One of the biggest myths in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is that strength and speed don’t matter. Jiu-jitsu, according to the people who buy into this myth, is the great equalizer, and superior technique will always triumph over speed and brute strength.
While it is certainly true that a smaller person with a huge technique advantage can beat a larger opponent, the simple fact of the matter is size, power, and speed do matter in jiu-jitsu. If they didn’t, there would be no need for weight classes, and professional grapplers like Andre Galvao wouldn’t bother packing on muscle.
Short and two the point: if you want to be a killer on the mats, you’re going to need to stay in shape.
This is where Daniel Fredell’s Jits-Fit: A Grappler’s Guide To Fitness comes in.
Fredell is a personal trainer at Fenix Jiu-Jitsu, and he wrote this book because, in his words, “What do you do if the book you need does not exist? You write the damn thing!”
Jits-Fit is separated into 12 chapters, including an intro, a chapter on diet and nutrition, and five chapters on specific exercises such as deadlifts and rows.
The chapters on the specific exercises are remarkable for their detail. I can’t think of any other book that dedicates nine pages to the deadlift or eight for the crawl. Fredell not only breaks down the mechanics of each exercise, but highlights their importance. He also goes into various subsets of each exercise. For example, he not only covers deadlifts but Romanian deadlifts, kettlebell suitcase deadlifts, and others. Naturally, each chapter has plenty of pictures to show readers proper form.
You might be asking yourself now, “What’s so special about Jits-Fit? I could learn how to do deadlifts and squats anywhere.”
That’s true, but the chapters also include exercises specific for Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Exercises such as guard get-ups and drags are included in this book, and chapter eight is dedicated to endurance (both physical and mental) for grappling.
Despite all of it’s information, Jits-Fit is only 116 pages long and written in clear, jargon-free English, making it easy for your average reader to finish in a day.
Jits-Fit: The Grappler’s Guide To Fitness is available in paperback for $19.99 and on Amazon Kindle for only $6.99.
You can pick up your copy here.
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