Introduction
Nic Gregoriades is somebody I’ve known online for a while. I even recently wrote an article for his blog over at JiuJitsu Brotherhood. Nic is a black belt under Roger Gracie and a fantastic BJJ instructor.
Kit Dale is an incredible competitor and instructor from Australia that is known popularly for his sense of humor, but now as much so for his thoughts on concepts versus drilling in BJJ.
Beyond Technique
The goal of the series is to provide the viewer with concepts as opposed to techniques. For example, instead of showing 5 techniques for avoiding a guard pull and moving on, more time is spent on concepts to avoid a guard pull, such as keeping your opponent’s posture broken and keeping him leaning forward so even if he/she pulls guard, it’s going to be a terrible guard pull.
For the record, techniques ARE shown to illustrate the concepts, but they’re moved through quickly enough that you can jot them down if you want, but the focus remains on the concept over the individual technique.
Breakdown
There are 20 concepts shown in the DVD:
- Transitional pressure – How to transition from one position to another with Nic
- The Fisherman – Kit explains how, when fishing, you use your full body for leverage to pull, then reel in the arms. He uses a great example from De la Riva guard.
- The Quadrant – Stability requires 4 quadrants and Nic explains how to disrupt and manipulate them
- Post, Posture and Leverage – How a sweep works with Kit
- The Porcupine – Nic explains how to use the pokey parts of your body
- Nullifying the guard pull – A great concept for avoiding a guard pull with Kit (as mentioned above)
- The Corkscrew
- Weight distribution
- Collapsing and inserting structures
- Double-barrel shotgun
- Open and closed chain
- Removing leverage
- Spinal torque
- Size specific strategy
- Border patrol
- Loading the
- The Pendulum Take down postures
- Hip-centric movement
- Misdirection
- Production
Poor video production is a huge pet peeve of mine, especially on a paid-for product and the production on the DVD is great. It’s almost done in an interview format with both instructors facing the camera, great audio, and genuine instruction throughout. So as the duo are teaching as they’re moving, you feel like you’re simply taking a private lesson with Kit and Nic.
So, Brendan, is it worth it?
Click here to purchase this DVD series.
Sure, I’ve picked up a few great techniques at seminars. Caio Terra taught my a de la riva sweep that I use with great success and Felipe Costa taught me a half guard sweep that literally ignited my love for BJJ and got my from white belt to purple belt.
But normally, techniques are forgotten over time and what’s kept are concepts. The Mendes Bros. taught me the concept of getting spider guard players off their backs (make them sit up!). That concept has paid HUGE dividends in my passing game.
This DVD is ALL concepts. They’re all things you can practice over and over with a variety of drills (should you choose) or in light/live rolling sessions.
I love the idea of giving the concept first, and then using different examples to show why it’s true and that it transcends all of BJJ, and not just one technique.
This DVD is like teaching a student how to read or how to write. Now they can read whatever they want and discover their own love for learning. With the above concepts, I’m now able to develop my own jiu jitsu game and express that on that mat.
At a manageable 55 minutes and a budget-friendly $49, this series is a great value.
