A Roadmap for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Book Review

Are you a newbie to the martial arts that's considering taking up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? If so, you likely have a lot of basic questions about the art. Or perhaps you've studied the stand up arts for some time and now want to get into grappling. If you fall into either of these categories and want to know about the big picture of the art that the Gracie's built before going full steam ahead, then A Roadmap for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by Stephan Kesting may be for you.

The goal of Kesting's roadmap is not to teach techniques. Rather, it's to give would be practitioners a sense of what Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is. You see, most practitioners walk into their first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class knowing very little. Sure, they may have seen a few submissions while watching UFC bouts, but the setups, primary positions, transitions, and what they should even be attempting to learn is usually a mystery. That's where A Roadmap for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu comes in. In his book, Kesting discusses each of the six primary positions in BJJ, why it's so complex, offensive and defensive submissions, the philosophical dilemmas you might deal with regarding what kind of BJJ player you'll become (how you'll deal with the top position, for example), rules, strategies, transitions, and much more. He uses pictures, when appropriate, to make it all come alive.

Beyond the book, Kesting will also send a ton of free articles and lessons to those that choose to get the book, all of which are also free. Included along the way will be a ton of links that point in every conceivable direction one might need to go with the art.

First, the book, articles, and lessons can be accessed for free, the best price in the world. Beyond that, Kesting really breaks things down for would be practitioners so that they'll understand what they're hoping to do before they get to class. In that sense, readers will be able to avoid the majority of the pitfalls that many run into due to prior knowledge. Kesting- who has written for About Martial Arts before- does a good job detailing what he's saying with pictures and text. Not to mention, that the emailed lessons/articles are often written in a catchy manner.

If you're considering taking up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for the first time or are in the beginning stages of training, Kesting's A Roadmap for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a great resource. It's also one that won't break the bank. With that, if you don't mind regular and rather interesting emails on BJJ and the like, there's really no good reason not to check it out.