Book Review: Jiu-Jitsu for Beginners by David Walker

I was recently contacted by the publisher of a Jiu-Jitsu instructional book authored by David Walker, entitled Jiu-Jitsu for Beginners. The book is due to be published in January 2009, and as part of the publishing company’s marketing plan, they were requesting that I post a book review on the blog. I graciously accepted the request and received the book within a short time.

Based off of the press release information, I was a expecting a book about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In part, this expectation was based off of the spelling of the word “Jiu-Jitsu.” The other part was based off of the information provided in the press release that said, “GET INTO FIGHTING SHAPE BY LEARNING THE MARTIAL ART TECHNIQUES USED BY MIXED MARTIAL ARTS CHAMPIONS.”

The book I received was about traditional Japanese JuJitsu. In the spirit of keeping an open mind, I set aside a few days and read through the book. I examined each of the photo sequences to see if I could decipher what was being presented. I read each of the side stories from various practitioners about how Jiu-Jitsu has played a part in their everyday lives. I genuinely examined this book to see what it was all about.

As some of you know, I have a background in traditional martial arts. It is from this experience that I draw upon to bring to my students many of the self defense techniques I teach. Although I intentionally devote a lesser amount of time to this part of my Jiu-Jitsu curriculum, I still believe it’s an important aspect of the overall program of instruction. For that reason, I continue to develop my skills in all the areas I teach. It was from this perspective that I approached this book.

I will say this first, for what it is, this book is a good book for the beginning student in traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. After doing a little research, I determined the book is actually part of a larger series of books aimed at students studying traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu with The Jitsu Foundation or one of the branches of Shorinji Kan Jiu Jitsu.

The author does seem to take a different approach in that he has included short stories from practitioners of various beginner levels. This added a personal touch and provides the reader a glimpse of what other, similarly ranked students, have experienced.

Walker also writes about the human aspect of learning Jiu-Jitsu, such as the relationship between the uke and the tori, and expectations about training in a dojo. He touches on virtually every aspect of being a new student and what one might expect it to be like. This aspect alone makes the book more appealing.

The techniques are presented with a written description alongside a series of colored pictures depicting the various steps of the technique. The book has the same dimensions as Eddie Bravo’s first book, Jiu-Jitsu Unleashed, which was widely criticized in part because of its size, and because the moves weren't broken down into enough steps with enough angles to readily follow. I would say that Jiu-Jitsu for Beginners suffers from this same problem. Although the written descriptions are there, my opinion is that a reader is more interested in examining and following a photo sequence. But again, we come back to the premise that this book is not really meant to be a stand-alone instructional manual. It is intended for the student who is already training in traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu.

It is a good reference guide and is well written and I would recommend it to anyone who is a beginning student or interested in learning more about traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. If you are a BJJ or submission grappling practitioner, this is probably not the book for you.

My final thoughts on this book are more about how it’s being marketed. When I sat down to write this review, I had a lot of mixed feelings about what I was going to say. In and of itself, I think the book is a good book. The problem I had with it was that I felt like the marketing gurus were doing the old bait and switch. This tactic will undoubtedly come back to bite them in the ass. It won’t take long for the word to get around that the book is not what it’s being presented as.

Like I said, I think it’s a good book and has a lot of value. I’m certain there is a market for this type of book, but trying to get a piece of the BJJ market in this way would be a huge mistake. I can only hope that Sensei David Walker has enough say in the matter to set these folks straight and get this book marketed in an appropriate manner.

Two thumbs up for the book. Two thumbs down for the marketing scheme.