January 2023 Book Survey Part 3

 

 Welcome to the January 2023 book survey, part three. I decided to break this month's survey into three posts. This is the third. In the first post I looked at Krav Maga. In the second post I looked at combatives.

Introduction

In January 2023, I (Richard) continued my reading plan. This post looks at mixed martial arts. These sorts of books are rare today. In each case, I expect a modern content creator would visit a studio like BJJ Fanatics and record a video instructional. Even in an age of digital books, it's probably cheaper and more profitable to spend a few days recording and editing a series of videos. The product is probably more useful to the student as well. Video is tougher for the average martial arts historian to digest, however.

Ultimate Fighting Techniques Volume 1: The Top Game, Royce Gracie, Kid Peligro, 2005

Ultimate Fighting Techniques Volume 2: Fighting from the Bottom, Royce Gracie, Kid Peligro, 2006

Ultimate Fighting Techniques volume 1 and volume 2 capture Royce Gracie's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu-centric style. The books are each 8 1/2 inches by 10 1/2 inches in color paperback format. Volume 1 offers 296 pages and volume 2 provides 304 pages.

These are yet more great publications from Invisible Cities press. The first volume shares 104 numbered techniques, while the second lists 120. All of them are shown in the gi. The photos and layout are excellent. 

These books are superb snapshots of Mr. Gracie's fighting style. I had the opportunity to take a seminar with him in May 2017, a few months after I started training BJJ regularly. Here is a picture of him signing my copy of the Gracie Master Text.

These are great books to own if you're also a fan of Mr. Gracie's BJJ style.

Mixed Martial Arts: The Book of Knowledge, B. J. Penn, Glen Cordoza, Erich Krauss, 2007

I bought a copy of Mixed Martial Arts: The Book of Knowledge because of B. J. Penn's reputation in the ring. My copy is a 9 inches by 11 inches color paperback with 308 pages. Victory Belt is the publisher. 

The techniques in this book are all no-gi, so it's a nice contrast with the previous titles. The photos are great and usually show two angles. This is another cool snapshot of 2000s MMA, but extending well beyond jiu-jitsu.

Wrestling for Fighting: The Natural Way, Randy Couture, Erich Krauss, Glen Cordoza, 2007

I also bought Wrestling for Fighting: The Natural Way because of Mr. Couture's ring experience. My copy is another 9 inches by 11 inches color paperback from Victory Belt. This book has 214 pages of no-gi techniques. 

This book is available on the Internet Archive. I liked the basic wrestling techniques quite a bit. Here is an example.

Note the multiple angles. This is another great book. The digital copy is well worth a look.

Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts: The Stand Up Game, Greg Jackson, Kelly Crigger, 2009

Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts: The Ground Game, Greg Jackson, Kelly Crigger, 2010

I bought copies of The Stand Up Game and The Ground Game because of the reputation of Mr. Jackson's gym and the quality of Victory Belt books. My copies are 9 inches by 11 inches color paperbacks with 282 and 300 pages, respectively.

Chapter 6 of the first title includes material on "streetfighting," which shows that early MMA still had a self defense component. That chapter shows defense against knives and other situations. The second title includes material on sports nutrition, too.

These books are another outstanding snapshot of fundamental MMA in the late 2000s.

Conclusion

You can't really go wrong with any of these books. The main problem is that all are out of print and are therefore expensive in the secondary market. It's probably easiest to review the digital copy of Wrestling for Fighting.

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