Traditionally Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructionals tend to be huge, expensive box sets that could be a curriculum at a school, but with the rise of the digital only format has allowed instructionals to become shorter, more focused and cheaper. The Digitsu website has embraced this shift, becoming home to an impressive library of offerings, some of it exclusive content. I only recently have become aware of this site and I’ve already bought Abraham Marte’s Aggressive Closed Guard and Joseph Capizzi’s Master the Gullotine, in addition to receiving Gianni Grippo’s Dynamic Leg Drag and Single Leg X sets.
I’ve been spending most of my time recently with the Dynamic Leg Drag set, I’ve used leg drags in my game for years, it is a good addition to the Lovato/Xande pressure passing approach and also fits nicely with my a leg lock attack coming off guard passing. Gianni Grippo is a rising American star on the international Brazilian Jiu Jitsu scene, a two-time black belt Pan Jiu Jitsu champion and a World Pro gold medalist in 2015, and is one of the leading figures in the rise of the Marcelo Garcia Academy as an elite camp.
What will I learn?
The set is a focused set on the leg drag, but that does not mean that it is short, it features 20 videos all of them focus on implementing the leg drag against a variety of guards and reactions. In addition to the techniques there are also videos of practice drills, which are of equal value to the techniques themselves. Grippo is known for his relentless drilling and the drills he includes here are valuable for committing a technique to memory and can be done at high intensity. Personally I’ve found the Duck Under drill particularity useful as it builds a good reaction to one of the most common counters to the leg drag pass. Also the lasso grip is becoming increasingly popular at my gym and Grippo has an excellent series of videos detailing how to attack that grip. Grippo also has a few videos on how to finish the pass and follow up to back takes working off escape attempts.
The production of the videos is average, but most of the techniques do include several takes of the technique and from a few different angles. The videos also can be downloaded in a DRM format so they can be put on mobile devices to more easily brought onto the mat. This easily passes the YouTube test simply for the continuity of the videos.
Who is this instructional best for?
The leg drag is an excellent start for a standing passing game, and while I personally feel that learning passing normally starts on the knees in reality the evolution of the sport side makes this a very applicable tool for even beginners. This isn’t an introduction to Jiu Jitsu class like the Jiu Jitsu University book, rather an excellent resource for adding on particular arrow to your quiver. This instructional can work very well for any belt level looking to compete, I personally recommend having a few stripes on your white belt before throwing down, but this is a no brainier for any colored belt looking to add the leg drag to their game.
Final thoughts
Here is a link to the produce page, which includes a sample video of the duck under technique that I personally have been drilling quite a bit. The series is worth the money for the On Demand videos, which is what I’d personally recommend as the better value for your dollar. And personally I’m a big fan of the overall concept of Digitsu, I’ve been grabbing all the free samples I can and have assembled myself a wish list for the coming months.
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