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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN num: 9780977731596
ISBN number: 0977731596
Label: Victory Belt Publishing
Manufacturer: Victory Belt Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 272
Printing Date: September 15, 2006
Publishing house: Victory Belt Publishing
Sale Popularity Level: 35130
Studio: Victory Belt Publishing
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Product Description:
In Mastering the Rubber Guard, Eddie Bravo, the only American to submit a member of the legendary Gracie family in jiu-jitsu competition, reveals the techniques and strategy of the Rubber Guard, a revolutionary system of grappling designed specifically for the street and mixed martial arts competition.
Through descriptive narrative and nearly a thousand colour photographs, Bravo teaches dozens of unique moves and submissions. Widely regarded as not only the most offensive, but also the most defensive, guard game in existence, the Rubber Guard will change the way you view and play jiu-jitsu.
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Rated by buyers 
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Eddie Bravo is one of the most outstanding and controversial figures in Jiu-Jitsu today, having received his Black Blet under the equally distinguished Jean-Jacques Machado. In addition, he holds the distinction of being the only American to submit a member of the legendary Gracie family in Jiu-Jitsu competition, a feat he accomplished against Royler Gracie at the 2003 Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling Championships.
Anyone who's trained Jiu-Jitsu knows that in the beginning, you spend a great deal of time on your back, and that it can be one of the most frustrating experiences in Martial Arts training. Exasperated White Belts find their Guards passed almost effortlessly, and end up floundering helplessly in Half-Guard or Side control, waiting for the inevitable submission. Even more advanced students often feel apprehension when fighting off their back, worried that a failed submission endeavor would cause them to lose position. Frustrated Jiu-Jitsu students of the world: Eddie Bravo has heard your cries, and written a book that will turn your Guard and Half-Guard into one of the most dangerous places your opponent could be!
Mastering the Rubber detail breaks down, in incredible detail, Eddie Bravo's entire bottom game and is a great tool for anyone interested in Jiu Jitsu.
Rated by buyers -
Eddie Bravo has spent years developing his Rubber-Guard system. He's even used it to beat Royler Gracie in competition. Now he presents the bulk of the system in one text. Good stuff.
I could have done without the intro. "Pot's great! It should be legalized! The Tobacco Mafia's holding down hemp!" Alright, Eddie. Whatever you say. He at least tried to relate this to BJJ by saying that smoking pot will give you a new way of seeing things. And taking 'roids will make you stronger and have a faster recovery time, but they're illegal too. It's actually somewhat convincing as a pro-pot argument, but completely out of place in a martial arts book, in my oppinion. Even his gi-versus-no-gi hypothetical question at the beggining of the book has the worst of racial steriotypes in it.
Anyway, once we get going, Eddie gives us some good stuff. He talks about the importance of flexibility, and provides the reader with some stretches. Next, it's on to the half-guard bottom game, a game that has sorely been ignored by too many people. Just working the various sweeps from this possition will improve your game. Next we get a butterfly guard game, always one of my favorites. This section's a bit bare, mostly covering sweeps and transitions to half- or rubber guard possitions. Then we finally hit the Rubber Guard itself, of which about 100 pages is devoted. We get control possitions (very important) and submissions. Good stuff. Following that is a short chapter on how to finish what Bravo calls the "Spider Web", which is a possition that sets you up for an armbar after one of his Rubber Guard sweeps. Mostly it's how to finish from here. Eddie finishes up with escapes into guard and half-guard possition from just about every possition you can think of. This is a valuable section, for nothing else than to get you from a defensive game to thinking offense again.
Now when it comes to Jiujitsu, Eddie shines. The Rubber Guard system is in my oppinion the best bottom game going, and we're seeing more and more of it in grappling and MMA competitions. Like almost all Victory Belt products, we're given clear colour photos, multiple camera angles, and color-coded sections. Bravo even includes a "rubber guard flow chart" at the beggining of the book. I found most of the instruction easy to understand and apply.
The down side? As I've said, the intro on pot was unnecessary. I also found some of Eddie's technique labels to be very obscure. Basically anytime he was allowed to talk about anything other than how to perform a technique, the book took a downturn. Also, while one of Bravo's big selling points is that the Rubber Guard is good for MMA, he doesn't actually do any MMA himself, which seems a bit funny. However, given its excellent format and highly-applicable techniques, I'm going to go ahead and give the book five stars.
Rated by buyers 
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Most people in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu know who Eddie Bravo is. There's a pretty obvious "love him or hate him" feel around. I'm happy to note, though that I'm one of the less boisterous people who fall into neither category. I just like anyone who can explain a concept to me so that I pick it up. And Eddie does that for me in this book.
A quick word, firstly, on Eddie's very first book - 'Jiu-Jitsu Unleashed'. I was going to give it a separate review until I received 'Mastering the Rubber Guard'. 'Jiu Jitsu Unleashed' was a reasonable book until the new one came along. 'Jiu Jitsu Unleashed' is a collection of techniques that Bravo uses in his game. It's got a good collection of anecdotes and shows Eddie's game and how it has come to be quite well. That said, the overlap with 'Mastering the Rubber Guard' is too much to warrant buying both - if you were wondering about that.
In fact, I felt quite disappointed in myself when 'Mastering' turned up. Why? Because I'd paid good money for 'Unleashed' just a couple of months before and this was so much better. Ultimately, though, I got a book that was twice as good, anyway. The exception is tht 'Unleashed' takes a bigger look at the Twister and Eddie's top game. Hold on, though. Victory Belt (the publishers) have 'Mastering the Twister' on the horizon.
Like 'Unleashed', 'Mastering' covers the main areas of Bravo's game. There are sections on the half guard and, obviously, the rubber guard. This time, however,we get sections on the butterfly guard, recovering the guard, Bravo's "Spider Web" control and a section on stretching.
Kudos to Bravo for realising not everyone has his flexibility and that they need to develop that attribute to make all the techniques work. Putting my S&C coach hat on (especially with my knees), I shake my head in disapproval of some of the stretches. Still, it's what Bravo does and they are all applicable to his game and the book. Just exercise some critical thinking. If you're in the group the stretches are likely to injure - don't do them.
I'm not going to get into details of the moves. What I am going to say is that they work for Bravo and his guys. They work for a lot of others, too. They might even work for you. The technique names have always been a bone of contention for some, too. Bravo is quick to explain that the names are devloped for coaching in competitions, so the opponent doesn't understand advice being given. I do the same thing with my guys to a large extent.
The book flows well, with a strategy for each position and a series of ideas to help achieve the techniques. For example, the "Whip Up" has been a bit of a boon for my half guard, depite it not being a technique, per se.
The book also contains a flow chart to help guide you through the Rubber Guard game. I've beeen flow charting for a couple of years now and can attest to the improvement and insights it gives you. Eddie gives you his own, personal flowchart.
I'm never going to use Eddie's whole game. I'm 6'7" and weigh the best part of 300 inflexible pounds. I bought the book to help my students and training partners. I've been pleasantly surprised to take some techniques and insights away, along with a better understanding of the 10th Planet system.
Insofar as production, it's good. It's colourful with good quality stock. Photographs are clear and plentiful. Since I'm a bit anal, I picked up some spelling and grammar errors and I hope they'll be picked up with better editing in future Victory Belt productions. But, ultimately, it's content I care about and this book has plenty of it.
Victory Belt's 'Mastering the Rubber Guard' Page
After giving this review to a couple of friends to look over for me, one pointed out the obvious philosophical differences between Eddie and myself and expressed surprise I'd give such a flattering review. Especially due to the drug references.
Let me say this..... Some of the language in the anecdotes is foreign to me and I find some analogies a little trite. I have never taken any illicit drug, including marijuana and am strictly anti-drug.
If you can't put these things behind you and they stand in the way of you buying the book, then too bad. You'll miss out on some quality instruction.
Rated by buyers -
This book is a must for any Jiu Jitsu practioner wanting to take his or her ground game to the subsequent level.
Rated by buyers -
This is the best martial arts book I have ever read. Very entertaining and informative. Descriptions, and transitions are thoroughly and thoughtfully laid out with great pictures of the positions. The quality of this book, the shear volume of valuable information, make this edition an absolute steal at the price offered here.
Bravo attributes pot smoking with much of his sucess at BJJ. I am not convinced, but Kudos to this gappling Genius in any case. If you have any fragile sensibilities then you might be offended by his introduction. If you can look past this then you will love what this information can do to your grappling game.
If you always find yourself getting demolished on your back, or you just can't seem to maintain a solid guard system whilst defending, then you definitely need this book. It is a problem solving manual, that presents many clear and succint tools that work a HIGH PERCENTAGE of the time. I think this point is critical when learning any system, that is, you want the technique to be effective most of the time with most opponents.
Bravo starts off teaching you his half guard defense game, which when you apply his methods, becomes an extremely offensive approach for sweeping, submitting, and transitioning to other positions.
He also covers his butterfly guard, pyramid guard (which I have never seen anywhere else), and also half guard dog fight positions (very wrestling orientated).
Later he walks you through his Rubber Guard game which is just amazing. I have tried his lock down methods and they really work. However it will still take me time and practice to get the techniques really tight and to improve my flexibility. I would say the Rubber Guard techniques may be a bit beyond some peoples anatomy at very first (i.e. flexibility plays a big part here). However Bravo does outline some very good stretches to slowly develop this flexibility over time.
I think Bravo's methods are cutting edge and possibly revolutionary. If you do not take the time to learn this stuff now, then you will surely find yourself on the receiving end of it at some stage in the near future. I say get in there now before everyone else, and make it an integral part of your grappling game.
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