The Guard
By Ed Beneville & Joe Moreira
All I got to say about The Guard is where the hell to start! And that is a good thing…
I like the flowchart format of this book which is reminiscent of Rubber Guard by Eddie Bravo. Personally I like this book better than the Rubber Guard since as it says in the beginning that you do not have to be excessively flexible to perform any of these movements and I am the walking embodiment of this so I feel it is speaking to me.
First thing covered are the basic movements of Jiu-jitsu such as the shrimp/snake movements etc. and shows the applications of these basic moves. Then it details different aspects of the guard game in a mind boggling array of pictures and alternate views while showing the flow between techniques. Of particular interest is the chapter on Basic Chokes in that it goes into great detail on the mechanics. Personally this chapter helped me a great deal with my gi chokes and now that is all I do. Once you get these basic mechanics down then you can really improvise which means you give your partner something to think about when passing your guard.
4 comments:
I also liked 'Passing the Guard' with Ed and Tim Cartmell.
I will be reviewing Ed's latest book, Strategic Guard as soon as I digest it.
Ed mentioned that he is releasing a updated version of Passing the Guard soon.
Strategic Guard is easily the best BJJ instructional book I have ever read, shortly followed by The Guard (I think Bravo's book is comparable in quality of layout, but it doesn't have the same depth, in terms of multiple angles, extensive textual descriptions etc. However, Bravo does an excellent job of flowing from technique to technique). Really looking forward to the updated Passing the Guard, that should be coming out later this year.
One thing I especially liked about The Guard was the flowing attack section, where Beneville starts with a triangle and moves through the various options that follow on.
I agree its a lot to take in (and Strategic Guard is even bigger), so I've been picking a few things to work on at a time. For the past couple of months, that's been Beneville's advice on prying the elbow for a kimura or reverse kimura, which has definitely been helpful.
Slidey,
I am finding Strategic Guard to be a little easier to digest however I am focusing on the chapters: Side Control Escapes, Deflections, and Sweeps right now and have glossed over the others.
Basically I am studying what my instructor suggested in my Progress report and then working from there.
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