Customer Reviews

Cesar Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Grappling Instructional Series

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have almost every jiu-jitsu instructional video set on the market and this is one of the best out of them all. Cesar is a great teacher, very technical and detail oriented, which makes all the difference. You will see an immediate improvment in your gi game guarented. I am a purple belt and ill tell u, what I learned from just his basic set alone is worth the price of this whole dvd set. His breakdown of how to behave and how to pass someones guard , with the gi on, is by far the best of any video set out there. Actually I thought this set was going to be like the videos of 10 years ago with basic self defense and all but it was so much more. The only bad thing I will say about this set is that he shows you a few moves that everyone already knows like standing headlock escape but still 90% of the stuff on here i didnt know and hadnt seen anywhere else. Well worth the 60 bucks especially if you are just starting in Jiu-Jitsu. You wont be dissapointed with this set.

This is a top notch well organized DVD set from master trainer Cesar Gracie.

A couple things make this a special deal:
1) The techniques cover both Gi and no-Gi.

2) The moves flow in a logical order - it is not just a hodge podge of techniques.

3) Many of the moves are unique, and not shown in other tape series.

4) Cesar's English is much clearer and easier to understand than most jiu jitsu instructors.

5) The price can't be beat.

If you want to improve your jiu jitsu game, this is a great buy.

Why would you learn ground fighting from anyone other than the family that invented it?

I wrestled in HS, fought many bare knuckle fights, and have recently (8 months back) gotten into jiu-jitsu and kickboxing. Just as most would, I've tried to get an edge on my learning curve by purchasing gym mats to train at home (as well as training in the mma academy), and various BJJ instructional DVDs.

The DVD sets I've purchased are: Marcelo Garcia (Series 2), Saulo Ribeiro (BJJ Revolution series), Mario Sperry (Vale Tudo series 1, 2, & 3), and this Cesar Gracie set. I've had a chance to compare the different styles, techniques, and educational approaches. What I've found is that each of these DVD sets is of great value because you can pick up something from each one to improve your game. Based on my experience here are the things I liked and did not like about the Gracie DVD set.

Things I liked:
1) Cesar Gracie explains the moves well
2) He goes over the moves several times for reinforcement
3) He also focuses on key details for the particular move to work
4) He explains how the opponent would react and what variations you could apply
5) The DVD production is pretty good: good lighting and the mats create good contrast to view the demonstrations
6) Nice mix of ground and stand up techniques: sport and street
7) Basics are the Key!
8) Great value for your money!!!

Things I did not like:
1) The organization of the lessons. The beginners DVD is designed for someone who's had at least 3 to 6 months of BJJ. No instructional DVD out there seems to go into much detail of the basic positions, goals of BJJ, energy conservation & breathing, position & exercise drills, balance & body sensitivity, faking/setting-up, and learning to think several moves in advance.
2) On some of the lessons I felt like Cesar Gracie was a bit too quick
3) This DVD is a bit outdated but still very good material.

Conclusion: I am very pleased with this purchase.

These DVD's are very well done. They are very simple, and with very basic knowledge of grappling/martial arts every segment can be understood with ease. Each technique is covered from multiple angles to ensure comprehension of the steps involved. Its only problem as far as I could see was its focus on "sport" jiu jitsu. The primary difference in "sport" jiu jitsu is that both competitors wear a "Gi" (the traditional outfit for most martial arts. Think Bruce Lee) which is heavily relied upon in many of the techniques covered. Practical application in self defense is covered, just not as extensively. Though the basic knowledge of Gracie principals will more than make up for this against opponents without high level fight experience. All in all, worth every penny. A must for anyone who wants to improve their grappling/fighting ability.

This is a must have. I have been studying BJJ for years and I pulled 5 pages of notes off of this set. These were techniques or aspects of techniques that I did not know. I use three techniques a night in class to practice and I received taps every time so far.

I don't know Brazilian jiu jitsu, (due to there being no place to learn in my area), I've had an interest in it for the past few months from watching UFC, so I thought I'd buy this DVD to see what its all about, and its a great set.

I know its always better to learn from a teacher instead of a video, but you can pick up quite a bit of info on these discs, Cesar Gracie does a great job demonstrating the moves, he makes them very easy to follow and shows you what to do and what not to do on each move, and it's not cheesy like some older martial arts videos I've seen.

I've been practicing the moves with a couple of buddies in my dining room and they actually work, its pretty cool,(except for the carpet burns). I know I'd get tapped out in a second by 99% of white belts who actually take classes but I've only had the DVDs for 2 weeks. Its pretty fun, I've gotten to the point where I can spot out and pull off some chokes, armbars, sweeps, and takedowns when wrestling around with my buddies, so you know, you will pick up some stuff from the videos, if you sit down and practice everything on the DVDs you could do all of the moves, thats how easy Cesar Gracie makes it to understand the moves.

There are moves for sport (with gi) and street (w/o gi), for most people like me, some of the "sport" moves you can't do unless you happen to have a gi laying around or you practice on someone with a coat on or something, but most of the moves you could do with or without a gi.

I don't know what someone who knows BJJ would think of the videos aside from the other reviews written on here, but for the average person like me who would like to learn some stuff, and has no other way, I would highly recommend this, its really well presented. I'm not trying to say these moves are easy to do, because most of them aren't theres a lot of thinking involved in these moves, but they ARE easy to learn how to do, I can't stress enough on how good of a job Cesar Gracie does explaing the moves.

These DVDs are great. My previous set of videos in my collection was the Gracie Jiu-jitsu videos done by Rorion and Royce Gracie. After watching this series by Cesar Gracie, I was able to learn many additional moves. This series covers many moves not shown in the Rorion Gracie series, and vice versa. This makes me feel that this series serves as a good addition to what I saw before, rather than being a complete library of jiu-jitsu moves (probably no DVD series can do that, but I have yet to watch the Kukuk A-Z 11 DVD set or the Froes BJJ 11 DVD set :p).

Just additional thoughts here and there:
-I was expecting some more emphasis on no-gi street grappling, but I was still satisfied with what was shown.

-I was surprised that he demonstrated many sweeps from the guard, which I happen to like very much.

-The price is reasonable for the amount of materials shown.

This set is a great addition to any jiu-jitsu library.

Ignoring the fact that this set is divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced, the techniques are still all at the beginner level. That said, if you were to master them, you'd be well on the way in your jiu jitsu career.

And Cesar Gracie certainly provides the quality instruction you'll need.

This was one of the first sets I saw when I first started out a couple of years back. I'm glad about that because it's a great set. It assumes a little knowledge of terms, and you'll need some coaching, but this will put you up on the other white belts in your class.

Predominantly the classic basics, Cesar explains with good detail in perfect english (a real plus, in the world of BJJ videos). Cesar details techniques from a broad spectrum of circumstances and gives you a little how to in each of them.

He covers gi and no-gi and even touches on Vale Tudo and self-defence.

It doesn't offer a great deal of "game development" or a "look inside my game" approach, as is popular, today. But, it is what it is and it is one of the (if not THE) best series on the basics.

This is a great product. I am recently a new fan to the UFC, and have begun to take notice of the power of ju-jitsu, i bought this tape as an enthusiast to the sport and its has given me great insight. Cesar speaks very good english and explains the moves very clearly step by step. He will show you how to do the move from several different angels, and is very good at explaing what you should be doing at a given time during the move. My only complaint is i would have like to seen a better scence selection. Currently each dvd is spli tinto 3 parts, with each part containing several moves... it would have been nice to be able to choose exactly which move you want to review, without having to fast forward through the parts. I give this dvd a 9 out of 10

A great blend of gi and no-gi fighting for both sport BJJ and street. Great detail in the instruction without boring you with too much repetition. Best DVD set on the subject that I have found.