Overall, this book is exactly what it says it is and shows the techniques of Brazilian Jujitsu that are best used in MMA and Self Defense.

There are the normal forwards and introductions that set the stage for the reader. The Forward done by a military special operations MSG who endorses the use of BJJ in general for hand to hand combat (most military personel have adopted the practice of BJJ) and talks a bit about how they use Simco's products.

Simco then gives an introduction as to how to use the book and his philosophy of training and organization, explaining that its basically better to learn 20 moves at 100% than 100 at 20%. He explains the overall philosophy of Jiu-jitsu and how this is a book of how BJJ techniques fit into a Street or MMA situation, not a book about how to change BJJ into something its not. He stays pretty true to BJJ throughout the book and doesn't add anything that isn't Jujitsu for the sake of making it more `street', instead shows how Jujitsu can solve all the Self Defense problems the reader might have. He explains how the practice of MMA is great for self defense because it is the closest you can get to reality without hurting your partner or yourself. His philosophy of training in general is to be better than the opponent both technically and morally otherwise, "we are no better than those who attack us". `Jiu-jitsu' does mean `Gentle Art'.

Before he gets into the techniques, he gives a history, which was pretty interesting, then follows with the philosophy of positions and the scientific side of physical attributes.

The Techniques:

Before he gets into anything technique-wise, he does something I appreciated as a martial artist by explaining the differences between a real fight and mixed martial arts competition. There are differences and Simco both identifies and acknowledges them.

Unlike many other books, Simco's are very well organized by position and within position, sequencing the techniques so that they link together. This makes them easy to learn, easy to reference and better yet, it makes them work.

He starts from the standing position and talks a bit about striking and how to learn the basics of it so that you understand exactly what is being thrown at you.

He then discusses how to achieve the clinch position in a street fight and some self defense tips. The pictures are clear and go over the details of several takedowns for street and MMA step by step with pretty good instructions. He shows a few variations of moves and the differences of how they might be applied differently with clothing and in MMA with shorts, like the "biana" takedown (basically the brazilian double leg), which he shows a couple of times, addressing how to do it with a penetration step (taking a knee), then without for a hard surface, then a variation, making use of the pants.

The book follows a step by step photo and description approach through all the BJJ positions for the bulk of the book, covering guard passing, the use of the guard, top attacks and escapes, and back mount attacks. All pretty much linked together.

The other nice reference feature is that small thumbnail pictures are displayed down the left side of each page so that after reading the book through (once you've go the basic idea) you can flip through and get a quick refresher or visually find the technique you are looking for. This is especially great for the beginner who isn't familiar with all the jargon and terminology, its easier to look at the picture of what you want to work on.

The last part explains briefly a bit more about simplifying BJJ techniques for self defense even further in his Self Defense Made Easy dvds and works as an introduction to the DVD that comes with the book. After reading the book and checking out the dvd, I purchased the full No Rules set, which was even better than the book and more expansive being that it is a four dvd package. I also purchased the Self Defense dvds and found it to be a useful guide to what I should show my wife whom I want to know some self defense but won't come to class.

For the Beginner, this book adjusts the basics and shows how they can be performed in a non-sportive fight.

For a Martial Artist from another style who wants to add BJJ without going through the belt ranks again, this book is probably the best out there. It's just what you need to know without all the filler and fluff.

For the Intermediate BJJ student, this book will show you how to adjust positions for better self defense or act as a great reference guide if you are training for mixed martial arts competition.

Much has already been said about this book, so I'll keep it simple and add my $.02.

Many people practicing BJJ these days do so only for sport and some think that they know what it takes to defend themselves. Maybe they can against someone with no skills, but not against a trained fighter. This book is very with the times as it fills in the gap for people who train mostly with the gi and would like to know how to adjust their moves for a no rules or less rules situation. For someone who isn't interested in 'pajama-grappling' as I like to call it, this book teaches you the BJJ that you really need to know without all the silly flexible monkey moves that'll probably get you killed anyway. The DVD that came with it makes it a real bargain too!