Instructional BJJ tapes: is it worth it/possible?

Turboozo

Turboozo

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Hello everybody,

I'm an MMA and Bjj enthusiast who would love to have a chance to learn, practice, and possibly compete in brazilian ju-jitsu; but the sad truth of the matter is that there simply aren't any proper Bjj schools anywhere close to where I live.
I've been looking on and off for over two years and the best I could find was some instructor of some other martial art (whing chun) who attended a few BJJ seminars and was willing to show me the basics, but the lack of teacher's knowledge and experience, training partners, and long time goals eventually left me no choice but to abandon my quest and look for some other sport.
After the summer break, another athletic year is about to start again and again my search has been in vain and my hopes have been frustrated.
Moving to another place solely to learn ju jitsu is out of the question at this particular time.

So, fellow Bjj lovers (or should I say you lucky bastards who get a chance to actually train it), it seems my last option is self-teaching through instructional tapes/books, assuming I can find one or two friends willing to take part in such madness :p

Do you think it's even worth the time and effort to try and learn Bjj exclusively from books/tapes, with probably very limited rolling partners selection? (who knows, maybe I could start a phenomenon!).

And if yes, what resources would you reccomend?

Thanks for your time and replies!
 
no judo?

different but still learn good stuff, get a good workout and useful stuff if you later do start BJJ

And maybe get some judo guys together to roll/drill more BJJ stuff. just rolling more akin to BJJ rules does alot
 
well since you have no other option id say yes, but you would need someone else to practice the techniques with or you will build up bad habits which will be hard to correct if you ever got to a bjj academy
 
They are a good start if you don't have a school near you to learn. But it is best to find some training partners, so you can try to replicate the moves to the best of your ability. Good thing is...if you study, and roll enough, you will have a nicer transition to a real scool or class when/if you ever find a good school to attend. Bad thing is..it is really hard to know wheather you are performing the moves right or not,until someone does it to you...then you go....oh i see how that works now!..
 
the first guys that started training bjj in sweden back in the 90's, got alot of their knowledge from instructionals (vhs's =), they did trips to brazil every year where they had an instructor, but when they got back to sweden it was only vhs's and sparring with each other.

All of them are blackbelts today, and a couple of them have done very good in competition.

so my answer is yes absolutely!
 
Tapes will never replace time on the mat, but they can help.

Braulio Estimas series 'Invisible Jiu Jitsu' is excellent and is designed for guys like yourself who may not have access to a regular school.

Each video is a full lesson, not just a collection of techniques. Braulio really shows his approach to training and has very clear instruction as well as principles, concepts etc... not just a collection of techniques!

You can also buy each lesson as and when you want and for only
 
Check out my sig.


I would seriously look into it.







btw, ill just touch on it before you find it on your own, the Gracie Combatives DVDs and Online curriculum is great instruction.

Very well spoken, and great breakdowns of basic techniques. Its great for people in your situation.

Just dont read into the online blue belt thing. Do a quick search here in the forum about it.

There is a 100 page thread called Holy Gracie Combatives. I would suggest reading that.


Best of luck.
 
Me and my buddies train in his basement. There are 4 of us. We took a couple of months of traditional juijitsu classes but ran into financial difficulties. Now we have a full setup in the basement.

We currently use two of BJ Penns books. The book of knowledge, and closed guard. We are now starting to use Roy Dean's and Damien Maia's tapes. I guess in six months or so we will know if its working as we plan on entering a couple of tournaments by then.(Nothing major, just beginner stuff)

Just don't give up
 
Turboozo said:
Hello everybody,

I'm an MMA and Bjj enthusiast who would love to have a chance to learn, practice, and possibly compete in brazilian ju-jitsu; but the sad truth of the matter is that there simply aren't any proper Bjj schools anywhere close to where I live.
I've been looking on and off for over two years and the best I could find was some instructor of some other martial art (whing chun) who attended a few BJJ seminars and was willing to show me the basics, but the lack of teacher's knowledge and experience, training partners, and long time goals eventually left me no choice but to abandon my quest and look for some other sport.
After the summer break, another athletic year is about to start again and again my search has been in vain and my hopes have been frustrated.
Moving to another place solely to learn ju jitsu is out of the question at this particular time.

So, fellow Bjj lovers (or should I say you lucky bastards who get a chance to actually train it), it seems my last option is self-teaching through instructional tapes/books, assuming I can find one or two friends willing to take part in such madness :p

Do you think it's even worth the time and effort to try and learn Bjj exclusively from books/tapes, with probably very limited rolling partners selection? (who knows, maybe I could start a phenomenon!).

And if yes, what resources would you reccomend?

Thanks for your time and replies!
Click to expand...

Instructionals are good if your only option is self-teaching. It can be fairly affordable as well.

Best of luck with your training ts!
 
Hey!

Thanks to everyone for the replies, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to share suggestions and links, as well as being so supportive!

I guess there's plenty of good instructionals out there I can use, so I will start looking for people interested in it. Hopefully I can not only attain personal proficiency and satisfaction but also help Bjj develop globally, step by step!
 
sfortunato cazzo... a schezaro a schezaro...

A: Learn Judo. A school with heavy newaza focus will be very good

B: Move. It'll be worth it :icon_chee

C: Youtube. MANY MANY great instructionals on youtube FOR FREE!!! Ha Youtube Italiano paisano?

D: Some DVD's are of great help. Saulo's sets, Caesar Gracie's and Nogueira's. Enjoy. Take what you need and leave the rest

E: You're near Greece! (relative to the U.S. atleast) any legit pankration scools in your area? (not the bullshit karate disguised as pankration)

D: If all else fails, get some amici and practice in you're... do they have back yard's in your area? Ultra volta A Schezaro A schezaro.... It's better than nothing! And in all honesty that's how BJJ really developed and with the help of instructionals you'll be on your way!

But Competition is probably not in the cards unless you find a school with hight level grapplers to practice with.

P.S. sorry for my shitty Sicilian-American attempts to bond with you!:redface:
 
lol, no worries about the "italian" lines, although the spelling was a little sketchy at times :p
I know it might seem like I live close to Greece all the way from the US, but its like 800+ kms to get there, not exactly a comfortable distance for daily practice!

Also, not that many backyards around here! We might rent some gym space or something... The problem will be convincing those amici to get off their asses and embark in my fool's crusade.

And yea, I suppose competitions will have to wait until/if I find a proper academy. Also, I'd much rather train no-gi. Just saw a gi competition and those freakin towels and belts kept untying and opening up and getting in the way, and guys were choking each other out with their gi. Disgraceful (not disrespecting anyone here). You can see they get used to having aritificial handles on their opponent.

In my mind, Bjj is just one aspect of MMA, and even if I'll never train/compete in MMA, I'd like my Bjj to be as practically oriented as possible. That's the whole point of it really.
 
Turboozo said:
lol, no worries about the "italian" lines, although the spelling was a little sketchy at times :p
I know it might seem like I live close to Greece all the way from the US, but its like 800+ kms to get there, not exactly a comfortable distance for daily practice!

Also, not that many backyards around here! We might rent some gym space or something... The problem will be convincing those amici to get off their asses and embark in my fool's crusade.

And yea, I suppose competitions will have to wait until/if I find a proper academy. Also, I'd much rather train no-gi. Just saw a gi competition and those freakin towels and belts kept untying and opening up and getting in the way, and guys were choking each other out with their gi. Disgraceful (not disrespecting anyone here). You can see they get used to having aritificial handles on their opponent.

In my mind, Bjj is just one aspect of MMA, and even if I'll never train/compete in MMA, I'd like my Bjj to be as practically oriented as possible. That's the whole point of it really.
Click to expand...

I know Italy isn't close to Greece for daily practice Lol. I just know that the Greeks have really taken to Pankration for the cultural aspects and I wouldn't be suprised if it had spilled over to Italy much more so than it has to other parts of the E.U. and especially not to the U.S.A!

If you find a BJJ/Judo/Sambo school that teaches exclusively in GI JUMP ON IT! Honestly the two aren't that different and both can be easily adapted to the other.

In additon to my academy I use Vinicius Draculino's online training; MANY, MANY, MANY great techniques both Gi and No-Gi from one of the best in the world! It only costs $25 U.S. per month, so appx 50 Euros or 100.000.000.000 lira a month! (a schiazo a schiazo). There might be some issues getting it in Italy, but as your English is beyond proficent, I highly reccomend it if you can get it. Get some of you buddies and start out slow, but before you know it you'll be doing well.

I'm a solid BJJ blue belt with good lineage. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me, or any of the much more qualified members (than myself) here on sherdog.

P.S.: I've heard that there is a BJJ club in Cararra, not sure how far that is from you... And Sub-wrestling club in Bologna and Turino... You may want to check into that, because I could only understand a quarter of what was written. But if you could even go for a week or two to one of these clubs I'm sure you would learn alot
 
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are there any legit pankration schools anywhere?? i know culturally, it was part of ancient greece, but modern greece and ancient greece are different worlds. i wouldnt be surprised if pankration was dead and now just the name is used.

ts; looking at a map, it says trieste is pretty close to zagreb (i dunno, 3 hours, maybe?). they'd probably have a solid club there. i'd recommend going there for a couple of days a month on top of ur home-schooling.
 
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