The first two tape sets have taught me what to expect. I should expect great teaching and very few moves. This is what you get for the most part. What's missing is the consistently great teaching and the "advanced" moves advertised in the title. Half of one tape (Tape 3) contains moves that you might call advanced and the rest is just more basics. Technically, this tape set should have been the "Gracie Basics - Part 3." How on god's green earth can you call a tape set "advanced" when you are introducing something like leg locks for the first time and then go on to show all basic moves. If on the first two tape sets they had included some basic leg locks and then decided to get fancier this would have been OK. This is a misuse of the word "advanced."
Really when you get down to it, the question someone buying this tape set should be asking themselves is "Do I want Rorion Gracie teaching me moves that I have learned on other tape sets." For my $179 the answer is maybe. Rorion is one of the best instructors out there. He is always worth listening to when he teaches a move. On tape 1 "Defenses Against Attacks From the Mount" Rorion maintains his high standards of teaching. Then on Tape 3 "Finishing moves from Standing up and Combat Strategies" Rorion allows Royce to mumble through his austere explanations of the moves. So much for Rorion's insights. So much for any insight. However, on tape 2 "Foot locks" it became apparent that Rorion had hit his Waterloo. Rorion did not appear comfortable with the material. The explanations seem forced and shallow. Watch Rorion teach on other tapes and compare it to this tape and you will see what I am talking about. Gone are the little details that come from depth of teaching. On other tapes you hear Rorion add little comments like "your oppentent will point the way for you to escape by the way he holds you." These little memory devices and attention to detail is why you pay Rorion the big money. This tape seemed like a pale rehash of Pedro Carvalho set 1 tape 8. Rorion covers all the basics and adds no new information.
With the crowded tape market I often see tape sets that it becomes clear that the person teaching just learned the moves. I generally do not say much about this as long as they get the moves right. Often this lack of true understanding is covered by Spartan descriptions. One of the more shinning examples of this is the Maurice Smith tapes on how to beat BJJ. Frank Shamrock was the guy taking the falls for Maurice. I was not there, but it sure looked like Frank taught each move to Maurice just before the camera was turned on. Frank was not quite the name he is today, but if he is the guy that knows the material then for God sakes have him teach on the tapes. This will become more of problem in the future as tape companies look for more exotic material to put on their tape sets. The point is, I don't think Rorion is very comfortable with the leg lock material.
While I'm off on a rant here lets talk about Tape 3 some more. This is a very interesting tape to say the least. The tapes proper title should be "What to do standing in sport BJJ if I am not willing to take the time to learn Judo." The first half of the tape is devoted to what to do if you don't know how to grapple standing up. This is not to say that this is bad material. Don't get me wrong this is all great material and is the only part of the three tape set that is truly "advanced." Moreover, most of the moves or their entries have not been taught on any other tape set that I have seen. Learn this material. However, also take the time to go to a Judo school and learn some stand-up sport grappling. This is what Judo does best. Then head back to the BJJ school to continue to fight on the ground. And another thing, if you don't like sport BJJ then don't buy these tapes. Gracie Advanced is 100% sport BJJ. The second half of tape 3 was a less than successful attempt to copy the black belt tapes from Carlson Gracie Jr. belt ranking series. On Carlson's black belt tapes he does not teach any moves. This might come as a shock to anyone buying the tapes. It was for me. However, I guarantee that you will learn a lot from these tapes. The concept behind the tapes is quite simple. Conan and his brother grapple and Junior stops them from time to time and coaches each of them on what they should be doing and not doing and lets them continue. This puts the moves in context and bring everything together. This seemed to work pretty good. Rorion tried to do the same thing, kind of. What started out as a free form exercise much like the Carlson tapes, turned into a semi-useful walk through of all the moves from the tapes. Yawn.
This is the best of the three tapes. You will see some variations to moves that kind of have a new twist to it, compared to what else is out there. Then again, it may just be Rorion's teaching that makes it sound different. Either way, if they would have produced about fifteen tapes like this, they would have been golden. Rorion starts off with his speech on why he teaches so few moves on his tapes. Like I say you don't buy these tapes to learn lots of moves. No secret here. Just read the ads. The big attraction is Rorion's teaching. Do not buy these tapes for Royce's teaching. His descriptions would put most minimalist painters to shame and half the time he mumbles. You are also not paying for the production value either. None of the money that Rorion has earned from his tapes appears to have gone into improving the production quality of his tape sets. Rorion starts out with how to defend the mount. How to stop attacks like chokes and armbars. A large portion of the moves have been seen before on other tapes sets. Some counters are new and look slick. Like I said, this is the best of this series. This might even be the best tape that Rorion and Royce have put out. It has Rorion's excellent instruction and nobody breaks down the moves and theory like him, nobody. Rorion continues on with his counter to a counter theory of how to protect and defend. Royce defends multiple choke attempts that usually turns into a roll, bringing Rorion on his back. Rorion stops the action to tell you why these moves work together like a chess match. He pulls the moves together very well. He then starts to show how to defend the back. This is were Rorion starts to show some really excellent moves. Most of the escapes that Royce does look very effective. This is the highlight of the whole series. None of the techniques on this tape are street effective because he uses the kimono for everything.
This tape on leglocks is a real disappointment. Rorion spends a great deal of time teaching how to attack with a basic ankle lock from a variety of positions. The biggest problem here is most are extremely basic, you have definitely seen these techniques before. The isn't the problem. The problem is the fact that Rorion drops the ball and adds no value with his description of the moves. He looks very mechanical as he performs them, even pausing occasionally, as if he is actually trying to remember how the move went. I will go out on a limb on this one and bet that this area is not one of Rorion's strong areas. I will even go one step further and say that I would not be surprised if Rorion did not use Pedro Carvalho leg lock tape as the model for this tape. This tape really serves no one at this point in the video market. If you want a solid leg lock tape get Pedro Carvalho tape 8, is much, much better. Why buy a Xerox copy when you can get the original.
Here instead of Rorion teaching, Royce has the honors. At least I think its Royce, we see his lips moving but I can barely hear the words. He almost whispers, and says very little as if he is nervous or shy. Maybe he is unsure of his English, so he uses less words. Either way, we get almost a documentary feel out of this tape getting very little in the way of explanation.
The moves taught on the first half of the tape by Royce are all very good and are the only advanced moves on the tape set. The moves teach you how to start from a standing position and go right into a submission on your way down to the ground. Most of these are attacking your opponent, faking like your falling into the guard but really pulling him into an armbar or triangle. Royce pays tribute to Panther Productions by doing all of the moves over and over and over and over and over and then one more time and then again for good measure.
Later on, during the strategies portion, Royce picks up the volume considerably. However, it too late because you have brain cancer from sitting so close to the television trying to hear what was being said. I guess my mom wasn't lying all those years. The second half of the tape a demonstration of how Rorion and Royce "Think during a match." This part of the tape I found very boring and useless. Rorion explains what he is thinking during a match. Most of his "thoughts" are just moves from the first two tapes.. I would be disappointed if they were not the same moves. I was hoping to gain some new insight from the moves being put into context. No value was added with this exercise. If you were awake during the first two tapes nothing was added to mix here. ZZZZZZZZZZzzz.
By the time I reached this interview, I already had a good idea what it would be about. Rorion Gracie already laid the foundation for it throughout the three instructional videos. This interview is really nothing more then Helio telling us why Rorion is the only person in the world that really knows Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Kind of a 25 minute infomercial. Rorion ranges from extremely conceited, to extremely modest, to slamming Rickson and Carlson Gracie Jr. all in the same breath. This was interesting to say the least. As far as I can figure, Helio thinks Rickson's 300-0 record is a bunch of crap! It appears that Helio would put Rickson's record at about 8-0 (Give or take a couple). I have yet to meet a BJJ instructor that does no give 100% credit to Helio and Rorion for putting BJJ on the map and making it a house hold name. As for who did all the technical development of the art you will just have to take Helio's word for it. Who knows? The Interview is definitely worth watching.
Bill Lewis BJJ33@aol.com