Recommended BJJ Books for Judoka

This is my favorite "Gracie" book.

Moves shown are very practical, effective,
familiar and easy to adopt by Judoka.

Very good for people who are wanting to learn how to
transition their Judo Ne Waza to BJJ style.



This one is a good to know because it teaches basics
of the guard and also a fighting philosophy from
that position and strategies. It will save you some
surprises and give you few very good, rudimentary BJJ tips:




This one is much more advanced, but it is in many aspect
the state of the art of BJJ with lots of very advanced,
but very effective moves.
It is by BJJ great Saulo Ribeiro who is famous
for his intelligent and natural BJJ.

Learning Updates

I am working on a competitive Ko Uchi Gari and left side Tai Otoshi.

My role model is excellent Won Hee Lee although he is much smaller

than I am (73 kg vs mine 100 kg).

Here is the video of Lee's throws that I watch hundreds of times a day,

frame by frame and that I use as an instructional and an inspiration:

This past Saturday in training I was able to pull few very

good left Tai Otoshi.

Here are some key (advanced) points I picked up from the training

and that, once applied, resulted in a good Tai Otoshi:

For Tai Otoshi:

- Keep the toes pointed forward from the moment

you move the extending leg into a motion for a throw

- Practice "step-snap pull" - the moment foot reaches

the ground snap-pull for a throw.

Timing of this highly coordinated kuzushi

and poisitioning is critical.

- Extend the leg low and far to barely clip the ankle but

keep on the toes facing forward

and twist the whole upper body as you throw

I am also working on a left and right Ko Uchi Gari.

Some key points for

Ko Uchi Gari:

- Make the person move towards his/her outer toes

before attempting the Ko Uchi Gari.

Moving Uke will make this throw drastically easier.

- As soon you clip the leg (out and on the side)

drive the person down hard

- Transition immediately into a holdown or a submission

to capture the initiative from the surprise,

and to ensure good grappling position

Quick update on fitness:

I am 232 lbs but I have replaced about 1% of body fat with

muscles. I train with weights (circuit) three times a week.
I am also regularly (three times a week) doing

cardio-vascular interval training.

I do 25 uchi komi in series.

My goal is 50 full speed uchi komi on my favorite throws.

Medical update, physicians opinion and back to the training

I went to see a doctor today for my gout and things looked fine.
My physician, Dr. Ramos (great doctor) recommended
that I keep dropping my weight.
I asked him to give me a weight loss homework.
It is 220 lbs.

I am 233 today and I am dropping,
so I am hoping that in 3 months I will be at low 220s.

I started training Judo 3-4 times a week.
I also went to gym today for a swim for 20 min,
run for 10 and fast and intensive high repetitions weight
training for 10 min. I always do endurance-circuit
training to avoid bulking up.
I bulk up too easily, and that will not help my weight drop goals).

All was good.
I do have some hip joint pain from Judo this last week,
but it must be from not doing Judo in high speed for a while.

Training Log

After series of injuries,
and starting the PhD program I got seriously out of shape.

It is time to start getting back in shape for serious Judo.

I am still recovering from what some doctors think is a
bone spurt and some think is a gout, so I cannot run.

I am starting the fitness program with 235 lbs.
My goal is to get to 218 lbs within three months and to
get back into 4x5 min Nage Waza randori and 2x15 Ne Waza
randori shape.

I will be posting my progress on these pages.