DVD Review - Beyond Technique (Nic Gregoriades & Kit Dale)

Short Review: In a praiseworthy attempt to try something different, Dale and Gregoriades have set out to produce an instructional DVD based purely on concepts. They are both articulate teachers and adept in front of a camera. Their choice of examples to illustrate the concepts are also sensible and the editing is skilfully done. Most of the concepts are also solid, like the importance of post, posture and leverage for sweeps.

However, while I respect and support innovation, I remain unconvinced that pure concepts is an effective way to teach BJJ (I should note, each concept on this DVD does have two brief examples). To make an analogy, it feels like trying to learn a language by throwing away your vocabulary books in favour of some pointers on grammar. Having said that, perhaps I just don't have enough words in my personal BJJ dictionary to appreciate those overlying connections. Available here for either $49.99 for a digital download or $59.99 for the DVD.

Long Review: Since I first met him at the Roger Gracie Academy back in 2006, Nic Gregoriades has successfully built a brand identity. Through a combination of podcasts, videos and savvy social media engagement, along with extensive seminar tours, Gregoriades is now a relatively well-known figure in the small BJJ community. In the last year, he has leveraged that growing profile to launch instructional products, beginning with The Black Belt Blueprint, a book I reviewed a few months ago.

Kit Dale has also transformed himself into a brand through clever use of social media, but in a markedly different approach to Gregoriades. Whereas the South African black belt is known for his philosophical and even 'spiritual' angle, Dale has been making a name for himself as a comedian (in the limited sense of the BJJ world, at least). Together with his brother, Dale has unleashed a steady stream of videos from his base in Australia, well-received by his target audience. BJJ comedy is a small field at present and most of Dale's competition isn't to my taste, such as Rhasaan Orange's 'take the mick out of Brazilians' schtick. Admittedly I have followed very little of the videos that make up this nascent BJJ humour scene and none at all of Kit Dale's, until I came to write this review.

Like Orange's material, Dale's comedy stylings aren't to my personal taste either, but they've proved to be a big hit with plenty of others. Due to his adept understanding of the online world (I can think of only one mis-step, when he threw his support behind the TLI-tainted spammy marketing of David Avellan), Dale has considerably enhanced his name, meaning that like Gregoriades, his visibility does not depend on his competition success. To be fair to both of them, especially Dale, their competition success is not negligible, but it would not be enough to make their name. The same is true of several other major BJJ instructional producers, perhaps most notably Roy Dean.

Dale has made regular statements (like this) criticising the orthodox method of teaching and learning in jiu jitsu. Essentially, Dale has led a 'no drilling' campaign. At face value, I and many others would view 'no drilling' in particular as a deeply flawed methodology. However, from what I've read (and this may be a misinterpretation on my part), it isn't really 'no drilling'. More accurately it appears to be 'no dead drilling', a far more sensible position. This is an idea Matt Thornton from Straight Blast Gym popularised under the name 'aliveness' well over a decade ago. I've been a fan of the SBG methodology for a long time and more recently, it has guided my approach to teaching since my first class as an instructor in 2011.

Either way, that 'no drilling' marketing has fed into a new DVD collaboration between Dale and Gregoriades, dovetailing with Gregoriades' efforts to teach concepts. Hence the title of this new release, Beyond Technique. As with The Black Belt Blueprint, that's a laudable idea, but difficult to put into practice. I'm not convinced it is possible to teach purely through concepts with any kind of efficacy: concepts are valuable and were put to good use in Demian Maia's popular set, but that was still a 'traditional' instructional with a catalogue of techniques. Ryan Hall is another example of someone that uses a lot of theory, but not pure theory. Adam Adshead's old DVD is perhaps the closest to Beyond Technique, though again that was still more a collection of techniques, if heavy on the conceptual side.

Beyond Technique seeks to prove the pure conceptual model can work. The idea of an overarching concept that can unlock a large set of techniques is appealing. Like the old saying goes, it's much better to teach someone how to fish than to simply give them a fish. If an instructional can provide the student with broadly applicable concepts that apply to many situations, compared to techniques that might only apply to a handful of scenarios at best, that's clearly valuable. Can it be done, and if so, have Dale and Gregoriades cracked it?

'Teach them to fish' is echoed by the exhortation in the introduction by Gregoriades and Dale, who state, "Your job is to look at our examples and then find examples of your own." Gregoriades then claims that this DVD will 'turbo charge' your jiu jitsu, thanks to that focus on concepts. They are presented as a short-cut to instant improvement: that's a tried-and-tested way of marketing your product to students hungry to progress in anything that takes time and considerable effort to master.

The instruction begins with transitional pressure (two minutes), essentially describing the importance of maintaining pressure as you switch between positions. It immediately highlights a problem I've observed with just about every BJJ DVD I've ever watched: 'talking heads'. In other words, an instructor sits on the floor and lectures to the camera (in this section, that explanation takes up roughly half of the two minutes total of instruction). I can understand why talking heads get used so often, as it's a natural way to teach, but I have always felt it is a waste of the visual medium. The same is true of documentaries on TV, where the camera has an irritating habit of following the presenter around as opposed to focusing on the subject matter. If I have sat down to learn about Artemisia Gentileschi, then I want to see her paintings, not Andrew Graham-Dixon's flowing locks.

Rather than staring at somebody's head, it would be far more useful to have that Gregoriades lecture in voiceover, while some relevant footage plays underneath it. To be fair, this isn't just an issue with Beyond Technique, it happens on virtually every instructional DVD I've watched (e.g., I made a similar criticism of Purple Belt Requirements five years ago). However, it is perhaps more obvious on Beyond Technique, because the conceptual approach leads to a lot more sitting and explaining, compared to a typical BJJ DVD. Gregoriades' teaching style also lends itself to extended soliloquies. After that lecture, the teaching progresses into a couple of examples, showing how the concept can be applied.

Next up is the Fisherman, switching from Gregoriades to Dale: this alternation continues for the rest of the DVD (I should note that for review, I was sent a download link to a video, but the commercial version is additionally sold as a DVD). Dale spends about a minute describing the ideal way to reel your arms back in when your posture has been broken. Gregoriades returns with the Quadrant (longer this time, at around four minutes), a new name for the old concept of the four chair legs. I've most often seen this with the upa/trap and roll, where the students are told they need to control two of the chair legs (i.e., an arm and a leg on the same side), as that makes it very easy to knock the chair over.

Gregoriades expands that idea to multiple positions. He talks about each leg of the table defending a quadrant, so when that table leg is missing, you can then sweep them into that quadrant. After a minute of explanation, Gregoriades illustrates his point with an x guard sweep, noting that when his opponent commits a hand, that opens up a route to sweep them. Similarly if they're in combat base, because they're sitting on a leg, you can push them in the direction of the foot they're sitting on. There's some more talking at the end, where Gregoriades tells you how he came up with the idea.

Dale then takes over with Post, Posture and Leverage (two minutes). Both he and his partner are wearing the same colour gi, making it a bit harder to distinguish limb from limb, but apart from that error, this concept is one of the highlights of the DVD. This follows on from the quadrant, using that concept to feed into sweeps. Like most of the best concepts, it's simple. Wherever you are, Dale argues that if you can get control of their ability to post and control their posture, adding in some leverage will result in a sweep (if you can only get two, that can still function if you have them especially secure). The standard example is from butterfly guard: it can also work when you're in a less advantageous position.

Dale uses his principle to sweep despite his opponent securing double underhooks. He takes away their post by grabbing a wrist, then he uses his legs to break their posture. Finally, the leverage comes from reaching under the leg with his arm and lifting. When it comes to 'broadly applicable' this is tough to beat, as you'll have a wealth of opportunities to practice in a typical sparring round. I can't say thinking 'post, posture, leverage' has notably upped my success rate with sweeps, but it has been a handy goal to keep in mind over the last month or so.

I was much less keen on Gregoriades' next concept, the Porcupine, but that's due to my own personal hang-ups rather than anything ineffective about the idea. In short, Gregoriades advises making yourself 'spiky', so that it becomes painful for your opponent to try and control you. It's a nastier extension of framing your arm into their neck under side control, where if they press forward, they drive your forearm into their own throat. On a production note, there is good use of the zoom here, highlighting important details.

You can create those 'porcupine spines' from various positions, like jamming your forearm into their neck when you're setting up butterfly guard. Even less pleasant, you can dig your elbow into their sternum as they try to apply scarf hold. It certainly works, but I don't want a game that relies in any significant way on pain. Of course, you could argue that the whole point of jiu jitsu is causing pain, in order to make them quit. I'd counter that there is a distinction between 'checkmating' somebody based on leverage and control rather than something like digging your chin into their eye socket (a la Mark Kerr back in the day), but I can see the argument.

Dale and Gregoriades introduce the next concept, nullifying the guard pull (a minute and a half). This is quite specific and like the previous technique, not especially connected to what has gone before. The organisation of Beyond Technique is somewhat scattershot, rather than the cohesive set of techniques you would find in something like Saulo's first set broken down by position, or the meticulously organised Ed Beneville books. On the other hand, it is more difficult to organise concepts than positions, especially if those concepts are broadly applicable and therefore don't fit comfortably into any one box.

Gregoriades then spends four minutes discussing the Corkscrew. Instead of pushing straight out with an arm, he likes to rotate, corkscrewing the arm. For example, corkscrewing when performing a stiff arm escape, or in the opposite direction, rotating your arm as you pull it in towards you. Dale's weight distribution (two minutes) is not on the topic of controlling them in mount or side control, like you might expect, but more about your balance when they have de la Riva. The central idea is adjusting your weight to make it harder for them to sweep you.

Next up is four minutes on another concept I find applicable to my own training (though I'd just refer to it as framing), collapsing and inserting structures. Gregoriades uses the example of shoving his elbows inside his knees, to stop people collapsing them together when in butterfly. The opposite applies too, such as when he is stiff with his arm, then suddenly collapses it in order to move around and pass. There's almost an element of aikido here, using your opponent's pressure against them .

Dale is generally better at coming up with memorable names, though they aren't as descriptive. His double-barrel shotgun (a bit under two minutes) relates to maintaining guard. If you imagine your legs are bullets, don't fire them both at once. If you shoot one bullet, make sure you have another in the chamber. That makes good sense for guard retention, as long as a beginner doesn't misinterpret it as only ever using one leg. A key principle for open guard, I would argue, is making sure you have all of your limbs engaged. You don't want to be in a situation where a foot that could be pushing into their hip, pulling behind their knee or pressing against a biceps is instead just lying on the floor.

The open and closed chain (three minutes) is illustrated by two submission defences. First, hiding your arm in the crook of your other elbow to scupper an armbar. Here the arm is the 'chain' you want to hide: if it is open (as in, not attached), then it's vulnerable. The second example is driving your foot to the floor if they are trying a lower body attack, 'closing' the chain. I'm not sure I fully understood what Gregoriades was trying to explain here, as it seemed to boil down to "hide your limb if they're attacking it." I'm sure that's an over-simplification on my part, but either way, the idea of not exposing your limbs to attack is eminently practical.

Slightly under two minutes follow on removing leverage, exemplified by jamming their hooks in butterfly with your arm. That forces their legs together and negates the sweep. Gregoriades then gets into a principle I recognised from the Dave Jacobs seminar, though Gregoriades has a different name for it, spinal torque (four minutes). This is comparable to what Jacobs calls the 'supine twist'. In short, get their head to face away from their hips, an awkward position that considerably reduces their mobility. The examples are clear and helpful, looking at spinal torque in side control and when passing the quarter guard.

I felt it was a bit of a stretch to call size specific strategy a concept, as to me that's in a different category altogether, tactics. Still, the advice is reasonable, Dale suggesting that against taller people, 'attaching guards' like sitting, de la Riva and x guard are going to be more effective that long range open guards. The reverse is true if you're taller, to make the most of your size advantage. Dale takes the example of passing, saying that a taller person might go for something like the bullfighter, whereas a shorter grappler is better suited to getting in close.

Gregoriades offers up border patrol as his next concept, spending three mnutes discussing how you can treat your torso as a border. To prevent your opponent securing control, block their entry through your borders. Should they manage to slip through, make sure you get something in the way, be that an elbow or a knee (he points back to the 'double barrel shotgun' idea here). If you're the one on top, then you're looking to get past those borders. It reminded me a little of John Palmer's 'control point framework', which I've frequently used since he explained it to me a couple of years ago.

Loading the spring (a bit over two minutes) felt very specific, but that's probably because I mainly associate that kind of tension manipulation with one technique, a bullfighter pass variation where you redirect their leg power out of the way at the moment they push back into you. Dale also takes the example of a scissor sweep as they try to pass your de la Riva, a guard I almost never use so it wasn't as immediately recognisable for me.

Although not ground-breaking, the Pendulum is a powerful concept that applies to lots of different techniques. Gregoriades takes the classic example of using a leg swing to sit-up from guard. He then shows how you can also use your head in a similar way, swinging it through when you're switching from a tripod sweep into a sickle sweep (he calls it the tomahawk) if they step back.

Dale spends a couple of minutes of takedown postures, where again, I'm not sure I understood it fully. The examples included "if they're upright, go for their legs", which again felt more like a tactic to me than a concept, but that's getting into semantics. Gregoriades then comes in with another basic but important concept, hip-centric movement (slightly over two minutes). You might think that would be all about moving your hips side to side in the guard and escapes, but he actually means thrusting them forwards when coming up after sweeps.

The last concept on the set is dubbed the Misdirection, related to grips. This is another old school tip you'll see in numerous other sports, combat sports in particular. If they're looking at your eyes, stare away from what you're actually going to grab/punch/kick. I learned something similar back when I did a stand-up style, in relation to faking them out when punching.

After watching the DVD, I would conclude that concepts are extremely useful, but only if you have the techniques to flesh out a workable frame of reference. Showing a couple of possibilities to illustrate a concept is helpful, but in my view it's not enough to drive the concept home, especially for beginners. I think that Beyond Technique points the way to what could be achieved with a conceptually-drive DVD, but it isn't quite there yet. In my opinion, a better use of concepts would be as a framing device, stringing together a series of techniques.

For example, Gregoriades could have a section on passing introduced with some of the concepts he puts forward here (e.g., removing leverage, transitional pressure, hip-centric movement). He could then progress to detail a series of passes, referring back to those concepts each time, with a summary at the end bringing it all together. There's an element of that in Beyond Technique, but each concept is covered too briefly to really delve into those examples. The somewhat haphazard organisation also takes away from building connections between the concepts, or at least that was my experience.

Now, I understand why this DVD is not laid out like that, as the express purpose is to move away from the orthodox style of teaching, where techniques are broken down step by step. I should also note that there are some techniques to give context, if only brief. Yet after watching the DVD, I'm still of the same opinion I discussed at the start: pure concept lacks a frame of reference. Without a solid and carefully detailed set of techniques to give the concepts substance, they float away.

Of course, I'm speaking as a purple belt and from the perspective of my particular learning style. Others may well disagree with me. Indeed, Matt Jardine has an article in an upcoming issue of Jiu Jitsu Style that talks about concept-led teaching and specifically name-checks Beyond Technique as an exemplar. Seymour also got a lot out of the DVD, so for a different (and brown belt level) opinion, take a look at his review here.

For an instructional that is less than an hour long, the asking price of $49.99 for a digital download (or $59.99 - around £38 - for the DVD) is in my opinion rather high. To draw a comparison, Roy Dean's Blue Belt Requirements is $44.95, which gets you two DVDs (eighty-eight and sixty-nine minutes respectively) crammed with technique. Then again, you could argue that concepts which apply to a broad set of moves are inherently more valuable than individual techniques. I'll be curious to see if I come back to this in future and realise it has grown in usefulness or not.

You can buy Beyond Technique from this squeeze page, which promises 'secrets', which will allegedly "make your jiu jitsu much better, much more quickly than anything else out there." Gregoriades used similar marketing for his last release and Dale has been getting into the '90s style too. I'm not a fan of that kind of marketing, but to each their own. Now, I am a fan of innovation and trying something different: I therefore applaud what Dale and Gregoriades are trying to do with their conceptual approach and I'll be looking with interest to see how they develop that product line further.

Book Review - The Black Belt Blueprint (Nicolas Gregoriades)

Short Review: Within the one hundred and seventy four pages of The Black Belt Blueprint, Nic Gregoriades has attempted to create a manual for jiu jitsu that touches on all aspects of the martial art. You will find not only techniques, but physical and even mental conditioning as well. There are sections on preparing for competition, attitude toward training and how to make the most of your time in Brazil. The technical sections are geared towards concepts rather than the typical step-by-step analysis in other books, though personally I would have preferred a greater level of detail on some of the explanations. Fans of what you might call the spiritual approach Gregoriades professes in his various media outlets will be pleased to see that is represented here too, with discussions of how meditation, visualisation and awareness could help your jiu jitsu. You can download it here.

Full Review: I first met Nic Gregoriades on my first day of jiu jitsu, back in 2006 when he was a brown belt. Since then I've had the pleasure of benefitting from his instruction twenty times over the last eight years, mainly when he was a regular teacher at the Roger Gracie Academy HQ in London. Gregoriades has also been running a well-written website for a number of years now, the Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood, along with various videos and podcast projects that have helped raise his profile since then.

For his first book, Gregoriades has gone the self-publishing route, presumably for more control over the end product. The days when most BJJ instructional books were published by Victory Belt seem to have passed, though DVD sets are still making an impact (such as the recent releases from Ryan Hall). Yet there are also a growing number of people self publishing in BJJ, such as Gregoriades, Christian Graugart and Mark Johnson. In a possibly related trend, a new independent publisher hit the scene recently, Artéchoke Media: I'll be mentioning them again later.

The BJJ instructional book market has arguably been overshadowed by Saulo Ribeiro's excellent Jiu Jitsu University, released six years ago. It would be difficult to equal that book in terms of straightforward technical explanation, though there are a few (such as Ed Beneville's series or Marcelo Garcia's Advanced BJJ Techniques). Gregoriades takes a different approach: he isn't looking to present a comprehensive technical overview of BJJ, like Saulo's book, or a close analysis of a more specific area, like Beneville.

Instead, Gregoriades attempts to follow in the footsteps of Marc Walder and especially John Danaher, whose Mastering Jujitsu sprang to mind as I was reading The Black Belt Blueprint. Like Danaher, Gregoriades begins with theory and concepts instead of techniques, but he goes even further in moving away from simple technical breakdowns. That can be seen from the section headings: 'Before You Start'; 'The Framework'; 'Concepts'; 'On The Mat'; 'Invisible Jiu Jitsu'; 'Improving Off The Mat'; 'The Jiu Jitsu Lifestyle'; 'Further Resources'.

Gregoriades gives the reader some excellent advice in his introduction: "Keep in mind that reading books and watching videos about jiu jitsu is not doing jiu jitsu. Just as you will never learn to swim if you don’t get wet, neither will you become a jiu jitsuka if you don’t get on the mats and train." That should be stated in every BJJ instructional. A worryingly high proportion of beginners look for a shortcut and forget this point, instead developing immense reference libraries, full of books and DVDs they either never read/watch or simply don't understand.

I also very much liked Gregoriades' view on what he calls his 'method', which he describes as "not necessarily the ‘best way’ or the ‘only way’, but merely ‘a way’." There are a few otherwise brilliant instructors who lack such refreshing flexibility. He goes into detail on that point as the 'Before You Start' (nine pages) section begins:

"In jiu jitsu, as with any discipline, there are several different styles and approaches to the teaching of the art. I am not claiming that my method is the best, only that it has worked for me. During your own jiu jitsu journey I implore you to continue questioning. When you dogmatically commit to a belief or method without questioning it, your growth will inevitably come to a halt."

He also promises to help the reader "become their own teacher," following the theory of teaching someone how to catch their own fish as opposed to handing them one you caught earlier. Though this is a laudable goal, it can also be a risky proposition in the context of jiu jitsu. Numerous beginners try to circumvent the long path to competency by fixating on an alleged magic bullet, ignoring what their instructor is teaching in class. In BJJ there are no magic bullets, but that does not stop eager beginners from seeking them out.

Rather than beginning with any technique, Gregoriades gets down to the practical matters that need to be dealt with before you can begin the learning process. You first have to find a school and buy the necessary equipment: although there is the option of turning up in shorts and a t-shirt, most will eventually want to buy a gi. Gregoriades has a selection of gi recommendations, but as gi preference is very individual, any experienced practitioner will probably have their own quite different list in mind.

Much of the list comes down to personal taste, but the one point where I would disagree is Gregoriades' insistence that you should not use a judo gi for jiu jitsu. I can see his point in the long term and especially if you want to compete, but for a beginner, I regularly suggest buying a judogi as a cheap alternative when you're still deciding if you want to stick with BJJ. I wore a judogi for many years and never found it detrimental to my training.

The next section, dubbed 'The Framework' (thirty-two pages), begins with a potted history of Brazilian jiu jitsu (there were some errors in the press copy I was sent, presumably corrected for the public release), followed by an examination of the positional strategy integral to BJJ. That also brings up the first technical illustration. Unlike almost every other instructional jiu jitsu book, this isn't a colour photograph. Instead, the image has been manipulated so that the two figures are on top of a blueprint-style background, one figure entirely in shades of black while the other is rendered in white. That's an effective method of distinguishing the two, as it makes limb placements and grips very clear.

Generally speaking, The Black Belt Blueprint is heavy on text. There is normally at least one picture to help the reader, but that contrasts dramatically to works from Saulo and Beneville, which cram pages full of photographs to explain a single technique. Gregoriades has also taken on the ambitious goal of appealing to all levels. A conceptual approach is one possible method to appeal to both ends of the skill spectrum, but it is a considerable challenge to strike that balance of keeping veterans interested while at the same time staying simple enough for novices.

Gregoriades runs through each of the major positions, where he discusses their strengths and weaknesses, your objectives in those positions and some straightforward tips for the person on the bottom and their opponent on top. Just like Saulo and Royce in their books, Gregoriades is unimpressed by half guard. He believes it is overrated, as "no matter how good you are from that position, you will always be at a disadvantage against a strong top player."

Moving on from the nuts and bolts of technique, Gregoriades launches into a section he calls 'the Three Pillars of a Black Belt.' I found myself disagreeing with the first part, though this comes down to personal approaches to jiu jitsu. In what proves to be a recurring theme throughout the book, Gregoriades emphasises the importance of 'attribute maximization.' He makes the point that "you need to maximise your attributes if you want to maximise your jiu jitsu." That is entirely distinct from the route I have tried to take, which is to develop a game relying as little as possible on physical attributes, so that it is still functional as I get older and my attributes decline.

Having said that, Gregoriades is not wrong: as he goes on to say, a stronger, fitter individual will possess a considerable advantage over somebody who may be technical but is weak and out of shape, whatever techniques they prefer to use. If you develop your physical conditioning that will undeniably make you a more formidable opponent, but it is not something I personally focus upon at all. Then again, I am not a competitor: it is in the tournament that those physical attributes really start to count, where especially at the higher levels a small advantage can be the difference between victory and defeat.

The second and third pillars are less likely to rile weaklings like myself, covering conceptual understanding and technical knowledge. Gregoriades then presents one potential route through the belt levels, suggesting goals for each stage: again, whether or not you agree is going to come down to personal preference. My favourite is the progression laid out by Saulo Ribeiro in Jiu Jitsu University, whereas others might prefer the older article by Roy Harris, name-checked by Gregoriades here.

Part three of The Black Belt Blueprint investigates 'Concepts' (twenty nine pages), opening with a topic close to Gregoriades' heart: breathing. Like many in BJJ, Gregoriades has long been in awe of Rickson Gracie, the mystical figure we saw in Choke back in the '90s, destroying his competition while simultaneously adopting the persona of a spiritual guru. Breath control is a key part of Rickson's system, something I experienced first hand at his seminar last year. Gregoriades also believes in the importance of breath control, illustrating this section with a picture of Rickson.

Gregoriades advises returning to the source of Rickson's breathing prowess, yoga. In the last few years Gregoriades has become an enthusiastic proponent of yoga, a mission he continues with his book. Different styles of yoga are described later in The Black Belt Blueprint, along with their specific benefits. To help the reader better understand his points on breathing control, Gregoriades includes a link to a video. He does this frequently throughout the book, which you could argue is an advantage of an eBook: you can click the link and immediately load up the video.

Personally, though this is just my own preference again, I would rather have read further descriptions in the text, as I find it distracting to have to switch to a different medium. I also wonder if those links are going to remain live. They are mostly from TinyURL, so should stay active, but with any redirected URL there is a certain risk it could go down (TinyURL might go bust, change their terms of service, etc). Then again, that is just as true of any other link, plus TinyURL has the considerable advantage of being short. It also means Gregoriades can link to a specific timestamp in the video without the hassle of an unwieldy web address.

Artéchoke Media has developed an option that might develop into a superior method, embedding animated gifs into the text. So far, they have produced one free sample eBook to test out the method, '3-D Jiu Jitsu'. Currently, they are having their cake and eating it by including an embedded video too. If someone is able to produce an offline eBook that also features animated gifs, that could be a real step forward in the instructional book market.

Following his discussion of breathing, Gregoriades fleshes out a number of different concepts, such as angles, contraction and head movement. I was reminded at points of John Palmer's "control point theory", eloquently explained by Gregoriades. This conceptual section is probably the strongest of the book, broadly applicable across jiu jitsu. For example, the 'B.O.S.S.' principle (standing for 'back or side and shoulder'), referring to putting them on their back if you're on top and getting onto your side and shoulder if you're on the bottom.

The pictures are helpfully augmented by arrows and lines to explicate those concepts, such as two red lines to highlight the impact of angles on certain techniques, or directional arrows to indicate movement. For several of the concepts, Gregoriades adds pictures to demonstrate the application of the concept, such as the amplification of leverage in a scissor sweep when you move your hips in closer. That's similar to the earlier positional illustrations, where Gregoriades contrasted a poor control with a strong one.

The fourth part of the book is titled 'On the Mat' (twenty five pages) and is the closest Gregoriades comes to a typical instructional volume. He runs through a few techniques he feels are important, switching to the standard sequence of full-colour photos to bolster the text. It remains easy enough to distinguish the demonstrators, with one person in a white gi and the other in blue. Gregoriades kicks off with a series of fundamental movements, like bridging and shrimping. I would quibble with some of it (such as his suggestion to drive through your heels when bridging instead of pushing up off your toes), but then I'm only a purple belt.

Next is Gregoriades' selection of essential defensive techniques. Guard recovery and turning to the knees under side control makes sense, as does the elbow escape under mount, but a standing guard pass seems out of place. Then again, you could argue that's defensive in the sense you are escaping the guard: I presume that's the reason for its categorisation here. As with the movements, Gregoriades includes a series of photographs to help the reader understand the technique, step-by-step.

Logically, he follows it up with essential attacks, comprising the straight armlock from guard, cross-choke from mount, scissor sweep, bow and arrow, then finally the triangle. The visual representation changes, as each attack is illustrated by just one picture. That might not be an issue if the accompanying text was more expansive, but it does not always add a great deal to the picture. For example, for the cross-choke there is no description of how to actually apply the technique at all. Gregoriades simply says it is high percentage, it requires balance along with patience and Roger Gracie uses it really well. You are unlikely to glean much detail about the cross-choke from that explanation.

Gregoriades does then link to an eight minute video, but again, I would have preferred some pointers in the text. The description of the straight armlock is similarly brief, followed by another video link. For the scissor sweep, the breakdown is longer, finished unusually with an exhortation to check out YouTube to find a suitable video. Perhaps this section is not meant to be instructional, but merely seeks to advise the reader on which techniques they may want to focus upon if their time is restricted. The section finishes off with an examination of grips and a short primer for competition preparation.

The fifth part of the book, 'Invisible Jiu Jitsu' (eighteen pages), is where Gregoriades indulges what you could call his 'alternative' leanings. Ever since I've known him, there has been this element of 'New Age' to his thinking and practice, which has continued to crop up in his podcast projects like London Real and recently The Journey. The tagline of the latter indicates what I'm talking about: "The Journey is a bi-weekly podcast conceived with the intentions of sending positive messages out to the world and raising the collective vibration of our planet."

In The Black Belt Blueprint, this outlook can be seen in the encouragement to develop awareness through internal and external 'focus exercises', as well as the highlighting of meditation as an essential means of further developing that awareness. Speaking from experience, I know that this is something Gregoriades likes to include in his classes as well, based on the lessons I've taken with him over the years. Though it is not to my personal taste, it's worth considering. Gregoriades also doesn't spend too much time attempting to convince the reader that they should try exercises like meditation, as opposed to the aggressive proselytising of an Eddie Bravo on a pot rant.

The chapter soon shifts into more familiar BJJ concepts, like leaving your ego at the door, trying to reduce energy expenditure during sparring and the importance of good balance. 'Improving off the Mat' (nineteen pages), the book's sixth section, suggests visualisation as another useful tool, along with flow diagrams and several forms of supplemental training. Gregoriades runs through a few of the additional options he has used and their particular benefits, such as the grip-training from rock climbing and the cardiovascular fitness from swimming.

Gregoriades lays out a brief conditioning program consisting of three exercises: hindu push ups, kettlebell swings and the 'tri dog' (swinging your back leg up into the air with your other foot and both your hands on the floor). He then goes into depth on yoga, his favourite supplement, spending several pages discussing why he has dedicated a considerable portion of his training outside of BJJ to various forms of yoga.

He also finds the time to talk about nutrition. I'm not aware of any qualifications Gregoriades has in this area, so for serious consideration of your diet I would strongly recommend a professional, but from my uneducated perspective the advice seems relatively sensible. For example, he suggests cutting out sugar from your diet and eating lots of fruits and vegetables. I'm less certain about intermittent fasting and not eating dairy, but then I say that as someone who absolutely adores cheese. I could probably give up everything else, but not cheese. ;)

Moving into the seventh chapter, 'The Jiu Jitsu Lifestyle' (fifteen pages), Gregoriades muses on the nature of jiu jitsu, sharing some of his thoughts on efficiency, refinement and perception, drawing on his own experiences. That then shifts to a more hard-nosed discussion of competition. The same tone continues through a look at injury prevention and the dangers of overtraining, along with some advice about training and competing in Brazil.

To complete the book, Gregoriades has some Further Resources (sixteen pages). This is a collection of books, DVDs, schools and websites (including my own, which was kind of him). The academy list is interesting, as Gregoriades states at the start that these are schools he personally vouches for, either because he has trained there or has some personal connection to the instructor. His closing 'about the author' section gives you a flavour of what Gregoriades is like:

"It became clear to me that jiu jitsu is a ‘spiritual trip’ - a journey of self-discovery. It takes you to the very limits of your physical and mental capacities and constantly teaches you how to find your way through the world with more efficiency and composure. And most importantly, it helps you connect with your fellow human beings and find new ‘brothers’ that you never knew you had."

While I don't take anything spiritual from jiu jitsu, I found myself strongly agreeing with his description right at the end of the book, where he writes about the Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood. He says that jiu jitsu is a "way of connecting people" and that he seeks to "foster unity within the community of jiu jitsu practitioners and martial artists." I agree and follow a similar goal, through events like the GrappleThon. Jiu jitsu is indeed a wonderful way of bringing people together.

My main criticism of the book would be the price, a hefty $39.95 for an eBook. Even for a large, glossy, full-colour print volume stuffed with photographs, that's at the higher end of the market. Jiu Jitsu University is able to charge that price, but it is twice the size and far more extensively illustrated than The Black Belt Blueprint, as well as being a physical volume. In stark contrast, the Kindle eBooks by Kid Peligro, such as Secrets of the Closed Guard, are less than £7. Having said that, The Black Belt Blueprint is advertised as having a 100% money back guarantee, though I'm not certain of the conditions. You can download it here.