Mastering the Twister: Jiu Jitsu for Mixed Martial Arts Competition

Eddie Bravo is in my opinion the next Helio Gracie as far as jiu jitsu goes. Helio took japanese jiu jitsu which used more strength holds and adapted it to his smaller size by using leverage and the gi. Eddie Bravo has taken the Gracie jiu jitsu system and adapted it to mixed martial arts fighting without a gi. When no gi is present you must use other positions and techniques to accomplish similar goals. This book will teach you that system. Beware flexibility is not required to practice some techniques, but most will require a yoga type level of flexibilty. But hey if you wanna throw up crazy arm bars and triangles you must be flexible anyway. The system is great and you are beginning to see it in mma more and more. This is just the next level of jiu jitsu. I am sure more will follow as the sport grows, but for now these are advanced teachings. I want to trow in that my favorite technique is the electric chair. When someone has you in half guard revert to the electric chair and on someone who is not super flexible you will have it won in a suprising way. I recommend this book to anyone who loves the jiu jitsu game or mma.

MY PERSPECTIVE First let me say that this book and it's predecessor "Mastering the Rubber Guard" have totally changed my game. I always disliked grappling because the moves never worked well for shorter guys like me. I only practiced grappling to supplement my stand up fighting, because I disliked it so much. I did Shooto and BJJ, but I was always very "blah" about it. But now, I love grappling, and I have the excitement of learning something new every time I experiment with the moves in Bravo's books. And most importantly... these moves actually work. ABOUT THE BOOK While the first book was Bravo's bottom position game (guard, half guard, "pyramid") this book is his top game (mount, side control, and back). Like the first book, this book shows each move in step by step detail with full color photos taken from two angles. Also like the first book, he teaches all of the moves in a flowing sequence so you can get a good idea of how transition from move to move. Also like the first book, the first portion is dedicated to his childhood and his love of drugs. If this bothers you, then just flip through the first several pages until you see pictures of guys doing ju jutsu. Or, just rip out the first section entirely and throw it away. You'll still be left with exactly what you were looking for; a ju jutsu book that has a ton of great info and is worth every penny you paid for it. PROS AND CONS If you are new to BJJ or a hardcore gi lover, then you'll find this book to be chock full of great material. You'll probably see setups that are a little bit complicated for you, positions you've never even imagined, and some basic no-gi strategy that probably no one but the advanced students in your school know about. On the flip side, intermediate students and gi haters will find themselves frequently skipping over setups and no gi strategies that they are already very familiar with. Personally, I like that the book has a lot of subtle strategies and techniques, and I'm sure that I'll return to this book again and again every time I can't quite figure out what I'm doing wrong. However, I was dissapointed that this book didn't have the same "wow" factor as the first one. Maybe if I had read this book first and the other one after, then I would feel the opposite way; I'm not sure. But after reading the rubber guard book, I didn't feel that Bravo's top game was quite as Earth-shattering as his bottom game. That being said, I still feel that this book is full of great info and absolutely necessary to complete the system that Bravo began to lay out in his first book. The quality of the paper, photos, and writing EASILY makes this the best martial arts book I've ever seen (much less the best BJJ book out there). And I think that if you don't buy this book, then you are truly missing out on a whole new world in grappling.

Love this book, love the system and love the trick/twister route in particular. This system adds an easy flow between back attacks, side control and back again with effective submissions in between. This also gives you a slew of solid hip and spine control positions.

I got this book because I really liked how Mastering the Rubber guard was set up and hoped that Mastering the Twister would be just as useful and enjoyable. I can honestly say that it was and that I was very pleased with the purchase. What I liked about both products was that they both teach a System of techniques that all link together and include "go to" moves for when things don't go according to plan. I also liked the personal stories that Mr. Bravo included; I felt that the combination of these two elements took these books well beyond what most martial arts books provide. The value of these books is that they are useful as reference, good for new ideas as they contain an unorthodox BJJ game, and they are highly entertaining. Definitely well worth the purchase. Keep up the good work!

Great book

Wow! What a read ( not just looking at pictures). Bravo's Jiu Jistu is off the planet-hence the name 10th planet. For lighter Bjj players you have to read and understand his leg riding style, for heavier guys you too must understand the twister and truck etc. so you don't keep getting caught by the smaller guys. Bravo is a revolutionary, his style his revolutionary and has paved the way for much of Bjj's continuing success in MMA. Understanding his principles will make your game better, no doubt. This book offers more than Jiu Jistu. Bravo is a philosopher, and the insight he provides on how a Bjj/MMA player should think, I don't think there are many out there who offer their secrets so freely. This book forces you to think outside of just techniques, what this book does is forces you to think of how they are arrived at them the first place. A well laid out book, easy to read, but not so easy to implement.

Easy to follow instructions of how to perform techniques well.The best part I love is the detail. Nothing is worse than a book that explains well but has photos in Black and white (sometimes this can be very difficult to see proper body placement) and the other issue is great photos and a horrible short explanation. This book succeeded my standards!

I have a few books on Jiu Jitsu and I have to say this is one of my favorites. Eddie Bravo does a great job showing so many ways to get to the twister you almost don't even need to know any other submission. If you want to improve your Jiu Jitsu game or just want a good book to read I would highly recommend this.

Everything that is man maid will be improved. The 10th planet system not only is new, but it will be part of the basic curriculum of any MMA or sumbission grappler. This is both, an extension and an up grade on the Gracie original system.

This book has definitely helped my top game a lot. I have wrestled over 10 years, but never actually learned the twister or banana splits until reading this book. Less than a week after I got this book, I was hitting those moves on the college wrestlers I coached like I had known them my whole life. It also gave me many more options for submissions and transitions with a unique and unorthodox style. The first section... If you are easily offended, don't read it. I found it somewhat interesting, but Eddie certainly has some unique views. I feel that this does not detract from the main content of the book in any way.

Eddie Bravo is in my opinion the next Helio Gracie as far as jiu jitsu goes. Helio took japanese jiu jitsu which used more strength holds and adapted it to his smaller size by using leverage and the gi. Eddie Bravo has taken the Gracie jiu jitsu system and adapted it to mixed martial arts fighting without a gi. When no gi is present you must use other positions and techniques to accomplish similar goals. This book will teach you that system. Beware flexibility is not required to practice some techniques, but most will require a yoga type level of flexibilty. But hey if you wanna throw up crazy arm bars and triangles you must be flexible anyway. The system is great and you are beginning to see it in mma more and more. This is just the next level of jiu jitsu. I am sure more will follow as the sport grows, but for now these are advanced teachings. I want to trow in that my favorite technique is the electric chair. When someone has you in half guard revert to the electric chair and on someone who is not super flexible you will have it won in a suprising way. I recommend this book to anyone who loves the jiu jitsu game or mma.

MY PERSPECTIVE First let me say that this book and it's predecessor "Mastering the Rubber Guard" have totally changed my game. I always disliked grappling because the moves never worked well for shorter guys like me. I only practiced grappling to supplement my stand up fighting, because I disliked it so much. I did Shooto and BJJ, but I was always very "blah" about it. But now, I love grappling, and I have the excitement of learning something new every time I experiment with the moves in Bravo's books. And most importantly... these moves actually work. ABOUT THE BOOK While the first book was Bravo's bottom position game (guard, half guard, "pyramid") this book is his top game (mount, side control, and back). Like the first book, this book shows each move in step by step detail with full color photos taken from two angles. Also like the first book, he teaches all of the moves in a flowing sequence so you can get a good idea of how transition from move to move. Also like the first book, the first portion is dedicated to his childhood and his love of drugs. If this bothers you, then just flip through the first several pages until you see pictures of guys doing ju jutsu. Or, just rip out the first section entirely and throw it away. You'll still be left with exactly what you were looking for; a ju jutsu book that has a ton of great info and is worth every penny you paid for it. PROS AND CONS If you are new to BJJ or a hardcore gi lover, then you'll find this book to be chock full of great material. You'll probably see setups that are a little bit complicated for you, positions you've never even imagined, and some basic no-gi strategy that probably no one but the advanced students in your school know about. On the flip side, intermediate students and gi haters will find themselves frequently skipping over setups and no gi strategies that they are already very familiar with. Personally, I like that the book has a lot of subtle strategies and techniques, and I'm sure that I'll return to this book again and again every time I can't quite figure out what I'm doing wrong. However, I was dissapointed that this book didn't have the same "wow" factor as the first one. Maybe if I had read this book first and the other one after, then I would feel the opposite way; I'm not sure. But after reading the rubber guard book, I didn't feel that Bravo's top game was quite as Earth-shattering as his bottom game. That being said, I still feel that this book is full of great info and absolutely necessary to complete the system that Bravo began to lay out in his first book. The quality of the paper, photos, and writing EASILY makes this the best martial arts book I've ever seen (much less the best BJJ book out there). And I think that if you don't buy this book, then you are truly missing out on a whole new world in grappling.

Love this book, love the system and love the trick/twister route in particular. This system adds an easy flow between back attacks, side control and back again with effective submissions in between. This also gives you a slew of solid hip and spine control positions.

I got this book because I really liked how Mastering the Rubber guard was set up and hoped that Mastering the Twister would be just as useful and enjoyable. I can honestly say that it was and that I was very pleased with the purchase. What I liked about both products was that they both teach a System of techniques that all link together and include "go to" moves for when things don't go according to plan. I also liked the personal stories that Mr. Bravo included; I felt that the combination of these two elements took these books well beyond what most martial arts books provide. The value of these books is that they are useful as reference, good for new ideas as they contain an unorthodox BJJ game, and they are highly entertaining. Definitely well worth the purchase. Keep up the good work!

Great book

Wow! What a read ( not just looking at pictures). Bravo's Jiu Jistu is off the planet-hence the name 10th planet. For lighter Bjj players you have to read and understand his leg riding style, for heavier guys you too must understand the twister and truck etc. so you don't keep getting caught by the smaller guys. Bravo is a revolutionary, his style his revolutionary and has paved the way for much of Bjj's continuing success in MMA. Understanding his principles will make your game better, no doubt. This book offers more than Jiu Jistu. Bravo is a philosopher, and the insight he provides on how a Bjj/MMA player should think, I don't think there are many out there who offer their secrets so freely. This book forces you to think outside of just techniques, what this book does is forces you to think of how they are arrived at them the first place. A well laid out book, easy to read, but not so easy to implement.

Easy to follow instructions of how to perform techniques well.The best part I love is the detail. Nothing is worse than a book that explains well but has photos in Black and white (sometimes this can be very difficult to see proper body placement) and the other issue is great photos and a horrible short explanation. This book succeeded my standards!

I have a few books on Jiu Jitsu and I have to say this is one of my favorites. Eddie Bravo does a great job showing so many ways to get to the twister you almost don't even need to know any other submission. If you want to improve your Jiu Jitsu game or just want a good book to read I would highly recommend this.

Everything that is man maid will be improved. The 10th planet system not only is new, but it will be part of the basic curriculum of any MMA or sumbission grappler. This is both, an extension and an up grade on the Gracie original system.

This book has definitely helped my top game a lot. I have wrestled over 10 years, but never actually learned the twister or banana splits until reading this book. Less than a week after I got this book, I was hitting those moves on the college wrestlers I coached like I had known them my whole life. It also gave me many more options for submissions and transitions with a unique and unorthodox style. The first section... If you are easily offended, don't read it. I found it somewhat interesting, but Eddie certainly has some unique views. I feel that this does not detract from the main content of the book in any way.

I finally read this book after a long time. The book is clear and concise about what Eddie does for his top game. Great book once you have a fundamental knowledge of BJJ and want to spice up your top game.

This book has got everything about the twister technique. It exceeded my expectation. The book is also good for beginners and doesnt rely on the gi!

Good quality...nice color pictures...and the information in this book is outstanding...if you want to learn new techniques in jiu jitsu buy this book...!!!

Eddie's Jiu-Jitsu is simply revolutionary. He has down more than just make variations of old moves. He has created a new system of very unorthodox Jiu-Jitsu. This book offers fantastic instruction in both step by step photos and articulate written explanation.

really good info,pictures are right on so you can train with it .glad i bought the book a very good buy.

This book is incredible, just like all the others in this series!

For anyone who loves Eddie Bravo, his book series is no joke. This is the third book of his I've purchased.

Excellent step by step pics to break everything down. Perfect accessory if you train under 10th planet. If you dont its a great way to bring some 10th planet to your game.

This is Eddie Bravo's follow-up to his "Mastering the Rubber Guard" book, explaining the top game of his unorthodox 10th Planet BJJ system. For those who don't know, the "Twister" is Eddie's signature hold. It involves hooking both legs around one leg of your opponent, reaching across his back and under the opposite arm, and wrapping up the head for a neck crank; a similar move is seen in professional (show) wrestling called the "abdominal stretch", and it's known in amateur wrestling as the guillotine. Like "Mastering the Rubber Guard", Eddie's introduction offers no real insight into martial arts or grappling, he's simply on his soapbox about his personal epiphanies about life. This may interest some people, but I'm not one of them. Once we get into the actual techniques, the good stuff begins. The majority of the book focuses on the Twister and the set-ups, transisions, trouble-shooting, and finishes from it. Chapter 1 is on "Twister Side Control", which is basically a reverse scarf hold position. Eddie uses this position as his primary means to set up and transition to the Twister. However, in this chapter he also includes other holds and transitions, including a variety of chokes, arm locks, and leg locks. The following chapter is on "The Truck", which is essentially a leg ride that creates easy transitions to the Twister and a few different leg locks. This flows together well with his first chapter. It's here where he starts troubleshooting the Twister. The next three chapters are on the Mount, Back Control, and the Sprawl position. Here, Bravo goes over basic controls and finishes. Some are very basic while some are unconventional. I feel that these chapters are where the easiest-to-learn material comes in. Finally, the sixth chapter shows how to transition to the Twister from a number of positions, including guard passes, mount, and back control. The book uses color photos, multiple camera angles, and color-coded chapter headings, like all Victory Belt books. The production is excellent, as always. So why only four stars? I'm a firm believer in knowing the basics before moving on to more advanced stuff. For the most part, this book is for intermediate and advanced students. Simply put, if you've never submitted someone with a Kumura from side control or an arm bar from mount, you shouldn't be reading this book yet. If you can't pass guard, the top game here will be useless to you. Also, many of the maneuvers related to the Twister involved taking rolls, which takes a degree of agility that not everyone possesses. So this book is definitely not for everyone. Still, overall, due to the production and unique techniques it contains, I must recommend this book to those with a year or more of grappling training. These techniques are becoming more and more common on the competition circuit, so if you don't have at least a familiarity with them, you're behind the curve.

I chose to write a Mastering the Twister review as my first because it has made a big difference in my bjj game. On those rare times that I would get to mount, it was a matter of time before I was swept, having to start all over again. Create space, sweep or scramble, pass their guard, pain in the behind right? It was either that or try to go for an arm. Yep, that was it. Get swept over or try for an arm which I never got. As I was reading Bravo's book, I was like, what, that's all we have to do? You have heard of Bravo's gangsta lean position right? That's mount. You can boil down the position into basically 3 options. There are more but if you can narrow it down to 3, why not? And when you perfect those 3 and their set-ups, THEN we start adding in other techniques. The book is split up into 6 chunks: twister side control, the truck, the monkey mount, the back, the sprawl, and transitioning to the twister. And then for some of the parts, he breaks them down even more. Like the section about the monkey mount goes into the gangsta lean position which includes submissions, the mount, countering double underhooks, and tactics for mma. Anyways, Mastering the Twister is about 240 pages. It is filled with sequential photos in color. There are at least 75 techniques, I counted, and some explanations of the positions like the back and mount. I don't mean "this is mount." I mean Bravo goes over his goals for when he gets the back. He wants seatbelt control, head tight, chest tight. Excellent nuggets of bjj wisdom. I can recommend Mastering the Twister because I think it has the ability to give your bjj a purpose. Don't blindly get into mount without having a goal in mind. I guess this goes back to the whole position before submission thing right?

wow wow wow, Eddie Bravo has realeased a very eorthy sequel to last years Mastering the Rubber Guard. Im going to give a few explanations, because naturally, some people are going to be dissapointed at things that others love Firstly, this book is NOT a guide to the twister and how to get into it, it covers eddies entire top game, truck(twister control position) included it covers submissions transitions, and entries into a host of submissions from the top, and offers a method of reaching teh truck from almost any position, eddie also gives a huge section on finishing the twister, what to do if you cant finish it, such as transitions, an sother submissions from the truck. eddies top game is very leg riding based, which is in my opinion, the best method for shorter guys to attack larger opponents, but tall people will benefit aswell thats the beauty in Eddies book, there are moves from every position that are better for longer and shorter grapplers, so anyone can benefit from this book as a negative, some people will be annoyed that Eddies first chapter is basically an autobiography, he states how he was molested by a babysitter as a child, and enjoyed it...... while I find his contemporary american style writing hilarious, anal retentive people will say things like"as a sensei, you have to be respectful of youre entire audience" or crap along the line sof that I like what he writes, and if I didnt, id ignore what I thought was unnessecary, the book is there whether you like it or not, best make the best out of it. regardless, Mastering the Twister and Mastering the Rubber Guard are bar none the best book set out there for grappling, and victory belt is going to keep making more 5/5 if you want a grappling book, which is exactly what this book was written for

Eddie Bravo won't deny that he has never been athletically gifted, yet he has accomplished some amazing feats in no-gi grappling. His success stems largely from the fact that he analyzes every position and makes adjustments to fit his body type, and in the process he often creates revolutionary methods of playing a certain position, such as the rubber guard, which is outlined in his previous book, Mastering the Rubber Guard, or the monkey mount and twister side control, which are outlined in this book. This book is a great tool for any grappler because it divulges a series of effective techniques and set-ups that currently are not widely used, such as the twister. The twister, also known as the wrestler's guillotine, is a submission hold that can be performed from a variety of positions, and Eddie clearly outlines several paths to get to the twister. The first section covers twister side control, which is a modified version of the standard side control that offers a great deal of control over the opponent, as well as many paths to the twister, to the opponent's back, or the option of mounting. Bravo's methods of maintaining the mount position, as well as attacking from the mount are different than any other jiu-jitsu practitioner that I've seen, and he also includes a detailed description of a variety of transitions and submissions from the mount. Attacks from the back, twister set-ups from the back, and attacking off of a sprawl are also covered. Perhaps the best thing about this book is that, like Mastering the Rubber Guard, Bravo shows how everything can fit together, via descriptions and flow charts. The book will likely receive some criticism due to the arguably controversial content of the acknowledgements section, in which Eddie tells his life story. However, it is important to note that the acknowledgements section is completely optional, and if you elect to skip it entirely, it will have no effect on your ability to understand the jiu-jitsu-based concepts of the book. In addition, this book may receive some criticism because it does not cover guard passes, half-guard passes, attacks from the North-South position, or attacking the turtle. Though these positions are important, it should be noted that this book is most likely not intended to be viewed as an encyclopedia of jiu-jitsu, but rather a guide which divulges some rarely-used, innovative, and effective techniques that may be added to your arsenal to supplement the more standard techniques that grapplers already know. All of the moves are outlined in great detail with color photographs from multiple angles. This book divulges so many new moves that after reading it your arsenal will surely grow. Your options of attacking or improving your position will expand, and your opponents will likely be thrown into many situations with which they are unfamiliar. This book probably isn't the best for beginners because it does not cover many important positions, but for those of you who have an idea of what to do regardless of what position you find yourself in, this book is a must-read as it will likely work wonders for your game.

Just like his book on the Rubber Guard, Eddie Bravo's 'Mastering the Twister' is an innovative, effective and insightful system of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu without the gi, that both intermediate and longtime practitioners will benefit in many ways from. Like 'Mastering the Rubber Guard', this isn't just an encyclopedia of moves and positions, but a complete gameplan and system. There is a flow-chart that details each position as it transitions to the next, and Eddie goes into excellent detail on the intricacies of each technique. Like other Victory Belt published books, this is as good an instructional you will get short of a DVD video release. Highly recommended. This is advanced BJJ however, so beginners will be adviced not to just jump in without a firm grasp of the basics. It should also be noted that Mastering the Twister is a direct "sequel" if you will to Mastering the Rubber Guard, so it will be good to start with that book first, though not totally necessary. What MTRG did for the bottom game, MTTwister does for the top game.

My title expalins it. If your a serious grappler and take the time to learn the techniques in this book, your bound to have some serious fun, especially in competitions and surprising your classmates. That aside, your being learning a lot of moves that tie well together and anyone you train with will benefit as well from this, by learning to defend against the moves and possibly learning to use them as well. If your going to use it, it's great, if not. Don't waste money on something you don't intend to use or have discipline and plan to use.

Depending on your preference, top game or guard work, Eddie Bravo's books are excellent variations on the art. Rubber Guard was excellent and the Twister doesnt disappoint either. Victory Belt does a great job of showing alternate angle photos of the techniques, limiting the amount of blindspots. The only problem is the landscape of bjj competition, some moves aren't allowed in various tournaments. But there's plenty to add to your game and helps to keep training fresh and fun. Bravo has encouraged practitioners to think outside the box and be inventive.

I think this is a must for anyone who trains BJJ. It is very different from what most of the schools teach. I like the fact that it has a Eddies history in the begining. It is nice to take a break from studing moves and read a couple of pages about his life. The pictures are very well thought out. Multiple angles on every move. People in my school keep asking me if I am taking privets on the side. They want to know where I am learning this stuff from. I train gi only but even though this book is geared towards no gi about 95% of it still applies. I highly recomend this book.

Eddie's system is freaking awesome! I am an accomplished grappler and have always been interested in new techniques, etc. I was already familiar with the twister and a couple of the setups, but Eddie's book blew me away. My top game is so sick right now, that not one of my fellow students, nor my coach, can touch me! If you have some grappling experience, this book will revolutionize your top game. If you are new, this will help you, but you might get lost in some of the more complex transitions. Either way, Eddie Bravo and his system kick butt!

Mastering the twister is a great book to add to your collection as well as the techniques inside are great to add to your jiu jitsu game. The picture quality as well as the instruction is the best Ive ever seen. Eddie Bravo is a living legend and anything that he does with his Jiu Jitsu Im gonna get my hands on.