For this week’s Essential Series Entry, we’re looking at my favorite ten gi less grappling events or specials. The criteria is simple, these are the ten events that I feel everyone could be happy with as a part of their collections. The only guideline that I have imposed on myself is that I pick only one event from each production.

1. ADCC 2005 - If you are looking into buying one of the ADCC sets, I would recommend the ADCC 2005. This volume probably has the best production, great lighting, and some amazing fights. Standouts included: Marcelo Garcia vs. everyone (but especially Ricco Rodriguez and Diego Sanchez), Jacare’s title, Roger Gracie’s run through his weight and the open - eventually tapping Jacare, and Leo Vieira’s grueling battle against Rani Yahra for the gold. Other notable fighters like MMA Superstars Shinya Aoki, Jake Shields, and Urijah Faber also contributed to the diverse field in the 2005 event.

How does it compare to other editions? For me, all of the older events are incredible with some of best classic matches in submission grappling. However, I am also a stickler for production values and therefore this event is really only comparable to 2003 and 2007. I would recommend all three events, but for the budget minded, I do feel that each of them have their own strengths and limited weaknesses. For ADCC 2003, the fights were great, but they did not include all of the matches like the later two events. This left out some amazing fights that I am sure many would have wanted to see. In addition, the dim lighting and incessant bongo drum track drove me absolutely mad. I feel both of these issues were rectified with the 2005 edition, clean menus, great lighting, and an event audio track with commentating for the final. The recent 2007 event was also a great event full of many good matches, but I feel the event suffered from a lack of more traditional wrestlers, MMA stars, and different grappling specialists from varying arts. However, as a grappling event the matches were incredible with an awe inspiring performance by Marcelo Garcia as well as some upsets such as Fowler v. Saulo, Garcia v. Drysdale, and Vieira v. Yahra. Unfortunately, the production level and DVD authoring was not on as high of a level as the 2005 edition, but the bracket menu was more than sufficient for fight navigation.

Basically, the 2005 edition is packed to teeth with great production, fights, and the stars of the grappling world. Personally, I don’t feel that any ADCC’s should be missed, but 2005 stood out like a diamond.

2. The Physical Body vol. 1 - Many may find this an odd inclusion as I just finished talking about the submission fest known as the ADCC Championships, but this DVD is a great reminder that grappling exists in many different forms globally. The Physical Body serves as an introduction to the ageless style of Kushti, an indigenous Indian Wrestling as practiced through the centuries. This DVD is very entertaining in you see how technology free grappling is as a sport and most will find parallels between Indian Wrestling and their own particular field of wrestling/grappling; these guys are technical! From the second I saw those guys preparing a dirt pit to be utilized as a wrestling mat, I was hooked. Talk about rugged wrestling!

Why did I choose The Physical Body Volume 1 over Volume 2? Actually, both The Physical Body 1 and 2 should not be missed, but PB vol. 1 is the starting point (although you do not need to see one to watch two!) and for that reason I decided to give it the coveted essential position. More Kushti exercises and matches are available in Volume 2, but this feels like a great addition to Volume 1 instead of something that triumphs over it.

3. Best of the West 2005 - This smaller California tournament (compared to the monster known as ADCC) had the exciting match ups that made it a shoe in for the Essential list. Featuring Jeff Glover, Rani Yahra, Bill Cooper, Andre Soares, Eben Kaneshiro, Dmitri Magravanis, Dan Camarillo, and some of the biggest stars of the California jiu-jitsu scene, this DVD came packed full of exciting and interesting match ups.

For some this may seem similar to the line ups in many of the Grappler’s Quest DVDs, but Best of the West 2005 differentiates itself with its quality extras as well as great fights. If you are a fan of Bill Cooper and Jeff Glover, you owe it to yourself to see these guys submitting their way to the top. Bill Cooper even has his own highlight section in the bonus area that showcases all of his submissions and matches; hopefully other companies follow suit with these ingenuitive extras. Also, Dan Camarillo’s gi less seoi nage and o-goshi throws are perfectly timed and well… perfect!

4. Pro-Am 2K or Mark Laimon No-Gi Remix - Both of these DVDs feature North Carolina’s Pro-Am 2000 event that saw Brazil’s best pitted against American amateurs. Not only are the best of the best of Brazil’s last generation showcased in Leo Vieira, Royler Gracie, Terere, Shaolin, Saulo Ribeiro, and Comprido Medeiros, but also rising American stars like Matt Serra, Rhadi Ferguson, Mark Laimon, Dean Lister, Shawn Williams, Bull Shaw, and Garth Taylor got exposed as well. With these great fighters, the match-ups were legendary as well; Leo Viera’s battle against Shaolin, Terere taking out a tough Matt Serra, Saulo versus Jamie Levine, Royler’s leg attack on Hammett, and the titanic battle between Serra and Leozinho all come instantly to mind.

So, what’s the difference between the Laimon Remix and Pro-Am 2K? As stated earlier, both cover the same event, but the Pro-Am 2K DVD includes full fights while Laimon’s Remix covers highlights of the same matches edited down with music. The only other difference is that the Laimon DVD also includes highlight under GQ x NU that includes greats like JD Penn, Mark Laimon, and Tony Desouza all in action.

Which should you get? This was a hard decision for me. I really like both DVDs A LOT, but I would lean towards the Laimon DVD only because he focused on the same highlights that I would have looked for in the full DVD. Sometimes it feels like they may repeat one time too many, but overall that is a minor dispute to an otherwise excellent DVD. Also, the GQ x NU footage is a great additional value. With that said, both products are great and it all comes down to a preference of either enjoying full matches or highlight reels. I enjoy them both.

5. Pan Am No-Gi 2007 - As the first gi less CBJJ event, this DVD is a noteworthy inclusion on the Essential list. This DVD really comes down to three elements that make it so special. First of all, the unique bracketing by belt rank allowed for some great match-ups in the colored belts where no-gi wizards like Steve Rosenberg and Tim Sylvester put on a real show. It was great to see what happens when usually Advanced class competitors step into the ranks of their individual BJJ belt. You will not want to miss Rosenberg’s gogoplata!

Secondly, the 2007 Pan Am No Gi event presented a battle of the ages with past stars like Saulo Ribeiro, Marcio Feitosa, and Flavio Almeida all showing up to battle against the newest blood. Saulo looked to be in incredible form as he takes it to Romulo Barral and Edson Diniz, while Feitosa and Almeida exhibit the strategy and power that made them giants a few years back. Expect to watch some wars as rising superstars Lucas Gomes and Rafael Lovato Jr. do battle against Feitosa and Almeida respectively. This event has some great action.

Finally, this DVD has some great production values and I can only hope that more grappling events incorporate the widescreen format. When an event looks great on my set, it can only be a good thing. Now, when will we see a producer take the plunge into BluRay or HD-DVD… one can only dream.

Next up… part 2 of the Ten Essential Grappling DVDs!

Happy Training,
Kevin

Here we go again! The second installment of my ten essential grappling dvds. To qualify each DVD must be focused on gi less grappling of any sort - that is all! Once again, these are in no particular order or ranking and each production is allowed one title on the list.

6. Real Pro Wrestling Season 1 - This dvd has the best combination of production value and tenacious wrestling that I have seen in an event. Basically, Real Pro Wrestling is a league event that pitted former collegiate wrestlers against each other in a national elmination series. Greco stars faced off against their freestyle counterparts and the result was explosive action, great reversals, and the most athletic takedowns I have seen.

Why should a non wrestler buy this set? First of all, if you are a grappler of any sort, you can benefit from watching these highly conditioned athletes go head to head, not to mention the takedowns and scrambles are breath taking. The level of athleticism and endurance is really through the roof! As far as production goes, this is grappling with mass market appeal. Great camera work, lighting, disc navigation, highlights, and biographies all make this a very easy set to watch. At 50 bucks for 8 discs it will not break the bank either. Did I mention the bios? These give a great inside look into the wrestlers and do a fine job of illustrating the hard work that it takes to become a high level wrestler.

7. The Twister - Like Eddie Bravo or not, it is undeniable that he has had a technical impact on submission grappling. Although many of his moves may have been derived elsewhere, it is Eddie’s systematic usage and categorization of these techniques that have brought them to the forefront of submission grappling. The Twister is a walking tour of Eddie’s evolution from a gi grappler to a gi less wizard. Included are his matches from blue belt forward with commentary throughout. This commentary is priceless and really sells the disc as you hear Eddie point out the details and background of every match. It is really quite entertaining as well as educative. In addition, there are some smaller comedic skits and “Easter Egg” instructionals hidden within.

Why should you get the Twister? Eddie shows a lot of great set-ups and competition footage of his “Twister Side Control”, “Twister”, and half guard sweeps such as the “Old School”. His perspective is definitely something that is worth seeing and I find the creativity in movements to be inspiring. The matches themselves are also very entertaining and my favorite has to be the Bravo v. Vazquez match up - very cool.

8. 101 Submissions Vol. 1 - There are few dvds that I think everyone must go out immediately and purchase and this is one of them. Similiar to Fighting Films 101 Ippon Series, OTM created an instant classic in this first volume. Although only half of the dvd can be considered no gi, that half is worth every penny. If you love the gi as well, the other half is just the icing on the cake. What is featured on this set is 50 of the best gi less submissions and their set-ups taken from the OTM archives (and they have seen more events than can be imagined or will be remembered) and put to music. Each move is shown twice, once in regular speed followed by the same clip in slow motion. Every submission is also chaptered and this really helps navigate to the techniques you want to see.

Why volume 1 over volumes 2 and 3? Once again, this is really one of those situations where you really want to have all three volumes. The techniques are different from dvd to dvd and each one has incredible submissions and set-ups. I don’t really think any of them are better than the other, but I chose volume 1 because it is a classic and I really like the old footage. In volumes 2 and 3 a lot of the footage is newer and looks nicer in parts, but don’t let that be reason enough to miss the groundbreaking 101 Submissions vol. 1. If you are more interested in seeing American fighters you may want to lean towards vol. 3 because it does feel like it has more footage of America’s best.

One more thing, where most of these dvds are great for entertainment and grappling fans, the 101 Submissions series is tailor made to get your mind thinking about subs and it is incredible for how educative it is. You will learn some great tournament tested setups in this series. I am waiting patiently for 101 Submissions Vol. 4.

9. Gi 2005 with Paragon - To me, this is the quintessential sleeper hit that will fly under the radar of most grappling enthusiasts. GI is a long running grappling event in Japan that is known for importing some of the best fighters, creating amazing match ups, and having great production values. The Paragon edition is no exception. As indicated by the title, this event features Bill Cooper and Jeff Glover of Paragon Jiu-Jitsu as well as Baret Yoshida and a host of Japan’s best grapplers. Every match is incredible and the Cooper v. Glover exhibition style match has some of the best movement to be captured on dvd. Word of advice, with Glover, Cooper, and Yoshida be prepared to rewind a fair bit because the action is rapid.

What should potential purchasers know about this event? It is taped with a Japanese audio track and commentary and the chapters follow suit. This may be a problem for some, but the dvd works in North American dvd players perfectly and I did not feel that the language was a barrier.

10. Grappler’s Quest: Gracie versus Laimon - For some time Grappler’s Quest has been one of the premier grappling events in the country and personally I found the 6th West Coast Submission Grappling Championships aka the Gracie versus Laimon event to be my favorite. This was a hard call to make, because every disc usually has some fights that are incredible and more than worthy of making the list, but in the end I felt that this event was just too stacked with talent and high quality match ups to miss the top spot for GQ dvds. The featured fighters list reads like a who’s who of American and international submission wrestling: Rafael Lovato Jr., Baret Yoshida, Scott Bieri, Jeff Monson, Sean Spangler, Dave Camarillo, Felicia Oh, Jamal Patterson, Jeff Glover, Sony Nohara, Daniel McCown, Eduardo Telles, Batata and of course the main event Marc Laimon v. Ryron Gracie!

Why should you get this over other Grappler’s Quest dvds? As stated earlier, each GQ event has some matches that are worth seeing, but to me this one was the most stacked. I really liked almost every match. I am also a huge fan of the old Nationals events and the Beast of the East for value.

So here you have it, ten dvds that should be a welcome addition to any grappling library.

Happy Training,
Kevin