Author: Royce Gracie, Charles Gracie and Kid Peligro (Photos by Tom Page)
Publisher: Invisible Cities Press
Number of Pages: 238
Cost: $30
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
ISBN: 1931229279
Rating: 5 Stars
Year book was released: 2002
Click here to go back to the main page
Crackkkkkkk! Kid Peligro has done it again! This time Kid teamed with Royce and Charles Gracie to create a wonderful book called "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Self-Defense." While it might be hard to believe, this is the first book on this topic. BJJ is divided into three disciplines - 1) Sport BJJ, 2) Vale Tudo/NHB and 3) Self defense. There are really only two tape sets that deal with BJJ's self-defense techniques. Rorion and Royce did a set a long time ago that was solely devoted to BJJ self-defense. Additionally, Pedro Carvalho devoted sections of his first two sets to BJJ self-defense techniques. That's about it.
Just to clear up any confusion, Vale Tudo techniques are NOT the same as self-defense techniques. Also, this is not a book about ground grappling (there is some, but that is not the point of the book). I say this because the book has a section called "The Proving Grounds." This section shows pictures of Royce and Charles winning Vale Tudo fights. While Vale Tudo and self-defense are closely related, they are not exactly the same. BJJ self-defense deals with defenses against knives, guns, and real world street situations. This is very different from Vale Tudo fighting which is meant for a ring. However, there is a lot of overlap of the attacks and defenses when it comes to things like kicks, punches, headlocks, etc. I just want to make sure that someone reading this review understands what you are getting when you buy this book.
Kid has put together a professionally done, full color book that does a great job of covering BJJ self-defense. In the book's 238 pages, 103 techniques are covered. Each technique is laid out in easy to follow steps. One interesting thing to note is that each step of a technique is described twice. Once in Royce's own words and again in a more verbose manner by Kid. I am not convinced that this double description added a lot of value. However, you could look at Royce's succinct descriptions as the least you need to know.
All the standard "street" attacks are covered. Wrist grabs, punches, headlocks, chokes, kicks, knife and gun attacks are covered with multiple defenses. I found all the techniques shown to be reasonably realistic. They even cover one of my favorite moves in technique 61, which is a headlock escape.
For many people, the most common "attack" that they will run into is the "drunken out of control" friend attack. Another name for this is the "Drunken Uncle" scenario. This is the type of attack where you DON'T want to hurt the person attacking you. Many self-defense systems fail when it comes to this type of attack. What good is your self-defense system when your best friend has had a few too many drinks and you two start to fight? Do you really want to put out his eyes and break his spine? Can you subdue this person without hurting them? This book does a good job giving you options so that you don't have to hurt your friend.
Each technique has a paragraph of text that sets the scene and describes the technique. This text often refers to other techniques. That is to say, one headlock technique will reference the others in the book to let you know why you might need to use the current technique. This was very helpful, but points to a weakness in the book's layout.
The book is laid out supposedly in the same order that the techniques are taught by the Gracies in their schools. This is probably the books main weakness. Unless you can explain to the reader the strategy or philosophy behind the grouping of the techniques, I would have preferred that the, say, headlock techniques be grouped together. The knife defenses be grouped together, etc. The layout seems pretty arbitrary. The fact that one technique references another reduces this problem to some extent, however, this is also just makes my point.
The other thing I would like to have seen included in the book would have been some history and background on the development of these self-defense techniques. Are these straight from the Japanese Jujitsu that was taught to Carlos? Are these some other Gracie's invention? The history section at the opening of the book is nothing but a condensed retread of what I have come to call the "Sickly Helio Story" or SHS. You know the story, "little sickly Helio could not attend classes because he was so sickly, so he just watched, until one day Carlos was not around to teach and little sickly Helio stepped in . . . yada, yada." Not a word about the development of the self-defense techniques of BJJ. If anyone knows the history and development of these techniques, drop me an e-mail.
There are also biography sections about Royce and Charles's backgrounds. This is nice because Charles is an invisible Gracie and does not share the limelight with his relatives.
Bottom line:
This is a book worth getting. If you have Royce's or Pedro Carvalho's tapes that deal with self-defense, this book will make a great companion and will show you a few more moves that are new. All the moves are simple to do and are well explained in the book. This book stands alone right now in the market. There are no other BJJ self-defense books out there. Fortunately, for us, Kid has put together a great book for us. Hats off again to Royce, Charles, and Kid on their hard work and effort.