Book Review

Just finished reading the book Winning On The Ground by Dr. Anna Maria DeMars and Jimmy Pedro Sr. Being the first martial arts related book I've purchased in a couple of years, it was a refreshing read. DeMars contributed the lion's share of the text, and Pedro seemed to play the role of contributor / editor / spoiler / technical consultant.

Among the most notable persons posing for the photos in Winning On The Ground were:
Ronda Rousey - current UFC women's bantamweight champion and Judo Olympic medalist.
Kayla Harrison - Judo Gold Medalist in 2012 women's 78 kg.
Travis McLaughlin - MMA fighter

The theme of the book was simple - how to win on the ground. Not surprisingly, the methodology had a distinct Judo flair. The main difference between Judo groundwork and Jiu-Jitsu (most notably, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or "BJJ") groundwork is that Judo groundwork is more explosive, whereas BJJ groundwork is more laborious in the sense that it is really stretched out. First, a word on this:

These are my thoughts, not those expressed in the book:
Explosive groundwork:
Just because I say that Judo style groundwork is explosive does NOT mean that it is always lightning quick. What it does mean is that Judo-based groundwork has far fewer techniques. The concept is that the player attacks immediately once she realizes where she is at. Also included is the idea of attacking the transition - before a set position is established. This applies to escapes as well as finishes from dominant positions. 

Laborious groundwork:
Just because I say that BJJ groundwork is laborious does not mean that it is always long and drawn-out. What is does mean is that there is a more well-defined progression through a series of escapes and passes and on to dominant positions and then to submissions. Because of the road map of positional advances, there are MANY options for attack and defense at each position.

As they apply to MMA and Self Defense
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Self Defense are similar in that simplicity is the key. One only "needs" a few options from each position. When done correctly, the practitioner will attack with option A. If that fails, the practitioner will transition to attack with option B. If that fails, it is on to option C, or back to option A again. No need for hundreds of positions and permutations.

Back to the book review:

All of the techniques shown were immediate attacks from specific matwork situations. Almost all were applicable in Judo, submission grappling, or BJJ. About 1/3 were immediately useful for MMA or Self Defense. A clever coach could apply about 2/3 of the book to Self Defense or MMA.

DeMars' writing style is very down-to-earth and should be easy to understand for all skill levels as well as intelligence levels. You can see her years of teaching and coaching come out in the words.

My takes
No new techniques (been a while since I've come across something totally new). However, some really good drills. More importantly, some REALLY good hints on how to get better. I particularly liked the part about drilling your main attack 1000 times. The point was moving toward simplicity - mastery of a few techniques as opposed to passing knowledge of many techniques.


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