Tournament of Pros DVD Review
Here is a review I did for my website at www.bjjreviews.net
Tournament of Pros is a 2 DVD set produced by GrappleTV. The first disc covers the tournament itself, put on by Randy Bloom and Daniel Darrow. The second disc is a bonus disc of Randy Bloom's 2004 Surf Camp.
First I will cover the tournament disc. You will get to watch 15 matches with a total run time of 2 hours and 53 minutes. The production of the DVD is one of the best I've seen so far. The picture quality, audio, and numerous camera angles didn't miss anything. The competitors in the tournament are Rani Yara, Dale Frank, Steve Magdaleno, Robert Braslin, Takumi Nakayama, Adrian Nasal, Dylan Spicer, Brent Stuchlik, Greg McIntyre, Jared Rollins, James Wilks, Givanaldo Santana, Asa Fuller, and Nate Diaz. The super fights were between Rani Yara and Gilbert Melendez in the first match and Jeff Glover vs. Naoya Uematso in the second match.
Now for the matches, I won't tell you how they end, but you will see 5 wins by submission and 10 by points. Personally I like to see a match won by submission, but don't let the high number of point wins fool you. During those matches you will get too see a great display of jiu jitsu and grappling. A couple of competitors that stood out for me were Givanaldo Santana and Rani Yara. During Santana's first match, I really enjoyed watching him showcase his jiu jitsu. I had to go back and watch the match a few times, because I was taking notes on the way he was transition from position to position. It seemed like he did have a game plan because the pattern I noticed that he was following was going from the top half guard, pass it, end up in side mount, transition to reverse scarf hold, and attempt to take the mount. Granted it took a few attempts to take the mount, due to his opponent's countering, but he got it. Another competitor was Rani Yara. He was fun to watch as well. Rani was cool, calm, and collective during all of his matches. Again I had to watch his matches over a few times, just too see what he was doing. He would flow from position to position, which seemed to me, was effortless. Rani, not only competed in the tournament, but he also competed in a super fight at the end as well. These are just two fine examples of what you can find on this disc.
In between the matches you will find commentary by some of the competitors, such as Givanaldo Santana, Rani Yara, Steve Magdaleno, and Jeff Glover. Steve's especially were pretty comical and had a warning for all you old guys that used to toss him around when he first started his training. You better watch out for Steve, he is looking for revenge!
Now for the bonus disc of the set. Randy Bloom's 2004 Surf Camp. I was luckily enough to attend this event at Randy's school and it was by far the best seminar I have attended. We got to learn from Rodrigo Medeiros, Rey Diogo, Joe Moreira, Randy Bloom, and Ricardo Texeira during this all day event.
The disc stars out with Carlson Gracie black belt, Rey Diogo teaching some ways to pass the butterfly guard and ways to pass the guard with both underhooks in. Rey then goes into countering your opponents pass with both underhooks. He shows a nice way to sweep your opponent allowing you to establish the full mount for the finish. Finally, Rey finishes up with a way to choke your opponent with their gi skirt.
Next up is Rodrigo Medeiros, another Carlson Gracie black belt, who teaches how to attack your opponent with a nice omo plata series. He shows how to set up, transition to other submissions, and how to sweep during your omo plata attacks. I've always had trouble attacking with the omo plata, but Rodrigo really cleared up a lot of details during this session for me. After the omo plata, he begins to teach various ways to sweep your opponent when they stand in your guard using De La Riva guard type attacks.
Ricardo "Hellraiser" Texeira is next in line. His session is all no-gi and teaches with a series of techniques with a competition mind set. He starts most of his teaching by passing the guard a certain way and establishing the side mount. Once in the side mount he shows various ways to attack your opponent with arm locks, kimura, foot locks, and heel hooks. One move that really stuck with me was a simple way to achieve the kimura from the scarf hold position. I've caught a few unsuspecting opponents by using this move. You basically control the arm closest too you, push off your feet, and slide over your opponent on your back while applying the kimura. It is a sneaky, but effective move. Ricardo also shows some techniques when you have the open guard position as well.
After Ricardo, Joe Moreira starts his session. Joe shows a way to transition from one side of your opponent to the other by going around. He shows you how to go from side mount, scarf hold, north/south, reverse scarf hold, and back to the side mount. Once he has this established, he shows so many ways to attack your opponent from just about all of these positions. I remember sitting there and watching Joe and going into a "Mind Melt" mode due to the amount he was teaching us. He kept showing attack after attack with so many details. I'm just glad I got a copy of the event, otherwise I would never been able to remember all of what was shown.
Finally, the last instructor on the DVD is Randy Bloom. Randy starts out by teaching a series of attacks when your opponent is in your guard with under and over hooks. He shows you how to apply an arm lock, omo plata, and a choke depending on how your opponent positions himself. Another move that really stuck with me during from his session is a very simple counter when your opponent has both under hooks and begins to smash you while attempting to pass your guard. You basically fish your arms under your opponents arms and grab onto your opponents back, then you position your legs a certain way which will put a great amount of pressure preventing the pass and most likely even getting a tap in the process.
I just want to say that GrappleTV has put out another great product. They continue to set the bar when it comes to DVD production. The DVD set retails for under $25 and for the amount that you get, you really can't go wrong. I would highly recommend this set to anyone!
