SERRA BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU BASICS REVIEW - My thoughts and comments are found below the DVD descriptions. Hope someone finds this useful.
Paid $99 US for 4 DVDs – 45-50 Minutes Each
Volume I – Guard
Armlock 1 & 2
Triangle Choke 1 & 2
Omoplata
Kimura
Sweep 1, 2 & 3
Guillotine
Armlock Sweep
Passing Guard 1, 2, 3 & 4
Defending the Stack
Volume II- Side Control
Side Control Intro (Postitioning)
Mounting 1, 2 & 3
Setup for Kimura
Kimura
Armlock
Neck Crank
Taking the Back
Escapes from SC
Takedown
Destroying the Base
Volume III – Mount
Maintain the Mount
Armlock 1 & 2
Americana
RNC
Gift Wrap
Shoulderlock w/ transition to Armlock
Escaping the mount
Bridge and Roll
Trap and Roll
Elbow Escape 1, 2 & 3
Volume IV – Back Mount
Taking the Back 1, 2 & 3
Armlock
Triangle 1 & 2
Belly Up Escape
Belly Down Escape
Don’t Lock your Legs
Escape from Turtle
Duck Under
My Thoughts and Comments
First off, my reason for reviewing this product is that when I was looking around on the net and Sherdog forums for a description of these DVDs, there was none to be found. The Serra website although nicely laid out, lacks ANY real description at all, so I took the plunge and decided to buy them and review them myself.
I purchased these DVDs with a lack of any real submission game, and since they are marketed as BASICS, I thought I might find them more useful than a more advanced set. For reference, I was debating the Mario Sperry DVD set and this one. Anyone with the Sperry set, please feel free to comment.
The DVDs took approximately 10 days to arrive from Serra Jitsu. I sent them 3 different emails regarding shiiping details / time and comments. None were replied to. Good Job Serra Jitsu….
Anyways, they arrived finally, and I popped them straight in the DVD player to check them out. Most of the instruction is done by Matt Serra, and a very small part of it, for some reason, is done by Nicky Serra. Each move is explained in GREAT detail, gone over at least 3 times in a “broken-down” pattern, then shown once at full speed, then once slow motion. Very nice.
All work begins from the ground. For those beginners with no take down game this might be an issue, but as my own background is in Judo and Greco-Roman, this was fine.
In terms of the Technique shown , I can’t comment on whether or not it is appropriate “BASIC” technique as I have no background in BJJ. If any BJJ practitioners out there would like to take a look at the contents and give their thoughts, I encourage them to do so. I can say that as a beginner I didn’t feel overwhelmed by any of it, nor did I have trouble learning it. Applying it practically might be a different story though
The production quality is what I would rate as Good. There are two camera angles. The main angle (80% of the DVD’s) is well lit, and looks crystal clear, with good sound. The number 2 angle (used for showing transitions and bottom work) is less than good. The lighting is darker, and they seems to be using a camera mounted Mic, as the sound gets kind a sort of “talking in a garbage can” quality to it. Strangely enough Matt Serra’s infamous “Brooklyn” accent is virtually non-existent in this video. Maybe it gets thicker when he’s all fired up to fight
- At $99 this collection is pretty much in line with all the other stuff available out there (Sperry, Rutten etc. etc.)
- My VOLUME II – SIDE MOUNT disc has a pretty significant problem straight from Serra Jitsu. There is a weird mark or blemish underneath the clear part of the DVD that makes the Side Control Setup part of the disc skip forever. I’d normally send it back, but it’s just that one little bit, and since Serra Jitsu had such a hard time sending back any of my emails, I’m not going to be bothered dealing with them for an exchange. I’ll just suck it up!
In conclusion, I’m satisified with this DVD set. For a beginner I feel like I got my $99 worth. Quality could have been better, as well as support from Serra Jitsu, but the content was good, as well as the amount of it. .
Support - 4/10 I feel like I had to give them 4, just for getting the thing to me…
Production Quality - 7/10 If both camera angles were good this would have been an 8
Content - 9/10 Lots of in depth explanation and logical progression of moves. It’s good.
Price – 8/10 Same as the other DVD sets out there, but it gets an 8 for being one of the few “Basics” sets available.
Overall this DVD set gets a 7/10 or Good rating from me.
Feel free to shoot me any Q’s
