How's it going everyone. A couple of months ago I was picked by Draculino's crew to be one of the few beta testers to their new site (
Draculino BJJ Training - Online Jiu Jitsu Technique Tutorials and Curriculum by Vinicius Magalhaes). My job was basically to examine the several phases the site was going through prior to the launch date, as well as find whatever kinks that may have existed. The reason that I (of all people, lol) was picked for this job, is because I’m a very vocal person, and I won’t pull any punches on the quality of a product, regardless of who the author is. With such a saturated market that we have today in BJJ, there is no reason for someone to release a sub-par product, and then be unhappy to receive constructive criticism. World champs are releasing videos and writing books all the time, so staying ahead of the curve (or at least keeping up with it for that matter) is a must.
Now I have been a member of a good majority of the online BJJ sites, everything from Jean Jacques Machado's online training, MMA-Faestro, to the most recent MGinaction, and i'd say that Draculino's site ranks right up there with the best of them.
Like most, the site is broken down into several categories, but what makes this site great is the user friendliness. Some sites use programs that are a bit intricate, and can sometimes make it hard for a person to find exactly what he's looking for, but what’s really cool about Draculino's site is that everything is EASILY accessible. The color scheme is very well put together so for some guys who have a hard time seeing really dark, or really bright colors, this is a very happy medium.
Another really cool feature is that each video has 3 separate camera angles that you can view each video from, assuring you that you can see the move from each important angle so that you don’t miss anything. If you have an angle that is a particular favorite, just drag and drop it to the main dock, and that will be the main image, instead of the default.
What was a real eye opener for me were the techniques Draculino was teaching. He was showing everything from some really solid Spider Guard fundamentals and sweeps (Same stuff you see Romulo Barral using), Passing the Deep Half Guard (a simple, but deadly technique when done right), TONS of chokes, armbars, and transitions from Side Control, as well as some really good escapes to dominant positions that I haven’t seen on any other DVDs.
Now some of that stuff may sound a little to advanced for you new guys out there, and for you, Draculino has prepared an entire section for you to study, which is the Blue Belt section. The Blue Belt section is comprised of about 60+ techniques, ranging from a few simple (but effective) takedowns, how to recover your guard, how to attain, and maintain dominant positions, as well as how to escape them. I highly suggest EVERYONE check this section out, regardless of rank. Draculino puts a fairly unique twist on everything he teaches as far as the details are concerned, some of those details aren’t present on ALOT of the more popular DVD sets floating around.
Lastly, by simply subscribing to this site for about a year, you would actually save more money than if you were to go and buy a lot of the more popular DVD sets. The site is already LOADED with videos for you to watch, as well as offering the feature of asking Draculino a question, and getting a prompt, FILMED response. There are other sites that offer this same feature, but sometimes aren’t always very prompt in the response.
In conclusion, I recommend this site to EVERYONE. White belts, brown belts, pink belts, gold belts with the silver tip, NoGi brown belts, EVERYONE. Its a great way to learn, shave time off of your day at work, or come up with new drilling material if you feel you've reached a plateau in your training. So check out:
Draculino BJJ Training - Online Jiu Jitsu Technique Tutorials and Curriculum by Vinicius Magalhaes
