Nathan Leverton's half guard tape has just been released.
VHS only at the mo, but should be great anyway. Hopefully those more qualified than me will post reviews soon!
http://www.nathanleverton.com/hg01_videos.htm
ttt
ttt
I respectfully disagree - the important thing is the INFORMATION, not the format. If a teacher put out information I wanted I would get it: I would buy a book, a DVD, a VCD, a videocassette, a flipbook, or download an MPEG from the internet. I'm not denying that DVDs are generally more handy and compact, but given the choice between shitty information on DVD and great information on VHS I would always take the latter.
Sincerely
Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com
What he said :o)
I know people want to own DVDs. Some people care as much (sometimes more!) about the format as the material. DVDs are brilliant but personally if the info is only on tape I'll still watch it coz it's the information I want. I only want to watch an instructional a few times then go train/teach it. It's not like I'm gonna sit and watch it like a movie or refer to it a 100 times.
I will put out DVDs from now on if I can. This is the last one just on tape. Hey, if you buy it then it might help me get DVDs done quicker ;o)
Nathan
It's the information.
That's what I want. A DVD, VHS, book, or stone tablet in-and-of-themselves don't make me a better grappler. It's what's on 'em that counts. Of course DVDs are really nice and shiny...
- Charles
Nathan,
You mentioned previously about being worried if you brought out DVD-Rs. Well, if you bring out DVD-Rs and offer either VHS or DVD-R at the same price and let the punter's decide then that is probably the best option.
A lot of the talk about DVD-Rs is probably scaremongering, but if big companies like Island can sell them successfully, then I'm sure you can too.
Selling someone a DVD-R is better than not selling them a VHS, if you get my drift.
PS - looking forward to my half guard tape!
ttt
Are there any reviews out yet?
Working on it...
C.
Just to let you know, HALF GUARD is very good.
If you've seen Nathan's THE GUARD, this fits right in. And I'll also say that it's only one tape, but it is packed! If you knew nothing about half-guard you could build a solid half-guard game--top and bottom--just with this tape.
I'm working on a review for www.WhiteBelt.org now. I'll post a link when it's done.
C.
Yeah, please let us know when that review is done.
I just got the tape!! Yippie!! :) It took less than a week to arrive. I shall be held down no more in sparring!
I'm going to watch it later today and I will probable write something about it later on mma.tv.........
Here's the super quick review (a longer one will most likely follow soon):
I liked the tape a lot. It gives you a solid game for the half guard, both top and bottom. It's all done without the gi, but is really applicable for gi BJJ and MMA as well. It runs for about 1 hour and 40 minutes.
I've been learning a lot about the half guard lately and this tape made me finally "get it". Watching the tape was sort of like "visualizing" the information in the "half guard fundamentals" saved thread (which might very well be the best information on the half guard available on the internet), and with lots of applications and clear teaching. For someone that's starting to learn about the half guard, this is a very good place to start with.
Here's a link to the thread I was talking about
http://s89065344.onlinehome.us/savedthreads/half%20guard%20fundamentals.htm
, and here's a link to Nathan Leverton's web site from which you can take a look at and/or order his half guard tape
www.totalgrappling.com.
whats it like in comparison to the guard and the submissions tape?
When you say "submissions tape" are you talking about his side mount tapes?
Actually, it's a bit hard to compare tapes that are on different subjects.
good point. how does it link/flow with the guard tape? do they bode well together?
Well Nathan points out that one of the core moves you can do from the half guard is regaining full guard. I think the tape links well to the guard tape. Nathan shows examples of how you can go from half guard to full guard to a few submissions, although he doesn't really dwelve on this. He mentions that it's important to get into attacking mode right after the transition from half guard to full guard and not just lay in your full guard and stall.
All in all, it's a must for people that have a few months or more experience of BJJ or submission grappling to practise half guard techniques for several reasons, but one very good reason being that if you are confident in your half guard game (and your side mount escapes, by the way), you become more confident in your full guard game. This is because you become less afraid to open your guard and work your hip movements and experiment when you know that all is not lost if he gets half way past your legs - into your half guard.
good stuff