[Humungus]

I have been able to get my hands on a good number of video tutorials related to fighting and MMA, so I decided to write a comprehensive review of them.

Some of the videos cover just one aspect of mma, such as muay thai or jiu jitsu, while some cover all aspects and are directed at MMA. I have left out pretty much all of the Gi Bjj videos, as there are a lot of them and they are less relevant to MMA than the No-gi ones. There is some good stuff in them too though, so watch some of them if you get the chance.


I will give a brief synopsis of each video series, and rate each video in terms of its range (how much material it covers), depth (how detailed the coverage is), Production value (video quality, set quality, etc), Instruction value ( instructor's articulation, coherence, etc) an overall rating, and Relevance (How much of it is valid in MMA) Keep in mind that a low rating in some of these categories is not necessarily bad. (a C in range just means that not that many techniques are covered, for example, not that they are of low quality or taught poorly.And something that teaches just grappling or just striking is going to get a lower range rating than a video that teaches both).

You will notice that all of the videos I cover get relatively high ratings, and this is because I didn't bother to do reviews of the ones that would get C's and D's in all categories **cough** Matt Furey **cough**.
This is also not ALL the great videos out there either. If there are some that you feel are really great that people need to know about, let me know where to get them and I will do a review of them too.

Enjoy.








Tony Cecchine - Catch Wrestling

Segments: Ground domination I & II, Arm manipulations I & II, Neck manipulations I & II, Leg manipulations I, II, & III, and Hooking Combinations)
Total time: 7.5 hours

Although I have never heard of Tony Cecchine, I was impressed with the videos. Not only does he cover a vast amount of material (see 7 hour run time), but he breaks down the moves very well. He doesn't just tell you what to do, he tells you HOW to do it. Some tutorials lack this crucial detail. The little details make this great. As an insctructor, Cecchine is articulate and good at explaining. Production quality is standard, nothing crazy. Has an early 90's feel to it.

There are a lot of the regular moves, with great tweaks, and some will be new to people who study exclusively BJJ. Not that great as a first video series if you know nothing about grappling.

Range: A
Depth: A+
Production Value: B-
Instructor Value: A
Overall: A
Relevance: 90%


Stephen Kesting - Grappling Drills

Segments: Hip movement, bridging and sprawling, guard, submissions, other drills.
Total time: 1.25 hours, over 80 individual drills


I really liked this video series for one main reason: For those who actually want to try to learn grappling from videos, it can be frustrating to learn moves but not be able to practice them. This series actually gives you specific things you can go do right away, to build the skills, muscles, and reflexes to use them in grappling. Some need a partner to do, but most can be done by yourself. I reccommend this to anyone who has a desire to actually train and try to learn off videos, either by yourself or with others who are also beginners. Also great just to use in between grappling if you do have a gym you go to. The 'trigger pulling' drills are my favorites, and are great for building instinctive reflexes in grappling situations. Many drills can also be used as warm ups or chained for a full workout.

The drills are explained very well, and Kesting is great. Video quality is above average , and a neat feature is a watermark number in the corner of the screen that lets you identify which drill you are on; useful for scanning for a particular drill. Saves lots of time.

This is not a series to get if you just want to learn new moves. This series expects at least entry level knowledge of basic subs, positions, and terminology.

Range: C
Depth: B
Production Value: A+
Instructor Value: A
Overall: B+
Relevance: 100%



Saulo Ribeiro - Freestyle Revolution (No-gi Series)

Segments: Takedowns, Closed guard, Half guard, Passing, Submissions, Escapes
Total time: 5.85 hours

What I liked about this series is that it focuses on the position aspect of BJJ, which some instructionals miss because they just throw a bunch of submissions at you. Saulo is good at explaining the mechanics of the leverage and movement, and you get a good feel for what you need to do. You will see a lot of useful passes, transitions, escapes, etc. Since this aspect of grappling is even more important than submissions, I would recommend this series before many other sub-oriented instructionals. His English is not perfect, but I never had any real problem understanding what he was trying to say. It's really the only thing keeping it from an A in that category

Video quality is great, and also includes the number in the corner of the screen, as mentioned in the Kesting video.

Range: B
Depth: A+
Production Value: A+
Instructor value: B+
Overall: A
Relevance: 95%


Randy Couture - Learn to Fight and Win

Segments: Clinch fighting, Clinch takedowns, closing the distance, Takedowns for grappling, Ground fighting
Total time: 3 hours

This video series covers some striking and subs, but sticks mostly to the Greco that is Randy's bread and butter. There are few, if any, other series that deal with greco for MMA though, so it is a great addition to the collection.
This is one of the few series that teaches for MMA, and not just for the specific style ( bjj, judo boxing, whatever)
Randy does a great job of explaining each move in depth, telling you what you need to do and why you need to do it. He is one of the best when it comes to being an articulate comprehensive teacher.

Production value is pretty good. Watch for Nate Quarry as Randy's assistant.

Range: C
Depth: A+
Production Value: A
Instructor Value: A+
Overall: A
Relevance: 100%




Rob Kaman - Muay Thai

Segments: Bag training, Clinching and knee techniques, Blocks and counters, Leg kicks and takeovers,
Total time: 5.7 hours

While this is not oriented toward muay thai in mma, it is still good for a base in Muay Thai. There are very few mma-striking tutorials out there compared to grappling.
This video series is nice and long for a striking series, and covers a great deal of muay thai techniques, but the verbal instruction is sometimes a little sparse.
One thing I like is that sometimes after demonstrating a move, it will show a clip of that move being used in a live kick boxing match.
The video seems a little old, but isn't bad quality otherwise. The instruction is a narration, so I wish it was more detailed.

Range: B
Depth: B
Production Value: B
Instructor Value: C
Overall: B
Relevance: 70%



Mike Swain - Complete Judo

Segments: Grappling Techniques, Choking techniques, Leg throws and sacrifice techniques, Combinations and counters
Total time: 2.75 hours


This video series is designed for sport Judo, so you have to take that into account if you want to apply the techniques to MMA. But it is good because it shows a large array of Judo techniques.

The instruction could be more detailed, but the narrator is at least articulate and coherent.
Video quality is good and the series seems newer than many others.

Range: A
Depth: C+
Production Value: A+
Instructor value: B
Overall: B
Relevance: 50%

[Humungus]

Matt Thorton - Functional Jeet Kune Do Series II - The ground

Segments: The ground top game, Bottom position, The ground guard game, Advanced standup fighting, Intermediate clinch
Total Time: 9.35 hours

This is actually the second set of Matt Thorton videos, but I can't find the first series.

This is a great series and, goes through the whole gamut of grappling from weight placement to subs, and also includes some striking and clinch work. Exceptional coverage is evidenced by the total time of almost 10 hours!!. Thorton approaches the material from a very realistic standpoint, and doesn't exclude anything because of styles, like some JJ guys do. The instruction is great and explains very well what you need to do and how to do it. The instruction is simple and in depth.
My video file quality isn't the best so, it is hard to judge the true quality of the video, but it appears to be not an issue.
This is a great video for people who are like, "Ok, I know what a kimura is, but how do I really do these moves properly and make them work?" The minutia covered is great, and will help a lot.

Range: A+
Depth: A+
Production Value: B
Instructor Value: A
Overall: A
Relevance: 98%





Mark Kerr - Seek and Destroy

Segments: Fundamental takedown techniques, Intermediate takedown techniques, Advanced takedown techniques, Takedown defense
Total time: 2.6 hours

One look at Kerr and you can tell this video is from a few years ago, but I suppose that is a good thing. The series covers almost exclusively the takedown aspect of the MMA ground game, so it is limited. the upside is, it does so very well. Great for people who have no background in wrestling. Kerr explains really well the exact positioning, leverage and technique needed to execute unstoppable takedowns. Kerr is good as an instructor and puts emphasis on technique. If you are just rushing in to take people down, you should watch this video. The quality of my files aren't great, but there doesn't seem to be any problems with the original. It is simple but solid.

Range: C
Depth: A
Production Value: C
Instructor Value: A
Overall: A-
Relevance: 100%




Mark Hatmaker - Complete Grappler

Segments: 6 DVD's
Total Time: Over 10 hours


This is another catch-wrestling video series, and is equally as good as the Cecchine series. Hatmaker covers a dizzying array of material (10 HOUR RUN TIME!!), from rides and transitions to hooks and holds and sweeps. The amount of material here is actually a disadvantage to beginners, as it can be overwhelming. I have watched it once, but not really studied it do to the fact that I am not practiced enough in the fundamentals to worry about trying to know a myriad of these non-standard catch-wrestling techniques.
Hatmaker is good as an instructor, but he tends to talk quickly and use an excessive amount of catch wrestling nomenclature. That's really my only complaint. Otherwise he does instruct well. If you are just trying to learn stuff with your buddies I would save this series for later. As with the Cecchine series, you will find a lot of great stuff that you won't see in strictly BJJ instructionals. Great for rounding out your grappling. Video quality is great, no problems there. Seems newer than most.

Range: A+
Depth: B
Production value: A
Instructor Value: B
Overall: A
Relevance: 95%




Karo Parisyan - Judo for MMA

Segments: Osoto gari, Ouchi gari, Drop seoi nagi, Uchi mata, Kimura, Submissions
Total Time: 4 hours

Almost the opposite of the Hatmaker series, Karo's video is the most specific I have seen. 200 out of the 240 minutes, he covers only five techniques. Each of these 5 techniques gets roughly 40 minutes devoted to it. Excessive? Maybe. Awesome? Indeed. It is very informative, especially since Judo is never mentioned in MMA instructionals. And if you want somebody to teach you Judo for MMA, Karo's the guy. the depth of the instruction is unrivaled. He deals with every possible aspect of the move and gives a great sense of what you need to do. Video quality is above average, and also includes the number in the corner for quick referencing through the video.

Range: D
Depth: A++
Production Value: A
Instructor Value: A
Overall: A+
Relevance: 100%




Gracie Jiu Jitsu

Segments: Key to Gracie system, Basics 1-4, Intermediate 1-4, Advanced 1-3, Street self defense 1-4
Total time: 10.3 hours

Another series with a ten hour total time. Unlike Hatmaker who throws a ton of stuff at you, Rorion and Royce take up the time by explaining every move clearly and concisely, and repeating it several times. You can tell they are used to teaching 'newbs' and their experience shows and they make it all very easy to understand. The emphasis is on comprehension, and not necessarily extreme detail. They cover all the traditional BJJ from guard to armlocks and footlocks. If you are new to mma, or enjoy mma but don't have a real knowledge of the ground game and want to know the ins and outs (for training or just for understanding the sport) this is the series to get. If you have been watching mma for years, have rolled around before and know what most techniques are and how they are performed more or less, then you are unlikely to find anything new here.
Video quality is fine, but obviously the series is a few years old. The relevance is lower than expected because the purpose is really to teach BJJ and not mma, so there are some GI techniques, and part is oriented towards street self defense.
A very solid instructional.

Range: A+
Depth: B
Production value: B
Instructor Value: A
Overall: A
Relevance: 85%




Georges St. Pierre - 'Extreme Rush' Fighting

Segments: Volumes I & II
Total time: 1.5 Hours

This series is relatively short compared to many of the others, but covers some interesting things, especially in the striking dept, as well as a few normal subs. He goes over some things like spinning back-kick and back-fist, which are not covered in other mma videos. The production value is great, and appears much newer than most videos. The short run time prevents covering a lot of material or going very in depth, but the moves that are covered are covered decently well. The problem I have with this is that it si s few years ago, and GSP's English is still not great. You can understand him perfectly well, but his speech is choppy and he has trouble finding the right words sometimes. It is to the point of being distracting. Other than this he instructs pretty well, and gives a good idea of the mechanics of the techniques.
Watch for David "The Crow" as his partner.


Range: B-
Depth: B
Production value: A+
Instructor Value: B
Overall: B
Relevance: 100%




Bas Rutten Collection

Segments: Superior freefight techniques/extreme pancrase 1-11, Lethal street fighting, MMA workout
Total time: 9.8 hours (not counting workout routines)

His videos together cover the whole range of fighting. from striking to grappling, and even fitness and street fighting. Bas' coverage of striking for MMA is excellent, and it is hard to find instructionals of striking. He goes over combos and setups, and not just proper form.The instruction is top notch by Bas, and the depth and detail on each move is great. he deals with everything realistically and with no-frills. There is really only one thing that isn't perfect: The segments have unusually long intros. They are just clips of bas fighting and parts of the instructional set to music, but they are literally around 3-5 minutes long. Way too long. That really is the only thing I can find wrong with it though.
I'm sure many of you have seen clips from the Street fighting video. The candor with which he approaches doing things like pushing broken glasses in people's faces is awesome, and necessary for a true street fighting video.
I constantly expected his training partner to get wrecked. He is really rough.

The MMA workout routine is amazing. The 30 minute All-around workout should be experienced by everyone at least once in their lifetime.

If I had to be locked in a room for a year with only one video instructional, and then had to fight Fedor, this is the one I would take. I would probably last 8 seconds instead of 3.


Range: A+
Depth: A
Production Value: B+
Instructor Value: A+
Overall: A+
Relevance: 90%

[Humungus]

That's it for now. Let me know what you think.

[MikeFranccis]

Great post. But it should be a sticky in a different forum and people can add their reviews.

[Humungus]

Originally Posted by MikeFranccis

Great post. But it should be a sticky in a different forum and people can add their reviews.

True. Maybe a mod will take pity on us mortals and sticky it.

[Humungus]

bump bump bump

bump it up!

[Doski]

Thanks man... very nice, im thinking about getting the bas tape.

[Humungus]

Originally Posted by Doski

Thanks man... very nice, im thinking about getting the bas tape.

It's great. You won't be disappointed.

[stu3ufc]

I hope this gets sticky

[LordChaos]

Sticky this!

I own the Bas video, and it rocks