Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Master Techniques: The Essential Guard

I've been training BJJ for about a year now, and I'm on the small side (130 lbs) so I find myself on my back a lot, and I quickly learned the importance of an effective guard. For me this book has probably done more to improve my training than anything else (except actual sparring). I usually fight guys much bigger than me (between 180-220 lb) and until I learned how to use the guard effectively I was basically a grappling dummy for my opponents. But now I'm constantly surprising my training partners and myself with how effective and varied these techniques from guard are, and I credit this book with much of my improvement. The guard is great because you can attack with all four limbs while your opponent can only use their arms. Kid Peligro is an excellent teacher and offers many of the subtle details that make the difference between submitting and being submitted. For example, the section on breaking the posture and the 4 pages on the basic cross collar choked improved my game more than anything. Everyone knows this choke, but the minor details make it really dangerous, especially when you don't have a lot of muscle to force the choke. Before, most guys I sparred with weren't too worried about my choke, I was convinced I wasn't strong enough, but since reading this book I've put several guys to sleep because they wouldn't even considering tapping and now they try hard not to even let me get a grip on their collar. This opens up many more opportunities to attack with sweeps, arm bars, and omoplatas. What makes this book so good is the authors' understanding of students and the basic mistakes they make, as well as the very clear explanations and photos. The moves are integrated into a complete system that will put you years ahead than if you tried to figure this out on your own. That being said, there is plenty here for higher belts as well. I think the Essential Guard is essential reading for anyone taking BJJ seriously and interested in dramatically improving their Guard game. It should be know that there isn't a lot on the half- guard, it's mostly breaking the the posture, replacing the guard, opend and closed guard, butterfly, spider, and attack combinations. If you want a good half-guard game, I recommend Eddie Bravo's Mastering the Rubber Guard. These two books compliment each other well.

Definitely one of the better books about Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Really explains and details everything about the guard, will help improve any bodies guard game.🥋

Outstanding book and very helpful. I was specifically interested in the section on how to chain submission attempts together. I was eapeciay happy with the overwhelming amount of important details that would never have thought to ask my instructor.

This is the most detailed and complete book on THE GUARD that I have read. I have trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for almost 10 years and this is probably my favorite book on Jiu-Jitsu. If you like fighting from the guard, you will benefit from reading this book.

I found this book very useful and well laid out. I use this book whenever i get busy at work and can't attend bjj class as often as i would like. Very easy to understand with good pictures. My only negative comment is i wish the butterfly guard section was thicker.

educational

I have been lucky enough to meet Rodrigo and I can highly recommend this book. Great to have

Book already arrive... Looks great.

If you're a beginner, this book will help you lay a good foundation for your technique and give you lots of ideas for developing your game. Techniques are broken down well and can be easily understood from the pictures. It also serves as a useful point of reference for more experienced practitioners.