The past decade has seen a massive shift in the world of the martial arts. Beginning in the early 1990s a number of mixed martial arts (MMA) events, such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, were staged in the United States in which different styles of martial art were pitted against each other with very few rules in order to answer the ultimate question: In real combat, which fighting style is best? To the surprise of the vast majority of martial artists, punching and kicking powerr, speed and strength, ferocity and aggression were not the keys to victory. Rather, the ability to take an opponent to the ground and use grappling skills to force him to submit was what won matches. Foremost among this revolutionary development were the exponents of Brazilian ju-jitsu. In the arena they consistently demonstrated a dominance and tactical brilliance that almost overnight made their style the most sought after in modern martial arts history.

The Brazilians, headed by the famous Gracie family, had learned that the pattern of real fights is simple. After an intitial period of punching and kicking, the two fighters quickly went into a clinch, grappled with each other and fell to the ground. It was on the ground that the outcome of the fight was decided. Unfortunately most martial arts deal only with the initial punching and kicking stage of combat. Brazilian jiu-jitsu's emphasis on ground-grappling enabled it to easily dominate its rivals in MMA competition.

Now, for the first time, two of the most legendary figures in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Renzo and Royler Gracie, have created a book that will define this most in-demand combat style for years to come. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu uses more than 800 photographs to demonstrate step-by-step all the techniques used in this martial art, and also explains the theory that lies behind its tremendous success. It offers readers the hard-won knowledge that will allow them to greatly increase their combat effectiveness, regardless of their current style or level of experience.

Renzo Gracie is a two-time winner of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu national championships, as well as two-time world champion in the prestigious Abu Dhabi World Submission Wrestling Championship. A former winner of the Wrold Combat Championship and the Martial Arts Reality superfight championship, Renzo teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu at his elite academy in New York City. He is widely regarded as one of the finest instructors of the art in the world. Often regarded as the most technically proficient jiu-jitsu practitioner in the world, Royler Gracie hs won the world title four times, along with numerous national titles. Winner of the Abu Dhabi World Submission Wrestlng Championship on two consecutive years, Royler is the head instructor at the Gracie Humaita Academy in Rio de Janeiro. John Danaher is a graduate student in philosophy at Columbia University and an assistant instructor at Renzo Gracie's New York City academy. Kid Peligro, one of the leading martial arts journalists in the world, has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has twice won the World Masters title.

Contents

The making of a book
Preface
Introducing the authors
Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nayan
Part One Theory
A. The current revolution in the world of martial arts
The fundamental problem of the martial arts
Determining the respective merit of styles through mixed martial arts (MMA) competiton
Analysis of the early MMA events
Brazilian jiu-jitsu i MMA competiton
An analysis of the success of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in MMA competition
Brazilian jiu-jitsu as an answer to the fundamental problem of the matial arts
Ground fighting and self-defense
B. History
The Japanese legacy
The infuence of Jigoro Kano
The Genius of Kano
The paradox of randori
Kano vindicated
Maeda
Maeda and the Gracies
The develoment of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
The genius of the Gracie clan-overcoming Kano'slimitations
The historical record
Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a martial arts research program
C. Training
Starging taining in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
The belts and grading system of Baziian jiu-jitsu
White belt to blue belt
Blue belt to purple belt
Brown belt
Black belt
More on belts
Different types of training
Making technical progress
How many techniques?
How to encourage technical progress
How to conduct yourself in training
The crucial importance of fundamentals
Sparring
The key positional strategy of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Basic positions in ground grappling
A practical example of Brazilian jiu-jitsu positional strategy
An inherent advantage of grappling training
Part 2 Technique
D. Blue belt
1 Tying up the belt
2 Rolling and breaking a fall
3 Escape from the mounted position, 'Upa'
4 The upa drill
5 Defense against the two-handed front choke
6 The single-handed wrist grab (palm up)
7 Single-handed wrist grab (palm down)
8 Two-handed wrist grab
9 The offensive hip throw
10 Defense against a single-handed lapel grab
11 Front collar choke
12 Defense against standing side headlock
13 Defense against the rear bear hug
14 Thrusting choke, 'Amassa pao'
15 Defense against the thrusting choke
16 Defense against the front-thrusting kick
17 Passing the guard
18 Scissors sweep
19 Attacking from the mounted position 'Americana'
20 Arm bar from the mounted position
21 Defense agasint a guillotine choke
22 Standing guard pass
23 The double ankle grab sweep
24 A common counter to the double ankle grab sweep
25 Double leg sweep to arm bar
26 Push sweep
27 Elevator sweep
28 Headlock escape 1
29 Headlock escape 2
30 Elbow escape from bottom of across-side position
31 Defense against the front bear hug
32 Defense against a standing rear choke
33 Defense against the bear hug (over the arms)
34 Attack from the guard position,'kimra'
35 Headlock escape 3
36 Headlock escape 4
37 Defense against the rear hook
38 Te guillotine choke
39 Defending the guillotine choke
40 Defense against the shoulder grab
41 Another defense to te shoulder grab
42 Defense against the throat grab
43 Side kick
44 Defending the guillotine choke
45 Elbow strikes
46 The rear naked choke, 'Mata leao'
47 defense against double-lapel grab
48 The triangle choke
49 The elbow escape drill
50 The elbow escape from the mountd positoin
51 Arm bar from the guard position
52 Underarm collar choke
53 Sliding collar choke (strangle)
54 The tansition form te mounted position to the rear-mounted position
55 Double leg takedown, 'Baiana'
E. Purple belt
56 Moving from across-side positoin into the mounted position-the hip-switching method
57 The handstand sweep
58 The achilles' ankle lock
59 Moving from across-side to the mounted position-the knee-drive method
60 Defense against hand on chest
61 How to stand up properly in a street fight
62 Defense against the standing rear choke
63 Defense against the front-thrusting kick
64 Shoulder lock using the legs, 'omoplata'
65 The arm-inside sweep
66 The arm-inside arm bar
67 The 'kimura' lock
68 Strangle from across-side
69 Defending the arm-inside guillotine chole
70 The knee-on-stomach position
71 Defense against the knee-on-stomach position
73 Transition form the trangle choke into the arm bar
74 Finger lock
75 Stacking the guard position into an ankle lock
76 Defense against a rear two-handed grab
77 Knee-bar attack from inside the guard positon
78 The sweep from the seated open ('butterfly') guard
79 The overhead sweep
80 Leg-binding sweep
81 Front lapel stranglehold
82 Arm bar from across-side position
E. Brown belt
83 Escape from the common standing headlock
84 Escape from the standing headlock
85 Escape from being pushed up against a wall
86 Moving from the north-south position to your opponent's back
87 North-south position into toehold
88 Ankle lock attack from the open guard
89 Knee bar from across-side position
90 Kimono neck crank submission from across-side position
91 A stranglehold from the knee-on-stomach position
92 Pressing arm lock form across-side
93 Turning shoulder lock from across-side position
94 Getting to your opponent's back from the guard position
95 Foot lock counter to the rear-mounted position
96 Helicopter arm bar
97 The sickle sweep
98 The hook sweep
99 Passing the half guard
F. Black belt
100 The trangle choke applied from underneath the north-south position
101 Escape from the north-south position
102 The kick-over sweep
103 Spider guard sweep
104 Passing the half guard into the mounted position
105 The front shoulder choke from the guard position
106 Transition from the mounted position to the side-mounted stranglehold
107 Defense against a one-handed choke against a wall
108 Breaking out of a headlock and going into an arm bar
109 The star sweep
110 The knee bar from the closed guard position
Afterword