guard

Strategic Guard: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - Details and Techniques
$36.95
The trilogy of BJJ books by Ed Beneville is by far the best series of BJJ books on the market, which includes the Strategic Guard.

Unlike many other BJJ books, you can ACTUALLY learn BJJ from these books; of course, I'm assuming you are practicing the moves with a partner and not merely reading it like a textbook. The photos are very detailed and presented from multiple angles. Key points are highlighted both visually and in the text. The author made sure that the participants used different gi colors so that the reader could tell what each person was doing and how his partner was reacting.

There are certainly other good BJJ books on the market, but the Guard series (Passing the Guard, The Guard, and Strategic Guard) differs in many important respects. While the Kid Peligro books are visually appealing, they tend to lack detail and subtle nuances. Thus, a reader gets a glimpse of many techniques but larger conceptual ideas are often missing. Beneville's books are rich in both photos and concepts. Moreover, he often shows a few variations on a technique and how to deal with common opponent counters or reactions to an initial technique. He also includes useful drills in his books.

There is easily something for every BJJ level, from beginner to advanced. There is years worth of material here all the way to black belt. No joke! I highly recommend his Guard series. It helped my Guard tremendously (but yes... you do have to actually attempt and practice the moves in class. Sorry to disappoint but kata just won't get you very far in BJJ).

The Guard: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Details and Techniques (Second Edition)
$36.95
A BRILLIANTLY organised and depicted book,with an in depth focus on the theory.
After purchasing the book i was a little overwhelmed by the amount of technique involved, but with the bigger picture review at he end of each chapter everything flowed beautifully to memory and application on the mat.
I cannot even begin to explain the impact this series of books(i bought all three)has had on my technical knowledge and application on the mat, and has left me with the question of, if only i had known earlier.
ESSENTIAL

Mouse Guard Volume 2: Winter 1152 (Mouse Guard Graphic Novels)
$24.95
Another Mice masterpiece. Artwork continues to be amazing, and the story pulls you further into the mouse world. I cannot wait for more material.

Guards! Guards!
$7.99
Captain Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is not a happy man. He has a thankless job, a bunch of incompetent subordinates and he doesn't get no respect or, more accurately, actually gets no respect. The arrival of a fresh, eager-eyed new recruit (a six-foot-tall dwarf named Carrot - long story) whose relaxed and literal approach to policing (such arresting the head of the Thieves' Guild for being a thief) is another headache for Vimes to deal with. At the same time, the Unseen University Librarian is upset over the theft of a book that could be used to summon dragons and, in an almost certainly unrelated incident, people over the city are vanishing, leaving behind only fine traces of ash and scorched brickwork. Yes, things are definitely afoot...

Guards! Guards! is Terry Pratchett's tribute to detective novels and all those hapless extras dressed in chainmail who's only job in films is to run into the grand hall and get cut down by the hero. No-one ever seems to ask them if they want to or not. Oh yeah, and possibly dissatisfied with the imaginary dragons of The Colour of Magic, Pratchett cuts loose here with the real deal, a fire-breathing behemoth of a creature who is permanently in a bad mood. The book's real success is bringing the great city of Ankh-Morpork to life as never before seen in the series, giving the city a real sense of life (and frequent, screaming death) and community. In various polls over the years, Ankh-Morpork usually tops out as the most detailed and convincing fantasy city ever created, and Guards! Guards! is really where the city starts getting its character and identity.

On the cast side of things, a whole slew of major Discworld characters are introduced, most notably the complex Captain Vimes (almost certainly Pratchett's most fully-realised character), Nobby Nobbs (the missing link between man and rat), Sergeant Colon, recruit Carrott, the formidable Lady Ramkin, Detritus the troll and, of course, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, purveyor of dubious sausage-in-a-bun products to crowds and/or rioters. Established characters like the Patrician also get a lot more screen-time and characterisation than previously established, and the revelation of how the Patrician ensures he can survive any palace coup launched against him is simultaneously hilarious and deeply disturbing. Despite temporal evidence to the contrary, I am convinced Machiavelli was one of the Patrician's students who didn't quite measure up.

Pratchett's writing takes another significant upward swing with this volume, exuding a greater level of confidence than ever before. He's funny when he wants to be, dramatic when he needs to be, even touching when it is required. The story threads are laid out, developed and then resolved with impressive efficiency and maximum impact. The way the last few paragraphs hilariously resolve very minor story points from a hundred pages previously is very clever. Particularly nicely done are Carrot's letters back home. Read them one after the other and you can see how his attitude to the Big City changes over the course of the book in a very well-done manner.

Guards! Guards! (*****) is not the best Discworld book, but it's certainly right up there. Funny, dramatic and just brilliantly entertaining from start to finish. The book is available now in the UK and USA.