Customer Reviews

Gene LeBell's Grappling World, The Encyclopedia of Finishing Holds (2nd Expanded Edition)

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

 

 

I would give this ten stars if I could. This book is by the great master Gene LeBell. His books are so detailed and easy to understand. This book covers mostly submissions, and ALOT of them. The first chapters are about foot and leg control, and slap and grab moves. Then come the submissions. There is every type of armbar,bent armlock, shoulderlock,leg locks, hip locks, chokes, ankle bends and twists, neck locks, headlocks, neck cranks, abdominal muscle stretches, groin pain, back pain, and much much more. It shows you all of these moves in every angle, in everyway, and many different variations for them all. This book has extremley silly parts in it which will keep you laughing while your learning. It is a great book. Anyone who grapples NEEDS this book to be the best. Gene Lebell has trained some of the best in the world from UFC fighters to Bruce Lee, Chuch Norris, and the undeafeted NHB fighter Gokor Chivichian who is also featured in the pictures in this book as well as UFC former champion Oleg Taktarov. This book really is a Encyclopedia!

This book is a good book to get. It has a lot of useful and humorous info on finishing moves. This book I feel is not for the beginner cause it only contains finishing moves and not the positions or strategy for one to set up such finishes. I would recommend getting this book after one has had familiarity with Grappling arts instruction like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Shoot Fighting, Catch wrestling. I also recommend getting the book The Fighter's Notebook, which has positions and submissions as well as stand up fighting. Get this and the Gene LeBell book and your straight.

LeBell was probably born wearing a pair of wrestling tights and boots. He was the national AAU Judo Champion in 1954 and 1955. Gene won both the heavyweight and openweight divisions at a bodyweight of 160 pounds. Gene LeBell became a professional wrestler in 1955 and won the NWA World's Heavyweight title. Judo Gene is one of the greatest submission grapplers in the world today. He is a master of over 1,000 holds in the art of submission grappling. All of the holds that Gene knows were proven and tested on the mats, arenas and in the streets around the world. LeBell's legacy to the grappling world is in this encyclopedia. This book has over a thousand submission grappling techniques. LeBell is no ordinary mortal when it comes to grappling and fighting. I am certain that he is related in some way to the ancient Greek gods of antiquity. Probably Hercules was his Godfather and the mighty Milo of Croton - the greatest wrestler who ever lived - was his grappling mentor. For those of you who do not have the book -- buy it, it will be the best investment you will ever make and keep in mind that it is the best book on finishing holds that has ever been published. I have seen many other books on submission grappling from all over the world and none can compare with this book. Years ago I searched high and low for such a book but always came up empty handed. Submission grappling techniques have always been guarded jealously by the grapplers of the world. The art of finishing holds is a secretive and esoteric art. Judo Gene LeBell has revealed to the grappling world many of these secret and esoteric holds. LeBell is the first one to do so. Many professional wrestlers were angry with Gene for doing so, but Gene wants to share his knowledge with all the martial artists and grapplers of good will. This manual has an enormous amount of information, knowledge and techniques that one can learn from. If you own such a book then no other grappling book is necessary to buy. It is the whole nine yards. Gene once told me that if you can learn one good technique from a book then it is worth the purchase price. If that is so, then this book is equal to a hundred books (assuming you learn only 10% of the techniques it contains).

this book i hate to say was a dissapiontment and would not really recommend it to anybody that was half serious about learning how to do submissions. i like gene lebell but hate to say that more than half the moves in this book could not be performed on anybody that has any idea about the grappling game. there are a FEW moves in this book that could be usefull. but i would recomend going with another title if truely wanting to learn good submissions. this book does have some hummer in it though, but aside from that and the few good moves i dont think this would be a good route to go,if agian you are serious about grappling. please dont mis-understand me, gene is the man, he just didint prove how true that is with this book. agian, im still a fan, just trying to be helpfull to others

The very first thing I want to say about this fantastic book is that: IT IS BY FAR THE BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN ON GRAPPLING FINISHING HOLDS. There are plenty of books out that claim to be "the encyclopedia" of this or that; however, this book lives up to its name. The author is a true living legend, who has competed world wide and who has taught numerous famous martial artists his grappling techniques. This book covers so much material that this review could never do it justice. Mr. LeBell's unique sense of humor comes through in this book, as he spices the lessons with amusing drawings etc. This text book teaches the entire realm of grappling finishing holds. from how to grip, to how to apply armbars, arm locks, wrist locks, leg locks, chokes, neck locks and many, many other grappling techniques. In conclusion, all martial artists, whether you are a beginner or black belt, should have a copy of this great book in your own personal library. It is well worth the price, which can't be said for most books.

Gene LeBell makes learning fun with his humerous approach to grappling in all its forms. This volume includes techniques commonly found in Judo, wrestling, and a host of other martial arts from Asia to South America. Author LeBell commences with grips and handles, with gi (jacket) and without-after all the base of grappling is holding on to something (anything!). He moves on to slap and catch, and then a huge array of arm locks, shoulder locks, writst, hip, leg locks, chokes, strangles, cranks, counters against a boxer, and LeBell's own wide range of special tricks, many which are not commonly found anywhere else. This volume contains a wealth of information, probably easiest to assimilate for someone who already has a background in wrestling, judo, BJJ or some other art with a lot of ground practice--I had no trouble understanding most of the techniques illustrated within. You won't find much on judo-like throws here, but then this book isn't geared towards that. There are plenty of other ways to get your opponent to the ground illustrated in this tome.

This is a big, heavy book--a work this complete has never been undertaken before to my knowledge (with the possible exception of the "Fighter's Notebook"). There are many practical techniques, many "forgotten" techniques, and everything from the practical to the incredibly difficult in here. For the conoisseur of grappling or martial arts in general, you will enjoy yourself!

Judo Gene continues to show us all what true masters of martial arts are, and he uses humor to illustrate his techniques. As a fellow martial arts instructor this book has more than helped my ground technique, but also reaffirms my belief in being humble.Judo gene and his crew are the BEST, i have had the pleasure of meeting them, they are even nicer in person.

While the book has literally hundreds of finishing holds, they are not very well presented. For every effective maneuver there are a dozen which would be difficult to learn even if being taught by an expert. If you don't already know how to lock submissions the book won't be very helpful at all and people will spin and roll out of most of the holds. However the book does offer enough legitimate submissions to make it worth the purchase and also includes sections on how to grapple with a boxer and how to use a club, and it reminds us to be creative when on the mat. All in all I was expecting more but I still think it was worth the money.

Let me state right out front that you should not rely on this book to teach you practical submissions. I'm sure when properly applied the submissions in this book would hurt like hell, but the chances that a living breathing human being, trained or untrained in grappling would sit back and let you do some of these things to them is rediculous. Quite a few of these submissions would require a willing opponent making these submissions more suitable for "Wrestling Entertainment", then a real Submission Grappling match. If I ever see a Grappler accomplish any of the moves that the book labels as the "Lebellian Series" in a real match, I will have to aknowlage a true master. To pull some of these moves off you'd have to bypass the obvious finish, and complicate things.

That being said, there are some practical submissions in this book, more anyway than a lot of reviewers are giving credit for. The problem with those subs is not that they couldn't work, but that the steps to accomplish these subs are missing, with only pictures of the before and after with little, if anything, in between. It takes previous knowlage and experience to understand how to make these practical techniques work.

Where this book really succeeds is as a fun read for those who know something about grappling and want to get a taste of the personallity of Gene Lebell, who is a legend and pioneer in American Grappling, and who is quite a character as is evident in this book.

Although, this is not THE soure for grappling, you could do worse. Besides, it's amusing to read and look at people twisted into strange human pretzels.

If you buy one grappling book at all, then buy this one. Gene Lebell is to the grappling world as Bruce Lee is considered to the striking world of martial arts. This book is excellent for anyone wanting to improve their groundfighting and submission techiques. Every time I open the book I find a new hold or learn something new. I found myself laughing aloud at the humor scattered throughout the book.

However, studying this book will not make you an invincible grappler. One needs to train with a resisting opponent or a grappling instructor to really improve your ground game.

Fighters like Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Ken Shamrock, Don Frye have all stated in one way or another that Gene Lebell is the toughest man alive and/or the best grappler in the world. Buy the book. It is worth the money.