"Alright here's a full review of ultimate guard 2. First off let me say that I'm very skeptical about buying [DVD]s because I find the chances of getting burned higher than not. But, something told me that these [DVD]s would be worth it. I believe I was the first person [Jen] mentioned to concerning reference points here in this Q&A. I was having difficulty submitting people from the guard and begged [Jen] for help. He simply described to me what a reference point was with a few examples. Like magic, overnight, my guard, as a whole, improved 100% and that was simply by answering a question here in the Q&A. When I then heard he was going to make a [DVD] covering this I knew I had to have it.
I got my [DVD]s, took my note book out and went to class. In [Jen]'s first [DVD] he describes various positions from within the guard that calls reference points. These reference put you in an advantageous position to either submit or sweep your oppoenent. [Jen] even covers submissions based on your opponents' resistance. Nice. In all he covers 5 reference points. He also covers how to connect each reference point based on your opponents' resistance as well. Very nice. While I was watching the [DVD] I saw that there was actually more submissions and sweeps available from each reference point [Jen] described. [Jen] mentions this as well, and it's understandable that he can't go thru every single one because it would take over a hundred [DVD]s to cover every submission/sweep variation from every conceivable reference point. What [Jen] does is lay the foundation from which you can build off of. He carefull chose which attacks are best for you to start with. I also wish he would have covered more reference points, but again it would take hundreds of [DVD]s to cover them all. I think [Jen] chose the best ones from which to start off with. With hard training (there is no substitute) you'll start to figure out your own variations. As a whole, this guard [DVD] sets the standard for guard [DVD]s out there. Never have I seen or heard of a guard [DVD] that teaches guard like this. This [DVD] is recommended for blue belts. If you can't do an armbar in real sparring, then your bettter off to start with [Jen]'s ultimate guard one series.
[DVD] 2 of UG2: Open guard control. First off, I want to say that I bought these series more for the first [DVD], but was quite happy with what I saw in the second [DVD]. Almost like this was something I didn't know I even needed. This [DVD] picks up from where [Jen] left off in his first open guard [DVD]. Evidently, I believe it's a good idea to see his first open guard [DVD] before this one. He starts off by covering defences to typical guard passes like he covered in UG1. He even shows a nice counter to when your opponent tries to pass your guard off a triangle attempt. After a few defensive techniques [Jen] then goes into the core of this [DVD] and that's how to control your oppoenent in the open guard with the gi. Everything is taught in the form of drills. He covers open guard positions such as spider guard and how to off balance your opponent with it. I believe [Jen] made mention once that he plans on making a [DVD] on attacking from the open guard one day. What I believe this [DVD] does is lay down the foundation from which you can use to attack your opponent from open guard. [Jen] teaches everything in a simple, progressive, step-wise fashion. He shows how all his positions are connected in one way or another. Like the first UG2 [DVD], this [DVD] sets the standard from which other guard [DVD]s will be compared to. No other [DVD] I've seen covers how to control your opponent from the open guard this extensively.
Bottom line, these series need to be in everyones [DVD] library.
- Biggy-G
