Gracie Barra has updated their Fundamentals Curriculum to the new version 2.0. This 16 week program was designed by GB black belts, Ricardo Almeida and Marcio Feitosa. The lessons are broken down into 16 weeks of training that is repeated through out the year. The techniques are a combination of self defense, sport jiu-jitsu and MMA. This program is intended to provide a solid foundation for the beginner as he moves towards obtaining his blue belt.
In this series of articles we’ll be breaking down the full curriculum of Gracie Barra Fundamentals 2.0. The content is available from iTunes and on-demand for all mobile devices, tablets and PCs. The Fundamentals set consists of 4 apps, each covering 4 weeks of their fundamentals curriculum for a total of 16 weeks of lessons. The apps range in price from $9.99 to $14.99 and are available from iTunes. If you’re using the on-demand feature the instruction is broken down by week and is available for $2.99 each with unlimited viewing for the year. Each article will cover 2 weeks of the curriculum. The mindmap is available to download as a PDF just below the tags section of the post.
Production Quality:
The production quality of GB Fundamentals 2.0 is on par with Caio Terra excellent Modern Jiu Jitsu set which is also produced by Mobile Black Belt LLC. The instruction is produced in a professional studio that eliminates all visual distractions and naturally draws your attention to Marcio and his partner. The video is clearly shot in HD (which is absolutely gorgeous on Apple’s Retina displays). The video effectively zooms, pans, rotates, and uses slow motion to demonstrate intricacies of techniques. The use external microphones provide a level of realism not apparent in other jiu-jitsu instructionals. You hear everything from the friction of the two gis rubbing against one another to the tap at the successful completion of a technique.
Content:
In the initial week of instruction Marcio demonstrates 7 different techniques: two self-defense, 2 sweeps, how to pull guard and 2 submissions from guard. The 2nd week of instruction has 2 more self-defense techniques, 2 ways to open the guard and 2 passes from the opened guard. The techniques build very well off of one another and it is apparent that Ricardo and Marcio put a lot of thought into the sequence of instruction.
Wrap Up
GB Fundamentals 2.0 is an excellent instructional for someone starting out in BJJ. The first app in the series covers weeks 1 thru 4 of GB curriculum is just under an hour long and costs $14.99 for the app or $2.99 per week of the curriculum on-demand for a year of viewing. The production value is second to none and is representative of the new standard in quality that Caio Terra’s Modern Jiu Jitsu DVDs introduced us to last year.
If you’re a white belt looking for a clearly defined curriculum to help you learn the techniques necessary to continue your growth in BJJ then this is a great place to start. For students of Gracie Barra these apps represent a syllabus and video text book of what you need to learn and understand from their Fundamentals program.
