For quite some time, Fighting Films has produced the World, European, and Olympic championships for the sport of judo.  Though all of the events have been incredibly well edited, shot, and produced, none can compare to the two most recent editions:  The World Judo Championships 2007 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the 2006 Judo World Championships from Paris, France.

While previous events have included both the team, weight class, and open titles on a two DVD set, things changed in 2006 and 07 when the events were broken up and split onto three DVDs.  The result was more than pleasing.

On a production level, these discs amaze.  All three were shot using high definition cameras and for the first time, utilize a wide screen format.  As indicated on the Fighting Films site, multiple cameras are used to not only capture the incredible action, but the feel of the event with reactions from both coaches and audience.  The result is a set of films that do incredibly well at telling stories through editing while capturing the action better than ever - the widescreen format works incredibly well with the intensity and action of high level judo.

On to the events themselves - first, I’ll focus on the 2006 Judo World Team Championships.  Whenever I watch this DVD, I get pumped.  For those that have never seen these events, they are incredibly hard fought and exciting to see.  Countries submit teams of players to compete against each other in an pyramid style tournament.  Losers have a chance to fight for bronze in the repercharge and the focus is placed directly on teams - even though judo is largely an individual sport.  Paris, France was the perfect choice for this event and the crowd is LOUD as the French team beats Japan and makes a strong push for Gold.  Besides the electric feel, this is a great DVD to use to analyze the different styles from other countries.  Russians v Georgians, French v Japanese, this DVD has it all.

The World Judo Championships of 2007 builds and surpasses on the merits of the Hyundai World Judo Championships 2005.  With the Cairo event, there were incredible ippons, with some great performances by Van der Geest, Bryant, Fallon, and Suzuki.  However, my only complaint is that all of the individual weight classes were put on one DVD.  The 2007 edition has just as many great fights with Riner’s debut against Inoue, Camillo, Ryoko Tani, Derly, and Muneta putting on great shows!  Even more impressive was the story telling element of the DVD.  I loved how the weight class would follow the “path” of the favorites and then would break to the new favorite if the previous one were eliminated.  The result is incredible - a grappling event that gets the viewer attached to the competitors (even if they were previously unknown) as they progress through the tournament.  I found myself rooting for people and feeling bad when they didn’t make it.  I thought this was great!!!

Who should pick these up?  Obviously anyone who is a fan of judo, throwing arts, grappling, or just seeing high level competition.  These competitors are on such a high athletic level - they should be seen to be believed.

Happy Training,

Kevin Howell

Tags: Judo Events, Video

Tags: Training Gear

Here’s the perfect deal for you last minute shoppers.

Free UPS ground shipping on 97% of the products on Budovideos.com.

This offer starts now and ends at midnight (Pacific Time) on Sunday Dec. 14^th so act fast!

*Very large or heavy items are excluded.

Tags: BV News

Starting tonight at midnight, until midnight on Sunday, it is Budo Videos BIGGEST sale of the year. Just how big? This big!

We are slashing the price on everything* in our catalog by an amazing 15%. Yes, you just read that right; 15% off your total purchase. So, while the rest of the world is running all over town this weekend trying to save, save, save, you can do all your holiday shopping (and saving) from the comfort and quiet of home.

To get in on the goodies and giveaways, use either of the following coupon codes when placing your order:

Budo or Kaizen followed by the abbreviation of the t-shirt size you need.

Saving money this weekend is that simple.

* 15% discount does not apply to mats and other oversized items

Tags: BV News

Details are scant, at best, this hour. But you’ll want to be there with us at  www.BudoVideos.com this Wednesday night when the shell does finally crack and our secret spills free.
All we can tell you is that whatever is inside this mystery egg will certainly get your Holiday Season off to a sparkling start!

Tags: BV News

With all of the hype surrounding Saulo Ribeiro’s newest book, Jiu-Jitsu University, you would think that its a Nintendo Wii or Tickle Me Elmo.  But is the book worth it?  Does it live up to the exceedingly high expectations?

Before I review, here’s a warning - I’m a little biased, I’ve known Budo Blog contributor and Jiu-Jitsu University co-author, Kevin Howell for years, but I’m going to be objective.  I just hope he doesn’t armlock me when he reads this.

This is a very special book on jiu-jitsu.  Saulo Ribeiro’s made a complete and imaginative belt system.  From white to black belt, Saulo guides through the key areas of jiu-jitsu that must be acquired to progress.  I haven’t ever seen jiu-jitsu analyzed this way and I’m sure many will agree - this book is incredible.  This system also follows the building blocks of grappling and flows from defense to offense, bottom to top.

Jiu-Jitsu University is also very detailed and it should be if its going to play the part of university textbook.  I’ve watched all of Saulo’s DVDs and the book provides the same level of insight as the videos.  In fact, I’d say it is Victory Belt’s most in-depth book yet and it’s great for learning the finer points of BJJ.  A shortcoming of a lot of books is that they are good at showing many new moves, but aren’t as good at discussing the jiu-jitsu that you can’t see.  Saulo breaks this trend; he discusses things that he feels and this helps when learning a move.  This is the first time I have seen an author try to show the unseen elements - Saulo deserves my congratulations.

Technically, Jiu-Jitsu University has basic to advanced techniques and both Saulo and Xande’s styles really come through.  If you like their styles, you will enjoy the book.  The entire guard section showcases Xande Ribeiro’s techniques, and I thought that was a really good bonus.  Because Xande showed some moves that he does in competition, I wonder if the guard was more his section and the passing was more Saulo’s.  I think, in reality, the guard is more Xande’s expertise and passing is more Saulo’s.  Either way, it made sense and I’m glad to see Xande’s footprint in the book.

In terms of overlap between Jiu-Jitsu University and Saulo’s DVDs, there is very little.  I did notice some moves from all three DVD series in here (including Freestyle Revolution), but overall, I’d say there was a lot more I hadn’t seen him teach before.  Even the moves that he has shown before (running escapes and back escapes for example) are worth reviewing in print.  Most of the guard and passing moves, I haven’t seen before.  Still, there’s a little overlap between his DVDs - but it’s a low percentage.

When Kevin was finishing up the project, he told us that this book was going to be the biggest that Victory Belt had produced.  I thought it sounded like a good idea, but that it would be hard to keep a book that large interesting.  I was wrong!  Just like BJ Penn’s book is an MMA bible, Jiu-Jitsu University is a BJJ bible.  If a student manages to master all of the moves and theory in this book, that student will be incredible.

Back to the hype - is it worth it?  Does it live up to the high expectations?  Yes.  Actually, it exceeds them.  I was expecting a big book that more or less did the same as usual (basic moves with a lot of pictures), what I got was a complete BJJ experience.  In the beginning, Saulo says something about Rickson Gracie’s insight or teaching- I think a lot of that rubbed off on Saulo too.

All of us at BV want to congratulate Saulo and our very own Kevin Howell on their genre-redefining work.  We look forward to reading and reviewing more from both of them in the future.

If you are interested in reading more from contributing author Kevin Howell before his next book featuring Andre Galvao, we suggest that you check the blog often for updates as well as his latest articles in this quarter’s Budo Catalog (featuring techniques by Leo Vieira and interviews with Vieira and Galvao)!

-Kurt Weber and the BV Staff

Tags: Jiu-Jitsu Book Instructionals

Cryo Productions just wrapped up shooting of a massive new DVD set all on leg attacks with none other than the leglock master himself - Gokor Chivichyan. Gokor’s training partners weren’t safe in any position - whether standing, in side control - even in the mount. Gokor’s leg attacks come from unexpected angles and are as painful as hell!

After countless hours and 4 different training partners, the set has been completely filmed and is now being edited. There is no doubt that this will be THE BEST instructional set on leglocks ever made from what I saw!

They’re telling me the set will be out before xmas so get ready!

Tags: Jiu-Jitsu Book Instructionals

Content wise, this book is my favorite of the series.  It focuses mainly on the half-guard and the techniques are incredible.  I have to hand it to the producers, they got two of the best modern half-guard specialists in Celso Vinicius and Sergio Moraes (uses more of an open half game) as well as the father of the half-guard, Roberto “Gordo” Correa, to teach techniques.  Beyond this, this issue is full of star level instruction.  Leo Vieira, De la Riva, the Mendes brothers, Bruno Frazatto, Dai Yohioka, Robert Drysdale, Yusukei Honma, and Eduardo Telles, all showcase their techniques along side interview.  Unfortunately, the interview is only in Japanese, so this may put a damper on this for some.

Over to the video, the DVD is just as incredible and it is my favorite for three main elements.  Although I love to see the techniques of the above fighters in motion, this DVD is amazing for its extras (this is saying a lot because there is a lot of great technique on this disc).  First of all, it includes a few tournaments including the complete Copa Hong Kong.  This is the tournament where Telles and Andre Galvao met in the finals.  It has three full Telles and Galvao fights (including their final).  I couldn’t believe they packed the entire event onto the DVD!  Secondly, I loved the behind the scenes footage of Ramon Lemos’ academy in Sao Paulo.  There is some incredible footage of the Mendes brothers and Bruno Frazatto training together that should not be missed.  No wonder those guys are considered prodigies!  Finally, their is a tournament of Leo Vieira rolling with four different guys during an exhibition.  He rolls with a white, blue, and purple belt after first taking on JP Kuraoka, who is one of my favorite Japanese black belt competitors.  The way Leo moves is jaw dropping, in fact, Andre Galvao was over when I watched it and he could not believe some of the techniques that Leo pulls out of nowhere.  We were both completely dumbfounded.  Watch it for yourself!

Comparatively, this product does very well against the recent Fighting Spirits books BJJ Spirits vol. 3 and Submission Spirits vol. 2.  All three are very good values, BJJ 3 focuses on Japanese fighters and includes a really cool round robin judo v. bjj tournament while Sub 2 has a great tournament with Dave Camarillo and Romulo Barral taking over.  Of course, at 20 bucks I think all of these are easy pick ups, but if you can only buy one, I would still go with BJJ Spirits vol. 4.  It is incredible.

As for the quality, all of these products have earned their reputation.  The video instruction and technique is top notch and is easily competitive with the best on market.  The video is clean and the editing is solid.  Of course, the magazines are beautiful, with a rich color palette and imaginative layouts.

Who shouldn’t buy this?  All of the text is in Japanese, so if this is a problem, you may want to steer clear.  However, I do not speak any Japanese and I thought that the whole DVD/book was easy to follow with the obvious exception of the interview section.  Plus on the DVDs, the instructors speak their native languages, so this may be easier to understand for some.

Personally, I love all of these books, but BJJ Spirits vol. 4 is easily my favorite.  It is value laden and packed with everything a jiu-jitsu lover would want.  Great fights, amazing instruction, and inside access to interesting academies.

Happy Training,

Kevin

Tags: Jiu-Jitsu Book Instructionals, Video

Tags: Jiu-Jitsu Book Instructionals

DVD expected October 15th!

For the first time in BJJ Worlds history this release features professional play-by-play commentary by black belts Shawn Williams and Sean Flanery. Listening to their commentary will increase your understanding of the art while they break down the moves and strategies of the top competitors in the world. In addition to commentary, Shawn Williams gets on the mat and shows you in detail how to do some of the most exciting moves of the finals. This is a first in the BJJ world and will make this the most exciting and educational Worlds DVD ever!

Tags: BJJ Events, BV News, Video