I purchased the new DVD of GoBeyondTechnique by Kit Dale and Nic Gregoriades. The video itself goes for about 1 hour and covers 20 concepts. Now one of these concepts is free on Youtube. This was taken from the DVD and it really shows how they filmed the content and what type of content was included.
The concepts and principles are what I consider the unsaid things that link techniques together. These concepts are varied and are kind of universal and I'm not going to go about listing them in detail out of respect to Kit and Nic. I will say it's actually refreshing being able to look into x and y concept and see it in action.
Before buying the video I watched the Takedown Postures and Nic's Climb the Ladder concepts. Now applying those concepts I watched the Cyborg VS Buchecha ADCC 2013 match (I have never seen it before then) I was able to identify every takedown that was going to be attempted BEFORE it was attempted. Every Single One (except the failed Buchecha because I could see that going for the legs was NOT available). I was then able to predict what passes were going to occur as well. I've never been able to watch a fight and know with a high degree of certainty and for that long what they are going to do BEFORE they do it.
That's the power of Concepts vs Techniques. Using technique knowledge would have made me guess LATE or incorrectly (I know I've tried before). Instead I could see the setups before they happened - not because I knew them but because I was trying to apply my knowledge of the concepts now. I'm not endorsing that I could even last 10 seconds against those two monsters! I'm just saying that I could understand what was actually going on at a deeper level for Cyborg finding success.
Concepts 10/10
The concepts shown in the DVD are great. All of the concepts are game changing and apply to your Jiu-Jitsu not someone else's. I feel like I have some direction to in my game especially during uncertainty. It will definitely help you to correct mistakes, improve scrambles and improvise.
Production Quality 5/10
Some of the production values were quite poor. Shaky cam's, noises, jarring transitions between concepts.
Humour 9/10
I liked that they left bloopers in the video. Certainly helps keep the video entertaining to watch.
Applicability 10/10
Most videos I see have limited applicability to my game. I find that I'm never in the exact situation as it feels different, I've missed my timing and it feels like a struggle. I'm not flexible enough etc. The reality is I often miss a key step and then the entire technique falls down like a house of cards. Instead what Kit and Nic teach means I can concentrate on applying the right concept/s for the situation and the technique will present itself.
Overall 9/10
There is no video like this on the market. I consider it the number one supplement to your steady stream of techniques from your teacher. The only let down was the production quality and length. If we had a longer DVD with more examples of each concept and it had higher production standards this would be THE definitive grappling video. I've done privates that have dedicated the entire private to one concept -albeit game changing. This video gives me 20 game changing concepts to apply to my game.
I love the fact that I don't need to change overnight though to use the material, I can take these concepts and start introducing them to how I roll.
No Drilling, No Worries.
