I've been thinking about reviewing instructionals for a while now. I've amassed a thriving library over the years. I have books, VHS, DVD's and nowadays access to a number of digital products. I wish there were still more books coming out but I digress.
One of the newest and most exciting gems out there is the new instructional: Hybrid Approach to Wrestling for MMA by Darryl Christian.
Back when I was wrestling at the OTC in Colorado Springs Darryl Christian was one of the top guys there. He was already on the National Team and knocking on the doors of making World and Olympic teams. While I was there he won the US Nationals.
Darryl was constantly in contention against TC Dantzler who was also a National Champion and multiple time world team member. It was one of the premier rivalries of the early 2000's.
Since then Darryl Christian has contributed greatly to a number of MMA competitors, including BJ Penn. When BJ won his UFC title against Matt Hughes he had come out to Colorado to prepare. We all watched at coach Momir Petkovic's home (a regular thing for both UFC and Pride events). After the fight BJ quoted Momir and we all had a great time watching his biggest win.
After Darryl's Olympic run he did a lot of MMA coaching. As I understand it he also spent some time helping Kyle Dake with some upper body maneuvers. I also remember watching Dake become more and more impressive as he added in more upper body throws and lifts from the mat, which in Freestyle aren't as common but highly effective. I can't help but think that is due in large part to Darryl's influence.
The second I saw this add come up in my Facebook feed and saw the video intro highlights I knew it was going to be a good one. I saw that he took a similar approach to against the cage situations as I do. Naturally I just had to see what other pieces of the puzzle he had figured out. Within the first few minutes I was completely hooked.
One of the early foundational techniques that he shares is the Underhook - Lockdown which I've seen a lot of guys do but now I know who they learned it from. It is a very effective positional attack.
Darryl also provides a lot of Greco-esque techniques to control and attack opponents against the cage. I really appreciated his step-by-step approach and the overall effectiveness and simplicity. I found myself thinking "Why didn't I think of that?" for many of the finer details.
My favorite move of this instructional has to be Getting Back to Your Feet - Option #1 this specifically deals with someone wrapping your legs with his legs in Khabib style. It was another one of those moments where I thought "Can it really be that easy?" and sure enough, it is that easy!
These were just two of the main highlights but for me this entire 2-part video series is LOADED with little gems throughout. For an old Greco-Roman Wrestling guy like me they made perfect sense and reaffirmed the quote from Dan Severn that says;
"If you don't know how to wrestle you don't know how to fight."
I can't say enough good things about this DVD (okay its not a DVD but that's what I call all of the 'instructionals' because its shorter to say and shorter to write...plus saying instructional all the time just sounds dumb to me). Right now it's on sale for a greatly reduced price so grab it while you can but at even full retail it would be a steal because of the quality of information that is shown.
If you missed the premier and the low-low price deal, don't worry, www.fanaticwrestling.com and/or www.bjjfanatics.com are always offering deals and discounts and if you miss one you'll most likely catch the next one but I counsel you to get this one as quickly as you can so you don't get left behind.
Again this is an amazing DVD. I highly recommend it and I look forward to making some of the adjustments into my own game.
Hybrid Approach to Wrestling for MMA by Darryl Christian
One of the newest and most exciting gems out there is the new instructional: Hybrid Approach to Wrestling for MMA by Darryl Christian.
Back when I was wrestling at the OTC in Colorado Springs Darryl Christian was one of the top guys there. He was already on the National Team and knocking on the doors of making World and Olympic teams. While I was there he won the US Nationals.
Darryl was constantly in contention against TC Dantzler who was also a National Champion and multiple time world team member. It was one of the premier rivalries of the early 2000's.
Since then Darryl Christian has contributed greatly to a number of MMA competitors, including BJ Penn. When BJ won his UFC title against Matt Hughes he had come out to Colorado to prepare. We all watched at coach Momir Petkovic's home (a regular thing for both UFC and Pride events). After the fight BJ quoted Momir and we all had a great time watching his biggest win.
After Darryl's Olympic run he did a lot of MMA coaching. As I understand it he also spent some time helping Kyle Dake with some upper body maneuvers. I also remember watching Dake become more and more impressive as he added in more upper body throws and lifts from the mat, which in Freestyle aren't as common but highly effective. I can't help but think that is due in large part to Darryl's influence.
The second I saw this add come up in my Facebook feed and saw the video intro highlights I knew it was going to be a good one. I saw that he took a similar approach to against the cage situations as I do. Naturally I just had to see what other pieces of the puzzle he had figured out. Within the first few minutes I was completely hooked.
One of the early foundational techniques that he shares is the Underhook - Lockdown which I've seen a lot of guys do but now I know who they learned it from. It is a very effective positional attack.
Darryl also provides a lot of Greco-esque techniques to control and attack opponents against the cage. I really appreciated his step-by-step approach and the overall effectiveness and simplicity. I found myself thinking "Why didn't I think of that?" for many of the finer details.
My favorite move of this instructional has to be Getting Back to Your Feet - Option #1 this specifically deals with someone wrapping your legs with his legs in Khabib style. It was another one of those moments where I thought "Can it really be that easy?" and sure enough, it is that easy!
These were just two of the main highlights but for me this entire 2-part video series is LOADED with little gems throughout. For an old Greco-Roman Wrestling guy like me they made perfect sense and reaffirmed the quote from Dan Severn that says;
"If you don't know how to wrestle you don't know how to fight."
I can't say enough good things about this DVD (okay its not a DVD but that's what I call all of the 'instructionals' because its shorter to say and shorter to write...plus saying instructional all the time just sounds dumb to me). Right now it's on sale for a greatly reduced price so grab it while you can but at even full retail it would be a steal because of the quality of information that is shown.
If you missed the premier and the low-low price deal, don't worry, www.fanaticwrestling.com and/or www.bjjfanatics.com are always offering deals and discounts and if you miss one you'll most likely catch the next one but I counsel you to get this one as quickly as you can so you don't get left behind.
Again this is an amazing DVD. I highly recommend it and I look forward to making some of the adjustments into my own game.
Hybrid Approach to Wrestling for MMA by Darryl Christian
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