Here’s something you’ve never seen before! A Craig Jones Jiu-Jitsu DVD! Oh wait… that’s right, you’ve seen a bunch of them. perhaps even more than any other black belt out there. So why is this one different? I will do my best to do “Power Ride: A New Philosophy On Pinning” justice and tell you exactly what everyone’s favorite Aussie grappler has to teach this time.
Overview
Since founding B-Team Jiu-Jitsu, Craig has been extremely active, competing, promoting the team, and putting together instructional. One thing that is very noticeable in terms of every B-tam member’s name is their wrestling. And I am not just talking about takedowns here.
This particular Craig Jones Jiu-Jitsu instructional focuses on pinning opponents by utilizing a wrestling classic – riding. I’ll explain the concept of riding further in the article, but it is a skill sorely missed by modern BJJ grapplers and one that the B-team and New Wave Jiu-Jitsu are leaning heavily towards.
In 6 volumes Craig covers leg and body rides of different varieties. The goal is to use them in order to pin opponents and eventually gain maximal control over them which will lead into submissions. SInce rides don’t just happen out of the blue, Jones also covers entries in his Power Ride pinning system.
Instructor Background
It s Craig Jones. I can leave it there and everyone will know everything they need in terms of the instructor behind the “Powe Ride: A New Philosophy On Pinning” instructional.
Still, let me repeat a few major things about Craig Jones:
- He was born in Australia and currently lives in Austin Texas.
- Craig is a black belt under Lachaln Giles, promoted in 2016.
- He is predominantly a No-Gi grappler, who has won silver in the last ADCC, is he 205 and 185 Polaris champion, and has some outstanding performances in sub-only tournaments like EBI, Kasai, and SUG.
- Craig was a part of the Danaher Death Squad and put together his own B-team Jiu-JItsu after the DDS broke apart.
- Founder of Mexican Karate.
- There are currently no less than 13 Craig Jones Jiu-Jitsu DVD instructional available, with more undoubtedly on their way.
- Wears signature leopard-themed uncomfortably short shorts.
Subject
As promised, I’ll try and explain more about the concepts of rides, which is something BJJ people do not know about. At all. And that is a real shame. Rides are a staple of wrestling and include a series of different ways to attach yourself to an opponent and force them to move, while at the same time not having to actively follow them as they do, but rather hitch a ride on a certain body apart of theirs, so you still end up in a better (mostly top) position than them.
In other words, rides are ways wrestlers use to break down defensive positions like the turtle or the referee’s position and get a match-winning pin – press both of the opponent’s shoulder blades on the mats. This is easy to do when you have your body strategically attached to one of their leg or torso.
In the six-part “Power Ride Pinning” DVD, Craig talks about how you can control and submit people in BJJ by using these age-old wrestling tactics which are not at all difficult to master.
Complexity
This is a No-Gi instructional that involves wrestling techniques and BJJ positions. In the case of both, no real deep prior knowledge is required. Craig Jones is a good coach that knows how to break things down. in this case, he does so perfectly when attempting to teach BJJ grapplers how to get better at pinning by using underestimated wrestling techniques.
Given the general lack of knowledge about wrestling (outside of takedowns and headlock) in BJJ, even most black belts are going to be white belts on the subject of rides. In other words, this Craig Jones Jiu-Jitsu instructional will make anyone a better grappler. Guaranteed.
Technical Details
This instructional is available as a hard copy DVD or as a digital download. In both situations, it consists of six volumes of HD video and sound quality material, very carefully organized in a progressive learning system.
The full running length of the ‘Power Ride: A New Philosophy On Pinning” DVD is around 240 minutes (~4 hours). The first couple of introductory volumes is the shortest (each at around 30 minutes. Parts three through five last just over 400 minutes each, with the sixth one lasting over an hour.
Craig is a native English speaker and an eloquent one at that. While he does speak with an Australian accent it is not overwhelming and it is very easy to follow his thought process.
Detailed Analysis
DVD #1
After a short intro, Craig starts to explore the traditional scoring system of BJJ and exposes one key fact – points do not equal control. On that note, control is much better defined in terms of other grappling martial arts, especially in wrestling.
In order to understand how the control works, one first needs to figure out movement. How movement is created, where the power comes from, and the standard operating procedure of BJJ grapplers are all things Jones dwells on in the first portion of his “Power Ride” instructional.
DVD #2
While part one of this Craig Jones JIu-Jitsu DVD is about theory, part two is where he puts it to practice. This volume covers leg rides, which in turn, provide you with leg control. It is different from AShi Grami or other types of leg control (like takedowns) that you might know so far.
Leg rides involve using your legs to entangle the opponent’s leg(s) and prevent them from moving or following them when they move in a direction you actually want them to go towards.
The volume covers some classic wrestling rides like the Turk and the Shelf, as well as some interesting takes on the rear mount.
DVD #3
In part three of the “Power Ride” DVD, Craig JOnesexplores upper body controls that often lead to successful pinning.
Once again, there is a lot of classic wrestling stuff in here that BJJ people do not use (for reasons beyond my understanding). Things like claw rides, cross face control, Nelson variations, etc are all a staple for wrestlers. Quite often, they are also the reason why wrestlers outperform BJJ athletes on the mats.
There’s more rear mount work here, wrestling-style (as opposed to classical BJJ back control).
The star of this volume is of course the Dagestani handcuff. You’ll recognize it easily when you see it.
DVD #4
Can Craig Jones e the one to solve the biggest defensive puzzle of modern BJJ – the turtle position? Well if anything can be used to beat the old wrestling-inspired defense, it has to be wrestling-inspired offense, right?
In volume number four, Craig Jones looks at diagonal rides, crab hooks, spiral rides, and other simple ways of breaking down a heavily turtled-up opponent. He throws in some cradles and underclaws in there as well, to create a loop you can keep an opponent in endlessly.
OF course, Craig offers a way to piece everything together at this point before moving on to bridge the gap between wrestling for wrestling and wrestling for BJJ.
DVD #5
How do you combine all the wrestling stuff Craig Jones demonstrated in previous volumes so that they improve pinning success in BJJ? This is the volume that brings everything together.
\IN the first chapters, Craig goes over side control, mount, knee on belly, and back control entries. he utilizes all of the things demonstrated earlier in the “Power Ride” instructional, tying them to the most important (and point scoring) positions in Jiu-Jitsu.
The second portion of the fifth volume looks into some passing and top control positions that are not point scoring but do provide lots of control. Leg drags, dope mount, smash passing, and everyone’s favorite new toy – the body lock.
DVD #6
Wrapping up what turns out to be one of the best Craig Jones Jiu-JItsu instructionals ever is a volume that covers submissions. it wouldn’t be a Craig Jones DVD if it did not have a bunch of crazy subs in it, would it?
This is where you’ll learn how to execute many of the submissions you’re already doing. From arm triangles to Darces and rear naked chokes, Craig goes over BJJ submission while offering wrestling-based pining control that improves their finishing rate. Plus, he throws in some catch wrestling surprises like the Half Nelson finish and the Cow Catcher, finely mixing things up.
How We Grade The “Power Ride: A New Philosophy On Pinning” Craig Jones Jiu-Jitsu Instructional
Considering the “Power Ride: A New Philosophy On Pining” instructional DVD’s technical aspects and quality of content, we come to an overall score for this instructional that I’ll deliberate in short below.
Technical Quality: 10/10
NO mistakes here, as once again BJJ fanatics prove why they are the gold standard when it comes to BJJ and/or wrestling DVD instructionals.
Quality of Content: 10/10
This is as complete an instructional, as a grappler can hope for. Perfect length, a very underrated subject brought to light, connecting different grappling martial arts and all of it done by one of the world’s best grapplers (both competitive and teaching-wise). This instructional is a great fit for grapplers of all ages and levels, including those that only grapple with a Gi on.
Overall: 10/10
Just what the doctor ordered. I am rarely impressed by a BJJ DVD nowadays, but this one certainly did the trick. Has to be my personal favorite Craig Jones Jiu-Jitsu DVD today.
Wrap Up
Why would you ignore 50 % of the human body? IF that famous quote made sense to you then why would you ignore thousands of years of grappling knowledge simply because the prefix BJJ is not in front of it? Wrestling offers exactly that, and now that Craig Jones did all the hard work funneling it into one instructional, there are no excuses not to, and get this one for yourself or your favorite grappler.
