DVD Review: Fitness is Function
“This workout DVD incorporates both kettlebell and bodyweight exercises to help you enhance your conditioning levels, improve your mobility and agility, and get you sweating.”
Fitness is Function: 4 Week Kettlebell Workout Plan is a 2 DVD set from My Mad Methods. In this set Mark de Grasse takes you thru 18 workouts intended to done over a 4 week period. While I’ve owned kettlebells for quite a while, I’ll admit I rarely use them. In my case I’ve used them for swings and that’s about it. Up until a few weeks ago I couldn’t even do a clean without banging the crap out of my wrists. So when I saw “Perfect for Novice Kettelbell Users” I decided to give it a shot. The DVD set was delivered promptly to my home and the following day I decided to take it for a spin.
Flowchart/Mindmap: How To Defeat Bigger, Stronger Opponents by Emily Kwok
Emily Kwok’s How to Defeat Bigger, Stronger Opponents was the first DVD series to focus specifically on what it takes for smaller jiu-jiteiros to not only survive but also to defeat opponents that are physically stronger and bigger than they are. For more on Mrs. Kwok I’d encourage you to check out her school’s website. Briefly, she is Canada’s first female BJJ black belt, a world champion (Mundials 2007), and has competed successfully at the highest levels (2nd place at American Nationals, and 3rd place at the Pan Ams). The mindmaps/flowcharts are meant to be used as a study reference and in conjunction with the DVDs, as well as personal instruction. The full set includes five DVDs but the maps are going to specific to DVD 2: Compensating for Strength, and DVD 3: Top Five Moves.
Review and Mindmap: Modern Jiu Jitsu - Closed Guard
In the words of the man himself, “Modern Jiu Jitsu, as my DVD illustrates, isn’t new jiu jitsu just a better way to do the things we have always been doing. We aren’t reinventing the wheel, we are using better application of technique to make the wheel better.” Caio Terra
Caio Terra’s Modern Jiu Jitsu series was released earlier this year to almost universal praise, also here. The set contains 4 discs and covers: closed guard, mount, turtle, back control, butterfly guard, standing passes, takedowns, side control, north-south and half-guard. The full set comes in at just over 5 hours and there are iTunes apps for the Closed Guard, Mount, Turtle and Back. Apps covering the other positions are in production with a release date sometime before Christmas of this year.