in BJJ, I had many questions such as, 'what is BJJ all about?', 'how did it start?', 'how do I tie my belt?' etc etc - I'm sure you get the drift. This book answers them all and then some! Gene has a natural ability to explain in words exactly what is required, and covers all of the basics in very easy to digest chunks. The accompanying DVD is even better I have to say. Gene has the most relaxed approach to his instruction and it is almost like having the guy in your room rather than being viewed on the TV. For anyone wanting to get ahead in this wonderful grappling art - you have to buy this book....it's excellent!!!

When I first took lessons in BJJ I had no idea what I was trying to achieve. It all seemed a confusing mess of positions and unclear goals. My teacher was skilled but seemed to find explaining what he was doing hard.

I wish Gene Simco had been my teacher! Simco gives clear step-by-step instructions and illustrates them accurately. He tells you exactly what you need to do and how. No fluff just right-to-the-point, crystal clear instructions. A student's dream.

The DVD is a great bonus. Why has no other BJJ author thought of this? It brings the lessons to life and with Simco demonstrating and explaining, you know you are watching a great teacher who has taken the time not only to learn his art but to learn how to teach it too.

Using this book and DVD can jump-start anybodys success and progress in BJJ. Buy it!

Everyone say that Gene is one of the best, if not the best, BJJ book author. Well, he is!

This book covers the main aspects of BJJ, it's simple, easy to follow and the most important: Gene teach you the logic of BJJ, other books covers just positions and don't correlate the moves, but Gene made it in his book.

My advice is that it's worth to have only if you are a beginner, maybe if you recently gained the blue belt it can be worth to read, but any other advanced grappler will find this book very basics (well, the title imply this: mastering the basics).

The book's contents is worth to gain 5 stars, but the poor quality of paper and print, made this book very poor. My fear is that that paper decompose before I finish read the book. lol

Pros
- very good fundamentals emphasis
- very well datailed techniques

Cons
- poor mateirial quality

This books also covers leg locks, which is not allowed on levels under brown belt. He detail the positions, for example, he say what and how a mount position is performed, with great details.

That it, good bokk, but the author is better.

"Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Basics" is a great book for anyone who wants to learn (or reinforce) the essential Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) techniques in a straight forward, well explained text. Every technique that Gene explains is reinforced with good quality pictures TWICE: once as a step-by-step thumbnail sequence; followed by larger pictures of each step with a detailed explaination. The explainations are great, because Gene not only explains how to properly perform each step, he also explains WHY each step is performed that way. This helps one to better understand each technique, by gaining a broader understanding of the art of Jiu Jitsu.
Gene opens the book with a brief history of BJJ, a guide to choosing the right school; and his guide to Dojo ediquite, tying a belt and the BJJ ranking system (all of which are important for beginners). He then details techniques, organized by POSITION. This is a great way to learn; it is very easy to understand and every position is covered. Gene even throws in some techniques from his Advanced BJJ book: "Barzilian Jiu-Jitsu: The Master Text," which has been crowned as the most comprehensive, well written book EVER written on the subject. Overall, if there is one book for the entry-level BJJ student to get, this is it.

I think it's probably the best book out there for people just starting out or people wanting to.

Been training for a while and know that the Basics are all you need.

For Advanced people, there might be some better choices, but if you are advanced and you teach, you should have this book and tell all of your students to get it.

The DVD is a nice sampler of the author's "Essential Techniques" DVD series at www.jiu-jitsu.net , that I really enjoyed. If you're looking for a good dvd set with excellent instruction of need to know moves, that dvd set is it.

Not a bad writer, but better in person IMO. Check out his DVDs as well.

I recently purchased this book and was very pleased with it's content and layout. The book covers all of the basic techniques of BJJ. Each technique is explained completely. The pictures that accompany each stage of the technique being explained allow you to SEE what is being explained.

The introduction is short in length, (good in my opinion), and includes a brief history of Jiu-Jitsu, what to look for in finding a school, an instructor, etc. Best book I've purchased on BJJ basics, by far, great job Gene! :)

Whether you are a martial artist of many years like me or a beginner to martial arts, this book will help anyone who is starting out in the art of BJJ.

It helped me to get my first belt (the first edition of this book, which is the same basics layout and has been avaialble at www.jiu-jitsu.net for quite some time) and I still use it as a guide to help teach my students.

This reprint by Citidel is very nice and includes a DVD sampler of the author's accompanying series.