Customer Reviews

Saulo Ribeiro Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Revolution Series One. Six Volume DVD Instructional Series for Grappling and Mixed Martial Arts

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This six set DVD covers the major aspects of BJJ: Mount, Cross Body (ie side control), Back, Guard, Half Guard, Passing Guard. The only other piece needed for a complete sport game is takedowns, which are covered in Series Two. All instruction is with gi, with Saulo demonstrating on Chris (one of his brown belts) for around 15 techniques per video.

The techniques lean towards offense, so for example Half Guard spends more time passing and submitting than defending or sweeping. Saulo does a great job of emphasizing a consistent theme in each DVD. For example in the Cross Body DVD the first few sequences demonstrate the importance of controlling the opponents hips with your weight, as opposed to with arm positioning or grips, and he reiterates this point in every cross body technique. This theme of using your core positioning rather than limbs to maintain control comes across as one of the key tenets of Saulo's approach. Another key point is that jiu-jitsu is not as simple as learning a set of magic techniques that always work, and Saulo teaches you to recognize the moment (it sounds like "momentum" sometimes but it's "moment") in which a technique will be most effective.

Overall this series is very good. As a white belt who has trained for six months, I found the half-guard DVD particularly enlightening, both the specific passes and the general philosophy for defending and sweeping. The only complaint is that the series emphasizes advanced techniques at the expense of basics. This is most pronounced on the Guard DVD, where the basic submissions (armbar, lapel choke, kimura, triangle) aren't touched, while multiple butterfly sweeps are. Bill Lewis's online review says this is probably due to marketing concerns of avoiding material well-trodden by other series. Still, I found Saulo's series most valuable when it laid out correct body placement on basic moves and positions as opposed to exotic submissions, and having this for the full range of "BJJ 101" would have been nice.

Another minor complaint - both Saulo and Chris are wearing shiny white gis and sometimes it's hard to tell exactly where an arm or leg is positioned. Kind of an obvious oversight in what otherwise is a very well produced set.

Overall though anyone up to a blue should find this set greatly clarifies some basic points and erases many of the misconceptions you've picked up early in training. I'm guessing advanced belts will benefit from the more advanced techniques, but I'll leave that to another reviewer to confirm.

it is well worth the money as it provides a different point of view n way to tackle some of jujitsu problems. saulo repeatedly emphasized the importance of energy conservation, leverage and avoid using power against power on the moves are something that all beginners n intermediate practisioners need to take at heart. his teaching is solid, very detailed and easy to understand. also the techqiues he taught are also the ones he used successful on the tournament i.e the spectacular judo throw !!!!!

I've been training in bjj for about a year now. I find it hard to remember all the various techniques taught in class, forgetting the majority of them until they are done multiple times down the line. In order to help me learn more, especially while sore, unable to train, etc., I began reading books, including Ribeiro's Jiu Jitsu University, which was excellent. However, I tend to learn a lot more (in this area) watching the technique over and over again. My brother bought Jiu-Jitsu Revolution (gii) while I bought the no-gii one. Both have helped me tremendously, though I was disappointed the no gii series had nothing regarding cross body, which is a place I find myself allllll the time against higher belts, and neither have anything regarding takedowns. Both packages are expensive but when compared with a private lesson (usually between 70 and 150), you really learn a lot and can watch the techniques over and over again. I've definitely benefited in a quick amount of time from Ribeiro explaining the details of various techniques and pointing out what are the most important areas. I've seen a large improvement in my game quickly but I also watch the videos, train, and asks lot of questions in class often.

I will say if you're expecting to pay the price and hold your own against purple belts and above, it's probably overly optimistic. I often roll with two to four stripe purple belts and, while I don't get tapped out often, they are clearly aware of what I'm trying to do. I recently rolled with a very well known black belt and had several opportunities to try certain techniques in the series, particularly the knee on belly. He obviously knew what I was doing (don't they always seem to?) and had me twirled in a million different directions in no time. So yeah, if you're a newbie like me and aren't BJ Penn, I wouldn't buy these with the mindset you're going to be amazing.

Overall, especially if you're new, I would highly recommend Ribeiro's videos and book. They're enjoyable to watch (hard not to laugh when he looks at the camera and says "guys" like he's talking right to you or "i don't want that") and teach you a lot of technique in various areas.

Saulo is an excellent teacher. Not all how-to DVD's are made equal but this one certainly lives up to it's title!!

I think that this is the best dvd set for beginners in jiu-jitsu--it covers all of the basic positions, both top and bottom, and will provide a solid set of skills for those looking to improve the basics of their game.