A Bjj Christmas

As my obsession for this wonderful martial art matures I find myself wanting more of the related paraphernalia that goes with it. I love a good Brazilian Jiu Jitsu manual and already have a fair few, but still I find myself wanting more. I am also a big time Christmas nut. I love Christmas and everything about it. As soon as it hits December 1st I am in Christmas mode and will have my house deco'd up to buggery. I think it's because my family always made Christmas a big time of year and I definitely feel I should pass this onto my kids. I will not rest until my kids think that Chrimbo is their favourite time of year too - James is basically already there but Jolie can't really speak yet so I think I might have to wait a while for her. Anyway, regardless of how broke we are I always insist we spoil each other with food, sweets and of course presents.

Now usually on the run up to Christmas, my wife and I would have been laying down some jaw jarringly brutal hints for the other to pick up on, so as to ensure the suggested items feature somewhere in our Yuletide holiday. This has previously lead to some doubt and the occasional miss cue on the present buying. So to make things absolutely certain this year I took the liberty of writing my missus up a list. After perusing back across the list I chuckled at the predominance of Bjj related items on my list. It seems my one obsession with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is transplanting itself onto the Christmas obsession. Hmmmmmmm. A bjj Christmas. i can think of nothing better.


The first item on my list was a new mini flip screen digital video camera. Now this is something I've been wanting for ages to film techniques in class at the gym or even at seminars (with permission of course). This will really help with the logging part of my blog as it will help me remember techniques and also enable me to add a video each time. No more having to trawl through the internet for the exact move you were taught last night, sometimes thinking you've got it only to discover the legs go in the wrong direction or the guys end up going for the wrong sub. Arrgghh! How many time this has happened to me already, I cannot say and I've only been in the blog writing game for a short time. So yeah, a pocket Flip Cam would be awesome.


The next important thing on my list would be a copy of Marcelo Garcia's X Guard manual. This is a book that was on my list last year along with a couple of others. Think I ended up getting André Galvão's book, drill to win, that has some very good drills that you can carry out by yourself to help improve your game (and coming from this years double ADCC champ you gotta believe it). But I was still yearning for the X Guard book. Particularly because I've heard there is also a very good section on the Butterfly Guard in there which I consider to be quite a weak part of my arsenal (not to mention the fact that the X Guard is a non-existent part on my arsenal) and I'd love this to help become a bit more complete. It doesn't hurt that I don't recall reading a single bad review of this book and I've read a few. And also that all the reviewers and bloggers whose opinions I respect speak (write) highly of Victory Belt as a publisher, which is why I was surprised when I went to their website and read their body of works and found that I have about five or six of their published books already. Haha. Muppet.

The next manual I consider to be important for me this year is the third book in the amazing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Details and Techniques series by Ed Beneville and Joe Moreira (actually it's only the second by Moreira as the first book was Beneville and Tim Cartmell). The third book 'Strategic Guard' is actually said to be better than the first two which I find hard to believe as I already consider these books to be the best manuals on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that I possess and have found in circulation. How can this other be better? I will have to wait and see. For any who are interested in the contents, here is a fantastic and as usual very thorough review on the book by slideyfoot that should tell you every thing you need to know.

For my final bjj manual yearning I would like the new Marcelo Garcia book, Advanced Brazilian Jiujitsu Techniques, that frankly looks and sounds awesome and if Aesopian's review is anything to go by it's a must have for this season. Seeing the guy rule the school at the ADCC this year has really driven him up my list of favourite practitioners of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and just looking at his instructional vids on youtube, you can tell just how completely amazing an instructor he is too. Really look forward to (hopefully) getting a brace of MG books this year. Got some fun reading times ahead.

I've asked for a few non-bjj related things for Christmas also, but the above mentioned items are definitely at the top of my list. I was thinking of going for a new groin guard as well but I don't want to take the piss. I hope my list has inspired you to start writing out you own list soon, and feel free to contact me if you feel there is an item of Bjj related awesomeness that I should have or that you highly recommend. If anybody wants a suggestion on their first book/s to get for Bjj I would definitely recommend  the Ed Beneville ones. Very thorough and very detailed.

til next time \m/