Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu is a groundbreaking system of grappling that integrates the Olympic sport of judo with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, today's most sought after grappling art. These are the techniques and strategies that allowed Camarillo to devastate the competition at some of the world's most prestigious judo and jiu-jitsu tournaments and have led his students to more than a dozen victories in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu offers a leg up on virtually every opponent who refuses to stray from the parameters of his discipline.
Discover Your Inner Judoka I first started training jiu jitsu at a Ralph Gracie school and even though Dave Camarillo had already been at AKA for several years the grizzled veterans still loved to swap stories about Camarillo's legendary jiu jitsu (even the newer students were well aware of his legendary exploits at the academy - I was once kicked in the face by a blue belt attempting to hit a flying triangle that he'd seen Camarillo pull off!). The introduction alone was practically worth the cover price for the detailed description of the BJJ scene in the Bay Area circa 1990s.
As for the content itself, Camarillo provides a great explanation of how the rules in judo and Brazilian jiu jitsu have lead the two arts to diverge to the point where one could train for several months in BJJ without learning basic forward rolls, throws, and breakfalls (as I did), or earn a black belt in judo and possess lesser ground skills than a BJJ blue belt (though of course many judokas have wicked ground games, albeit not necessarily ones well-suited to jiu jitsu). I agree with other reviewers that the book assumes some prior knowledge of BJJ. At the same time, it assumes virtually no knowledge of judo, which was perfect for me. The book became a great way to tighten up my technique on moves that I hadn't extensively drilled due to my BJJ-focused background. And by this I mean basic, basic things (forward rolls, grip fighting, ippon seioinage, osoto gari) that most judoka do in their sleep. Most of the introductory sections are essentially "judo for dummies," which was exactly what I needed to develop some semblance of a standup game in jiu jitsu.
My one caveat is that, though the book contains relatively few actual techniques, the level of assumed mastery increases fairly rapidly. For example, I have yet to read through the impact control section in great detail because at this point I am still trying to solidify my ability to establish basic grips and execute simple throws. Similarly, I imagine that the flying attacks section will be much more relevant once one has established a strong gripping/throwing game.
In sum, this book is a terrific resource for BJJ players who might need to fill in some gaps in their knowledge, as well as judokas looking for good ways to translate their skills into quick submissions in the context of BJJ. At the very least, you should develop some good alternatives to simply pulling guard every time you find yourself on your feet.
Fascinating book for Judo and BJJ fighters I am not sure why some of the other reviewers look at this book as written only for BJJ fighters wanting to add judo into their game. It is expressly written equally for judo fighters wanting to add BJJ into their game. He quite rightly points out that both sports are excellent and devastatingly effective for fighting in their own way, and that at the intermediate level in both you can combine them together, winning judo tourneys with jiu-jitsu and jiu-jitsu tourneys with judo. What this book does is select the moves that are equally effective in both combat sports. A great number of them are movements initiated standing up that become submissions as you hit the ground. Thus, throws to submissions and flying submissions are emphasized. But, also throws to pins are treated in some detail, and ways for a judo fighter to avoid a BJJ athlete's pulling guard, and for a BJJ fighter to handle a judoka's ultra-solid turtle defence. The book is absolutely brilliant, and it is endorsed by quite a few big names in mixed martial arts and grappling. This brings me to another important point: the book is not only written for judoka and jiu-jitsu competitors, but equally for mixed martial artists. Dave Camarillo has trained 12 UFC victors. He knows what he is talking about. Being a judo guy I like reading books that say good things about judo for MMA and grappling, but I actually have one small problem with the book from a club training perspective. The moves are so devastating that I can't imagine subjecting some of my less-competitive training friends at the club to them on a regular basis. Throwing someone to the ground while cracking on a submission hold is brutal! My friends would hate me. But I think this all goes only to show just how effective Dave's arsenal of killer moves is! WOW! Great job! What an excellent fighting book!
I loved this book Obviously David Camarillo is Bruce Lee on the mat and his moves are simple though different then the ordinary brazilian jiujitsu,
Bring my BJJ game to another level Wow,
I bought this book, not expecting the most out of it. Well I was wrong, I could not put this book down. Dave, ties all the transitions between the throw and ground. I would recommened this book to anyone who wants to greatly improve their BJJ game.
Camarillo combines Judo & BJJ This book was put out by Victory Belt Publishing, which is fast becoming my favorite martial-arts publishing company. Dave Camarillo have been practicing Judo since before his teens, and is a world-class competitor. He combines years of experience in this sport with the techniques of BJJ, creating a system of gi-based grappling that is more than the sum of its parts.
The book begins with Camarillo sharing his philosophy of judo and BJJ, and giving a brief biography of events relavent to the creationg of Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu. After that, he begins the technical work of the book, which is split up into three parts. The first part, "Incorporating Judo and Jiu-Jitsu", is by far the longest section. In itself, it might almost be a complete book of introductory judo. Dave starts by giving basic instruction on rolls and falls. Next he covers grips, both how to establish them and how to break the opponent's grip. The next bit is on the basic judo throws, such as Ouchi-Gari and Seoi-Nage. He finishes up the first part by showing how to mesh the standing techniques of judo and BJJ, and how to find opportunities for Judo throws in BJJ competitions.
The second part of the book is how to transition from throws to submissions. Dave first shows a series of drills to increase one's odds of tapping an opponent out after the throw. He then continues this section by showing the "impact control" possition and a number of variations. The chapter is rounded out by showing other throw-lock combinations.
The third part is on the very flashy flying attacks. This is Camarillo's specialty, and I can think of no one more qualified to write on them than him. Dave shows a number of flying attacks, including triangles, armbars, and omaplatas, and gives the reader options on how to defend against flying attacks.
I have two minor complaints about the book; both regard its readership. First, one must have a working knowledge of the ground game, because the basics are skipped over in this text. Second, I'm not certain how easy it would be to pull off some of these flying attacks against a trained opponent.
Overall, this is a very good book. The picture quality can't be beat, the subject matter is relavent to the competitions, and the reading style, like most books where Erich Krauss is author or co-author, is easy to read. This book was written so that BJJ students could incorporate judo into their arsenal. The section on grip-fighting is invaluable, and the way the author sets up his flying attacks gives these flashy moves a higher percentage of success. I'd recomend it mostly for BJJ competitors, but I'm sure Judo and Sambo competitors could learn from it, too.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
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Trevor
