The Slovak Sambo Federation, with Fedor and M-1 Global’s permission, recently put together a DVD that shows footage from a seminar in Slovakia in 2007. In it, Fedor is showing off his stuff, how to do take downs, escapes, counter punching, etc. It really goes into the details of the kimura, americana and armbar. All around, pretty cool and good instruction. It isn’t in English, but it does have English subtitles – just so you know what you’re getting into.
One thing I’ve always liked about Fedor and his training camp, is their old school Russian philosophy of low-tech, high performance. Hard work, meat and potatoes, fist to face. Nothing fancy, just what works and works well.
Personally, I think it makes a good companion to Fedor’s MMA book. For example, counter punching is covered pretty well in the book, but video brings it to light in a way that words and a few pictures just can’t. Watching the timing and the angles on video will help you really “get it”.
Anyway, here are a few clips to show you what’s inside the DVD. I particularly like how Fedor seamlessly integrates striking with his submission attempts.
Fedor Shows Mount Escape
Fedor’s Gives Tips On The Armbar Submission
Kimura, Russian Style
Again, if you want his book, you can pick up a copy at Amazon.
There is so much out there, it’s hard to sort it. I’ve roamed the internet so you don’t have to.
Submissions 101
Just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock, the guys over at submissions101.com are spitting out high class instructional video’s like it was Christmas already. You can’t a find better introduction to Eddie Bravo and the rubber guard than sub101’s site.
Aesopian’s Tottaly Awesome Journal
Aesopian give’s his two cents on Brazilian Jujitsu over here. His commentary on different moves and techniques are unusually insightfull.
GrappleArts: Building A Better Grappler
Blackbelt Stephan Kesting is one good grappling Canadain. The stuff on his site is solid, useful grappling info. Here’s a page full of different moves.
Gracie-Barra Marbella
“Sururu” Edson Jorge, runs two MMA / Submission Grappling gyms in Spain, and this is his website. His dojo’s are a great example of how things run well, as well as the vid’s he post every so often are great too.
“If you aren’t attacking, you are defending, and if you are defending, it means that you are losing the fight at that moment.” – Marcelo Garcia
Instead of blocking, you can counter with your own attack. In boxing, it’s counter-punching, in Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do it’s stop hitting, in Read the rest of this entry »
If you’re just getting into MMA, here are a few titles you’ll probably want to put into library.
First and foremost – BJ Penn’s book, The MMA book of knowledge. If you were only going to buy one book, this should be it.
It covers the most basic MMA moves – punches, takedowns, elementary grappling, and some ground and pound. It’s a great book, and if you’ll only buy one book, get this one. It’s not quite a MMA Bible – since it doesn’t have any instruction on MMA kicking – but it’s close. I’ve personally had a lot of fun with this one.
This book doesn’t pretend to be everything to everybody – it’s a no-nonsense book about wrestling for fighting.
Third, I’d suggest the Title Boxing instruction series. Boxers know how to punch, and the guys who do the Title videos know their stuff. The first time I watched them, I was blown away at how useful they were. The whole DVD set is pretty big – 25 videos in total. If you can spare to pick up all of them, buy the complete set at a discount. Personally, I’d pick two or three you think would be most useful. For starters check out Fundamentals of boxing, How to hit the heavy bag, and Attacking and punching at angles.
Fourth, you should have a solid Jujitsu book. If you are already grappling at a dojo, buy a book that compliments the style you’re learning, or an encyclopedic type refrence. Unlike striking, where you can get some decent initial proficiency from a book by training by yourself, a jujitsu book can only augment what you’re doing on the mat. With that in mind, here are a few books I have liked -more in the beginner to intermediate range. I have yet to find a book that replaces face-to-face introductory
For a more traditional, beginning introduction to Jujitsu, I think Gene Simco’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Basics is nice. It’s a very inexpensive book DVD combo – cheaper than many stand alone books. Be warned though, this is just Gi Jujitsu.
Karo Parisyan’s Judo for MMA isn’t 100% judo – it’s a little bit like BJ Penn’s book. It’s got great value to help you transition in and out of your judo and jujitsu. Click through the pick and find the table of contents – it’s a packed with awesome stuff. This is one of my personal favorites.
