Book Review: The Black Belt Blueprint

The Book Cover (Image property of Nic Gregoriades)

Opening: This review is looks over the book written by Roger Gracie Black Belt Nic Gregoriades, founder of the Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood. This book is available from Nic himself at www.jjbgear.com or on Amazon and BudoVideos.com. It is available in E-book format and paperback. I purchased the E-book off Amazon for just under $15.00.

I am not being financially compensated for this review. All thoughts expressed are my true and honest opinion.

Initial Impressions: Since this was an E-book download there was no real packaging or presentation to speak of. Once I had finished downloading the book I did a quick scan through the book noticing lots of positional pictures, links to videos and many flow charts. You can tell that this book is not a step by step instructional on how to perform moves but rather an well thought out mindset and approach to Jiu Jitsu and your body as a whole.

Section Breakdown:

Part 1: Before you start

Part 2: The framework

Part 3: Concepts

Part 4: On the mat

Part 5: Invisible Jiu Jitsu

Part 6: Improving off the mat

Part 7: The Jiu Jitsu lifestyle

Part 8: Resources

Each Part of the book has several sub sections that delve into greater detail and give you the tools to sharpen your critical thinking for Jiu Jitsu. This book covers everything from Gi selection to breath control. Nic talk about the concepts and criticality of leverage and positional understanding. At first glance some of the things in the book may seem basic or geared towards beginners, but I don't think that is necessarily the case. I think it is easy for someone to read a concept but not fully take it in and leave it a face value. Applying things like coordinating your breath awareness to match your physical movement are quite invaluable. I have actually noticed my efficiency of energy expenditure get better. There is also a great section on movement drills that allows you put these concepts to use while practicing.

Learn to control yourself and your opponent with a conceptual approach (Image property of Nic Gregoriades)

This book addresses other aspects of the Jiu Jitsu practitioner such as using Yoga for flexibility, natural diet tips, or simple bodyweight and kettle bells for conditioning. While these things are not a new breakthrough, they compliment a holistic and thought provoking approach to the Jiu Jitsu Lifestyle. A conceptual book like this is good for may reasons. It gets you out of the Step1, Step 2, Step 3 mindset and helps you approach the mats with feeling and a deeper understanding of the concepts that you can apply to almost all moves, not just one technique.

The Black Belt Blueprint reminds me a lot of another book I own, Mastering The 21 Immutable Principles Of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This is also a great book on the concepts of how and why Jiu Jitsu works and how to get more efficiency and effectiveness out of your movements. Nic's book however touches on all aspects of the Jiu Jitsu lifestyle not just on the mat. There are several links to videos in the book which is a great way to further explain concepts and for the reader to see them carried out.

Final Thoughts: From beginners to beyond this book has something for everyone. I think the conceptual approach is what separates a person being truly great at Jiu Jitsu from someone who is just strong and athletic that can muscle the position or tap. Nic is Roger Gracie's 1st Black belt and he did it in about 4.5 years so he has obviously applied these concepts himself. For $15-$20 you can not go wrong with this book

P.S. Nic's Website Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood  has tons of free content to improve your game. Check it out for sure.