Eddie Bravo's Jiu Jitsu Unleashed Book Review

Site Admin Joined: Apr 11, 2005 Posts: 1080

From: MMA.tv
From: bjjprim8

I have never done a book review prior to this one, but I figured this one was as good as any to start with.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book, but found myself pleasanlt surprised when I started it. I thought Rogan poured it on thick in the forward but it is his best friend.

I thought the introduction was great, one of the funnier stories about the false bravado (no pun intended) that TMA's will give you. Reading about his overhand knife strife prowess had me laughing out loud, I could picture eddie telling this story and it must be hillarious. What I liked most about the forward was it showed a different side of Eddie, he sometimes comes off a little brash or arrogant which is needed at the level he competes at, but reading the forward lets you know the person a little bit as well and it had me laughing and respecting him a great deal more. He is a funny guy.

The techniques in this book are solid, if you want to know eddies style of bjj then this is it, period! He shows you how to use his techniques from point A to Z. If you are looking for a game style instruction than this book is what you are looking for.

Chapter 1 half guard

Eddie starts with the 1/2 guard which he states is the foundation of his game. I like eddies half guard style a lot and he shows you everything you need to know from this position. Eddies approach to 1/2 guard is different than most bjj guys from brazil or who were taught their half guard game from brasilians. I have seen the Gordo's the Jens, the Rigan Machado's and like eddie states their style is based on the Gi. Eddies approach is without the Gi and his grabs and body positioning are different which makes this a very nice addition to anyones 1/2 guard game.

Chapter 2 is on the Rubber Guard.

Now this is probably one of two reasons why anyone is purchasing this book, along with the Twister info. But let me not get ahead of myself. Eddie has a unique approach to playing guard and created the rubber guard, his set ups make this book worth the low price it is at alone. Seeing eddie talk about all his different details for different ways of getting a position is great. Things people have wanted to hear about for a long time. I also liked that Eddie addressed how to break a resisting opponent down when going for the arm bar. He shows many variations on how to deal with resistance when you are in the arm bar position, after sweeping your opponent from rubber guard. This is an often neglected area with instructionals. This is the only place you can get this info, at least without going to eddie himself. If you want to learn rubber guard by this book!

Chapter 3 twister side control

Again a position unique to Eddie or his students. What can you say about this position other than if you don't know what it is than buy eddies twister dvd and see him pull it off on everyone or watch Strebent pulling it off on everyone including in an MMA match and you will start to want to learn how to do this. Once again, if you want to learn then go to the source, eddie started this position in BJJ and it's his signature move. He tackles every position from this position and leaves nothing out. This and the rubber guard section will be things I will be adding to my game for some time to come. Eddie covers so many variations and subs from this position it is crazy. The man really thinks outside the box.

Chapter 4 The mount

This chapter is very strong as well, I found it to be somewhat reminicent of the way Barret Yoshida attacks from the mount and sets things up. Which makes sense since they are in the same weight class and need to approach things from a similar perspective. I really liked the Monket mount and loco plata positions. A very solid section on a very difficult position to finish from with or without the Gi.

Chapter 5 The back mount

This chapter is very short compared to the rest of them. Eddie pays homage to the king of the back Marcelo naming a move after him. A short but solid chapter, I just didn't agree with Eddies choice of grips from the back. After training with Marcello and him explaining why to hold the way he does and you just can't argue with the mans results I didn't feel the gable grip was the best from the back. Other than that short but solid.

Chapter 6 passing the guard

Another short but solid chapter on passing the guard, there wasn't anything ground breaking but a solid chapter on no gi passing.

Chapeter 7 Transtions

This is a great chapter on setting up moves to other moves. How to go from twister side control to take the back. How to take the back and go into a twister once you have the back with hooks in. How to go from rubber guard to spider web or spider web to taking the back. It shows the chess game that BJJ can really be without the gi.

Overall I loved this book! I only have two gripes and that was the pictures are in Black and White. With every book being in color I felt this one should have been as well. Also there could have been a few more pics to help with the details. Other than that and eddie needing to release a companion dvd for the book this book was perfect. If you want to work on a style like Eddies this is the place to start if you can't head over to 10th planet JJ. I can not recommend this book enough if you are looking to better understand the rubber guard, twister, or eddies style of half guard which was the biggest surprise and a great one at that.

I give this book 5 stars and people should get this book, actually no wait! Don't get this book because then everyone will know all my new set ups =)

5 Stars ***** buy this book now it's worth every penny!

Site Admin Joined: Apr 11, 2005 Posts: 1080

from: MMA.tv
from: JasonGV

Eddie Bravo's Jiu Jitsu Unleashed

Eddie Bravo seems to have cultivated quite an image for himself. No-gi innovator, world class competitor and instructor to the stars! All fun aside there's been quite a clamor for a Bravo instructional. And here it is. Not a 6 volume DVD series but a 189 page book with black and white photos.

We've got 7 major sections, Eddie's bread and butter The Half Guard, Rubber Guard and Twister side control. Also The Mount, The Back, Passing and Transitions. We've had lots of reviews so you guys can check those out for a detailed rundown. I'll just reiterate, the Half Guard and Rubber Guard section is fantastic. The Half Guard I think will be the easiest to incorporate. The Rubber Guard will require some flexibility but hey here's your excuse to do some stretching. The twister side control is all good but this is the section that really falls down because of the quality and number of photos. It's fairly complex and unorthodox for someone not familiar with it, so it will require a lot of practice and experimentation to really get this right. The Half and Rubber guard you can pretty much add to your game straight away.

As for the other sections, there aren't any stand outs there. You're really buying this book for a 2-3 sections.

As for Bravo the introduction is packed with equal parts respect and humbleness and dubious claims, excuses and histrionics. I'll leave the no-gi debate, Bravo's performance at Abu Dhabi and his claims at inventing move to others to debate. One thing I will point out is this observation "Every time I tuned into an event, jiu jitsu players were getting worse fighting from the guard position". I advise Eddie to check out a few of Antonia Rodrigo Nogueira's fights or his brother Antonia Rogerio Nogueira.

RATING 3.5/5

For some comparison

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu The Master Text (Gene Simco) 1.5/5

Jean Jaque Machado Black Belt Technqiues: 3.5/5

Judo Masterclass Series Seio Nage 4/5