There is nothing wrong with how Renzo teaches the moves. He does a solid job on all techniques. For many, the only reason to buy the whole tape set will be to hear Renzo teach the moves they already have seen on a dozen tape sets. At the end of this review I have listed the tapes one by one with a few comments. This should help you pick the tapes that offer the most new material.
Like I said, Renzo does a very good job of explaining things, however, I still miss Craig Kukuk’s explanations. Kukuk seemed to represent the common "Joe" and made you feel like anyone could learn and execute these moves. While Renzo welcomes the viewers to "our" tape series, Kukuk is no where to be found.
On several of the tapes, Renzo does every move with a Gi and without. This was good to see. There are several tapes that do have a lot of new and great material, for example, the Kneelock tape. This is a must have tape. There were others that made me wonder what Renzo was thinking. For example, the Takedown tape contained mainly basic Judo throws. I was starting to fall asleep . . . ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzz. Overall, there are some great moves on the tape set, you just have to wade through a lot of rehashed to get to them.
The price of the tape set is a bit excessive. There are 80 moves for $350. That’s $4.37 a move!!! I think we have a new winner for the most expensive tape set. This crushes the previous record held by Ralph Gracie with is whopping $3.97. Records are made to be broken. Renzo smacked this one out of the park, like pimp on a slow night. More power to Renzo if he thinks he can get this for the tape set. When his first tape set came out he could and did command this price. Rezno had the best tape set on the market at the time. Several years later the market has a glut of tape sets. The competition is fierce.
One of the things that struck me about Renzo 2 was how different it was from Renzo 1. This has to be in response to the other, much more forth coming, tape sets that have come out since the release of Renzo 1. In Renzo 1 your opponent was assumed to be a retard who knew nothing about grappling. In Renzo 2, all of a sudden your opponent now knows how to grapple. I think Renzo (and Rorion for that matter) was, in the early days of BJJ in the U.S., very protective of "real" BJJ. I can’t disagree with their reasoning. Why give your art away on a tape set and then have to fight someone in a NHB event who now knows a lot about your moves. As a result, it wasn’t until later tapes sets that the general public got to see the BJJ as it was taught in Brazil. Anyone who doubts this, I challenge you to watch Renzo 1 and then watch Renzo 2 and tell me that you don’t see a radical difference in the way the moves are taught and performed. Then tell me why the difference.
This tape has about a dozen sweeps. Not much new here. Renzo does most of the moves with and without a Gi. Renzo does a good job of explaining everything.
This is a MUST have tape. Lots of great kneelocks. Some are a bit exotic. Not enough kneebar tapes on the market. This one will fill a hole in many practitioner’s catalog of techniques. This is a good place to start your study of kneebars.
A couple of good techniques on this tape. The best move of the whole tape series is the first move on this tape. Your opponent has you in the side control on your right side. All you do is reach up over his back with your left arm and grab his belt. You then make sure your right elbow is in your opponent’s hip. Then roll into your opponent. Your opponent will either push back or do nothing. Either way. You then roll back hard the other way, while pulling on the belt and driving and lifting your opponent up with the elbow. Over the top he goes. Now you have the side control and you better hope your opponent does not know this move.
Renzo also does some knee on chest stuff on this tape, most of which is on other tape sets.
A total retread waste of tape. Not much new here. Been there, seen that. Get a pillow. You are getting verrrry sleepy. You will find escapes from headlocks and bearhugs etc. on this tape.
Another total deja vu tape. If you really want to see the same footlocks you have seen before explained by Renzo, buy his tape. Not much new here. Heal hooks, escaping footlocks, ZZzzzzzzz.
This was good tape with some very useful combinations of moves. Many of the combinations deal with when your opponent "turtles" on you. Overall, one of the better tapes in the series.
ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz. On this tape you get a catalog of basic Judo throws (hip throws and sweeps). To his credit Renzo show all the throws with and without a Gi. I do have to admit that most of these throw have never been shown on another BJJ tape set. There is a reason for this. There are great Judo tape sets out there that have taught these move for years. If you want Judo throws look into Ippon’s tapes and books.
Overall a good tape. This tape deals with countering when someone shoots in on you. Also, Renzo covers how to correctly pull someone down into your guard. To many people just think that you can jump up in the air and pull someone into your guard. This strategy does not always work. Renzo show the proper way it’s done. Many of the moves are shown with and without a Gi. There is some very good moves on this tape.
Bill Lewis BJJ33@aol.com