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![Martial Arts of the World [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Zj396CbBL._SL500_.jpg)
Top crowd reviews mentioning Martial Arts books:
Literally wrote the book on Judo.
Most journalists can't put together an article.
Street Sword: Practical Use of the Long Blade for Self-Defense
We already know how to boomstick. Gotta catch em by surprise with the practical long blade
I've got a suggestion or two.
First up, I recommend reading the book "Becoming Batman" Link, loved that book, a nonfiction on just what it would take to become Batman in the real world.
Now- having read that- or at least thought about it- you have two choices in front of you I'd say.
Either make Batman more... power hungry than he is in the comics- that is, instead of putting villain's weapons and gears in a museum, he should have a team of engineers reverse engineering it and putting it to use, to give him a leg up- and having scientists study things like the Lazarus pits when Batman comes across those- as a priority since they literally bring you back from the dead- the potential as a medicine is amazing, if you can only get rid of the pesky part that makes everyone that takes a dip insane. Might be the most important discovery of the human race since fire.
And/or you could do a deconstruction. Have Bruce Wayne realize that becoming Batman is more than a life's work, and the cost of it- which is astronomical (and discussed in becoming batman, but there's also web articles about that), and that it would be better to start a security company or fund the police, or fund scientists studying meta humans and scifi weaponry from villains to better help regular cops do their jobs- better bang per buck.
I'd say have him just donate the same amounts to charities/start charities and such, but just that would make for a short oneshot I'd say, an interesting fic it does not make.
Jiu-Jitsu University Paperback – November 17, 2008 by Saulo Ribeiro
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I am reading / re-reading this one. The whitebelt section helped me a bit. (as whitebelt) :)
I started aged 49 with no prior grappling experience, so I know how you feel. I'm just a blue belt, but a couple of things that really helped me:
- The book Jiu Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro is invaluable. This breaks down the fundamental positions, gives you a structure for how to survive, and then escape each basic position (as well as going into more advanced stuff later). It's a great resource and really transformed and accelerated my learning.
- There are many online programs, but while you are getting your feet wet, I recommend www.bjjcurriculum.com (you can also find the videos on Youtube) - well organized and free.
- Mixed classes are great for learning. Don't be afraid to ask questions (after the roll has ended). You'll find an amazing number of higher belts willing to help, especially if you're willing to let them drill moves on you in return.
- Stay calm, tap early. Avoid being stacked (let them pass if necessary - your neck will thank you).
Good luck!
Well I found it on amazon, the first few comments seem satirical but the rest seem genuine, the book is a thousand dollars though, so make of it what you will.
I started BJJ a few months ago and recently discovered this sub. This is the first I'd heard of this book, so thank you for sharing, /u/Khulo! A quick search for it revealed a lot of praise, so I ventured over to Amazon and ordered it immediately. For others interested, the paperback version is currently at its lowest price ever on Amazon ($20.27). Figured that was worth mentioning!
Tandoku renshu (practice by yourself) is seriously underrated. Just tell your sensei that it hurts and that you'd like to practice without partners until you're feeling better. You still have three good limbs and should be able to participate in the vast majority of your classes without touching anyone else. Personally I'd go back immediately, if only to spectate and absorb the teachings!
Do you have any judo books? If not I'd start here:
https://www.amazon.com/Kodokan-Judo-Essential-Founder-Jigoro/dp/156836539X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kodokan+judo&qid=1624284142&sr=8-1
Study ahead so the information you get in class is less foreign. I'd start here: https://www.amazon.com/Kodokan-Judo-Essential-Founder-Jigoro/dp/156836539X
There are tons of great videos too, anything from the Kodokan should be correct and helpful.
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I suggest to have a firm mental plan, actions and responses for adverse situations.
For example you could set a mental boundary that if an agitated/aggressive person comes close enough you can hit him fight has started and than the training will take over.
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Also, I think it would help you to read a book Meditations on violence. It talks about different motives for the violence, recognizing when it's about to occur, deescalation and lots more. If I remember correctly there is a chapter on fighting the "freeze" as he calls it.
It's a great book, hope it helps!
If you want an understanding of the basic types of flexibility/mobility and different types of stretching used to train them, I highly recommend Thomas Kurz' work, particularly his book "Stretching scientifically". You can get a used copy for ten bucks on amazon and if you follow the material you should get some good results
Stretching Scientifically: A Guide to Flexibility Training https://www.amazon.com/dp/0940149451/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_ImBMwbF4HHYVT
In a nut shell, you want to try to develop strength and flexibility at the same time.
Absolutely!
For those who are interested check out this introductory video series or The Way of Energy.
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This was exactly the position I was in as a white belt. What helped me is along the lines of what others said, following the survive->escape->achieve position->attack model, but that's easier said than done.
First you have to know what a good survival position is in every bad situation. When you're under side control, it's blocking the crossface, hiding your far arm, and using your knee to defend the mount. When someone is on your back it's defending your neck, keeping your elbows tight, scooting low. Pick up Saulo Ribeiro's Jiu-Jitsu University for detailed instructions on all of the basics in each stage of the progression.
Ideally you should be able to hang out in these positions and defend successfully for a 20-30 seconds. If you really commit to a good survival principles when in bad positions, even as a white belt you can hold off a really advanced guy for a surprisingly long time until he dips deep into his bag of tricks to crack your defense or is able to just brute force his way through your defense. I still practice that against brown and black belts: If they take my back and I can hold off the submission for a good while while they're actively looking for it, that's a success. Then the next time I roll with them I can progress to looking for the escape.
Get it. It's mostly pictures, with descriptive text. It covers every basic position/escape/pass, and some submissions.
If you click on the book cover ("Look inside"), you can check out most of the first chapter. After the initial wall of text, the fun begins with pictures:
http://www.amazon.com/Jiu-Jitsu-University-Saulo-Ribeiro/dp/0981504434
There is a steep learning curve, but the reward is beyond words. I think a lot of people quit because BJJ challenges the ego ways beyond just the physical. Go in with an open mind and an attitude of learning and you will do well.
If it turns out you really like it... get a copy of Jiu Jitsu University drill and memorize the survival and escape sections over the course of your first 6 months. It'll accelerate your learning.
Enjoy the class!
Your opponent has mount? Your only goal is to escape mount. Your opponent has your back? You need to get him off of there. Your opponent has passed your guard? You need to get him back in your guard. You need to work on escaping positions and not getting submitted. When your opponent is armbarring you, ask him to go slow and say you want to learn to escape. Saulo's vision is great on this. You can read all about it in his book http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0981504434?keywords=jiu%20jitsu%20university&qid=1444212361&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1. It's an excellent resource.
I think you put it well. I'd go one rung up, as Rory Miller does in his book - violence is rarely one-on-one in a well-lit environment with clear rules. We BJJers know to worry about the bar stools and the AIDS needles and the hidden shanks. Then there's the concealed carry, the entourage, the guy with actual AIDS, the vindictive next of kin, etc.
Sure, one that I read was Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected. It's a pretty good read, but I don't really agree with everything in it. But one of the best things you can do is to form your own opinions on how you feel you need to deal with situational awareness and the like.
Focus on not even letting him get a wrist or getting one of his arms under one of your arms. Go into lock down.
If you're mounted - stay slightly on your side (one hip off the floor) and use your feet to get half guard while keeping your arms tight to your body and your chin tucked. If you're in side control - stay on your side and curl up to create space, make yourself small. Never put both shoulder-blades on the floor at the same time. And so on. Emily Kwok has a lot of good stuff on dealing with bigger opponents, like transitional escapes.
I also can't recommend this book enough: Jiu-jitsu University. I got it at white belt and I still refer to it at least once a week. It's divided by belt and the white belt section is all survival, it's awesome.
Thomas Kurz - teaches flexibility using olympic lifting
https://www.amazon.ca/Stretching-Scientifically-Guide-Flexibility-Training/dp/0940149451
Your decision-making will go to shit when you're hyper-adrenalized, and if you haven't practiced being in those situations, no amount of written advice will protect you from someone who is used to fighting.
Strong recommendation to read Meditations on Violence for anyone legitimately interested in understanding the pragmatics of fighting.
Honestly, the finest "encyclopedia of groundwork" I've read is Jiu Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro (JJU).
It doesn't focus on the priorities of Competition Judo Newaza, which is primarily turtle attacks and osaekomi retention/escapes. However, it is probably the finest introduction to groundwork for complete beginners and intermediate players ever put to print, and does cover turtle attacks and osaekomi, albeit in an introductory manner.
JJU features excellent photographs/explanations focusing on groundwork fundamentals presented in a systematic, incremental manner. Furthermore, it features the common mistakes for many of the techniques.
The best thing about it is its layout. It organizes itself according to the priorities each "rank" should be pre-occupied with. (Rank being subjective evaluation and not actual rank). Beginners should focus on escapes, reversals, and survival. Beginner-intermediate should be focused on guard retention. Intermediate should focus on guard passing. Intermediate-advanced should focus on pin positions and attacks. Advanced should focus on chaining submissions.
There is substantial enough overlap with Judo here to constitute a buy for any Judoka.
The white belt "survival" section in Jiu Jitsu University by Ribeiro was a game changer for me. Learn and practice all the survival positions and get a good defense. This will allow you to build from there.
Also really love Zen BJJ: From Confused White Belt to Confident Blue Belt. This one is more philosophical, but it helps you form a good mindset and philosophy with training.
worth it ?
depends on your goal
do you HAVE to be a blue belt in the next 6 months ?
do you HAVE to win every competition you enter for the foreseeable future ?
why not just watch some youtube videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaOR6f52KgukVspCBaQi5Rg/videos and get a decent book https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0981504434/
sure, those would be wasteful without rolling, but fine if you're doing group classes
and if you're goal is just to get a little better then $30 for a book is better than $300 for 3 hours of private lessons
>Which made me think of lots of people who claim being pacifist but end up being passive instead.
Violence, whether we like it or not is a part of nature. It is a component of life. While we should not ignite it, we should be prepared to face it.
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You would be correct, that's wisdom. It doesn't sound pretty... in fact it's kind of shitty, but at least it's true and it's not hopeless.
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Only the bullshittest of bullshit artists try to spine utter passivity or aggression as some how virtuous.
The mystical notions of "do no harm", aren't logical to... living. You're a walking ball of death and destruction whether you like it or not.
The other side of the coin, Violence for violence sake, well that always ends, in the same way. You don't even have to be a fortune teller to call it.
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I also recommend a book "Meditations on Violence"
While mostly geared towards LEOs, Martial Artists, and Self-Defense types but there's some really salient stuff in there about the very nature of violence, how we deal with it, what to do about it, and it's inevitability in life.
Worth reading his thoughts on it and his perspective as he was a man of violence (Corrections officer/martial artist) and it's funny because in some of his anecdotes he keeps searching for some "Spiritual meaning" to it all and keeps discovering that really, it was just about making it home alive.
It's wise because he never finds some mystical truth or anything. Just a few loose ideas, a few sound arguments, and the philosophy that "violence exists, there for I should know how to deal with it".
In the Jiu Jitsu University book (Jiu-jitsu University https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0981504434/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7FKYA6NCKVBNW7DDQ7NT) there’s a nice sequence of triangle, armbar, cross collar choke.
Reminds me of the book, Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected (by Rory Miller), which is mostly geared towards law-enforcement and military types. One of the main points that stuck with me is the suggestion that one must prepare and decide how to act, ahead of time, if confronted with fucked up situations, like a child or pregnant woman brandishing a gun. The point being, if you need to grapple with the decision in the moment, it may well be too late. It's a pretty sobering thought.
I did a little googling because I was humoring this mental scenario of fighting Putin, and apparently he wrote a book on Judo:
https://www.amazon.ca/Judo-History-Practice-Vladimir-Putin/dp/1556434456
I really wasn't expecting that.
I wouldn't completely discount him- I mean the real competitive edge here is that he is an old man (and may be suffering from a degenerative condition).
You're not going to like hearing it, but the answer is none of the above.
A weapon is going to make the situation more dangerous, not less dangerous. If you have a weapon, that's an escalation, and the other guy is going to escalate further. A crazy guy shoving you and making you feel uncomfortable can very quickly turn into a crazy guy knifing or shooting you, because you did something to escalate the situation.
It's more likely that whatever you choose will be taken from you and used against you than you are likely to protect yourself with it.
This is not to mention all of the legal issues with producing a weapon to be used in self defense.
Your best bet is to be aware of your surroundings, remove yourself from shady situations, and be ready to do a combination of running and yelling for help.
This is not a movie, and you are not a hero. Even when it comes to martial arts, pretty much every martial arts experience for laymen is mostly bullshit-peddling when it comes to self defense for practical use. (Strong suggestion, read Mediations on Violence by Rory Miller to find out why).
If you're looking for a bright side, just remember that the city is exceptionally safe, and the sensationalized situations that you hear about are less than one-in-a-million.
Stay aware. Stay away from threats. Never let your ego provoke you into standing your ground against a crazy. Don't be a hero.
Flexibility doesn’t work the way people think it does. You need to train for the kind of flexibility you need. Yoga is slow static eccentric stretching. Martial arts requires dynamic bursts of stretch. It actually can be counter-indicated to work in ways that take your body out of the main movement pattern you are training for.
This guy, Thomas Kurz, is a martial artist. He had excellent information about stretch.
Stretching Scientifically: A Guide to Flexibility Training https://www.amazon.com/dp/0940149451/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_H1MJPRA6EYMFGMP8D23A