skribs113 133
Grandmaster
If I had a nickel for every time someone has come to our gym, with a brown belt worlds win to their name, and brought their significant other (who is a purple belt) to train with us, and then had me roll extra rounds with said purple belt because I'm the only guy at the gym under 200 pounds, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's strange it's happened twice.
One of those individuals is Patrick Gaudio. This is the first instructional I have purchased where not only do I know the instructor, but I actually trained under him a couple times a week for several months. Some other instructionals I picked up because I recognized the name (Danaher), because I've seen other content of theirs (Tyler Spangler, Bernardo Faria, Josh McKinney), or because they happened to cover a topic I'm interested in (most of the others). But this is the first one where I have a personal relationship with the instructor. I've been his uke during class. Most of the time, I would partner with his wife, which was good for both of us because some days on the mat we were the only two not in super- or ultra-heavy. And it was nice for me, because at the time I was a blue belt, and I got to work quite a bit with a purple belt.
Anyway, that personal relationship isn't going to affect this review. This review is purely based on the merits of the instructional itself. This one is pretty straightforward to review.
This instructional covers passes, sweeps, and submissions from the 50/50 guard. It starts in the 50/50 guard. Each instruction ends the moment the pass or sweep is done. Each technique is done from a few different angles, and a few key details to explain proper positioning and angles for proper posture and balance. There isn't much of a discussion about the position, why you might find yourself there, entries into the position top or bottom. If you want to learn how to get there (which would've been helpful for me), that information isn't here. It's more along the lines of, "If you're in 50/50, here's what you do."
I think part of the reason there isn't much extra discussion is that (especially at the time of filming) Patrick was very new to speaking English. Even when I trained under him (which I believe was a few years after the instructional was filmed), his wife would translate most of his instructions from Portuguese into English. However, we could still understand his instructions even in Portuguese, because he's a very physical talker. The language barrier didn't affect the understanding of the material in this instructional, but I do believe it's part of the reason why there wasn't more discussion about the position itself.
This instructional is very effective at what it does. It doesn't meander or linger. It's very efficient. I could even call it elegant. But I also think it could have benefited from showing entries into the position, or at least briefly cover why you might be there. Overall, I rate this as an S-Tier instructional (although I was leaning towards A tier).
Tiers are F, D, C, B, A, S, and SS.
One of those individuals is Patrick Gaudio. This is the first instructional I have purchased where not only do I know the instructor, but I actually trained under him a couple times a week for several months. Some other instructionals I picked up because I recognized the name (Danaher), because I've seen other content of theirs (Tyler Spangler, Bernardo Faria, Josh McKinney), or because they happened to cover a topic I'm interested in (most of the others). But this is the first one where I have a personal relationship with the instructor. I've been his uke during class. Most of the time, I would partner with his wife, which was good for both of us because some days on the mat we were the only two not in super- or ultra-heavy. And it was nice for me, because at the time I was a blue belt, and I got to work quite a bit with a purple belt.
Anyway, that personal relationship isn't going to affect this review. This review is purely based on the merits of the instructional itself. This one is pretty straightforward to review.
This instructional covers passes, sweeps, and submissions from the 50/50 guard. It starts in the 50/50 guard. Each instruction ends the moment the pass or sweep is done. Each technique is done from a few different angles, and a few key details to explain proper positioning and angles for proper posture and balance. There isn't much of a discussion about the position, why you might find yourself there, entries into the position top or bottom. If you want to learn how to get there (which would've been helpful for me), that information isn't here. It's more along the lines of, "If you're in 50/50, here's what you do."
I think part of the reason there isn't much extra discussion is that (especially at the time of filming) Patrick was very new to speaking English. Even when I trained under him (which I believe was a few years after the instructional was filmed), his wife would translate most of his instructions from Portuguese into English. However, we could still understand his instructions even in Portuguese, because he's a very physical talker. The language barrier didn't affect the understanding of the material in this instructional, but I do believe it's part of the reason why there wasn't more discussion about the position itself.
This instructional is very effective at what it does. It doesn't meander or linger. It's very efficient. I could even call it elegant. But I also think it could have benefited from showing entries into the position, or at least briefly cover why you might be there. Overall, I rate this as an S-Tier instructional (although I was leaning towards A tier).
Tiers are F, D, C, B, A, S, and SS.
