Roy Dean: “Art of the Wristlock”

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[ChrisHein]

Roy Dean: “Art of the Wristlock”

So I recently got my copy of Roy Dean’s “Art of the Wristlock” Dvd, and I was pleased.

For those of you who don’t know, Roy Dean is one of the few people to obtain his black belt in both Aikido and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Making him the perfect person to make this Dvd; which bridges some some of the gap between Bjj and Aikido.

Whether you are an Aikidoka seeking some information about Brazilian Jiu jitsu, or A Ground grappler seeking some info on Aikido, or wrist locks, you won’t be disappointed.

It’s a two disc Dvd. Disc I covers some of Roy's experiences with both Modern sport martial arts, and traditional Japanese style grappling. The disc is set up almost like a one on one private lesson with Roy. He talks you through, and demonstrates Japanese Jujutsu (Aikido) technique. He also touches on follow ups that he’s learned from his ground grappling experience, and shows some slick wrist locks from common ground positions. One of the more important points Roy covers in this first Dvd is: learning through resistance. That your ideas about how techniques “should” work, and how they work against a living noncooperative person are often two different things.

Roy is speaking from a place of experience here, and not a place of theory. Roy took the leap, trying his stuff against trained, noncooperative opponents, and he’s hoping to share his insights with you. A really nice, well thought out presentation.

Disc two is seminar footage from one of Roy’s seminars. When I saw that is was seminar footage, I literally groaned out load. I have sifted through so much crummy Vhs seminar footage in my life, I wasn't pleased with the idea of going through more. In these types of video’s there are always children talking in the background, and the constant airy sound of bad microphones. Turning the volume to 10, still not able to hear what the teacher is saying, just as some jerk walks by the camera talking to his buddy, blasting my speakers.

In short I HATE seminar footage, and was very close to not watching Roy’s. However I was WRONG in a big way. Roy’s seminar footage, was clean, easy to see, easy to hear, and no annoying background noise. For the first time in my life: Good Seminar footage. Bravo! I wish Roy had been with my teacher while he was living in Japan, and shot all his seminar footage for him, I would have been a much happier uchi-deshi!!

The second Dvd is really good. Covers some of the same material in disc I, but does in a a slightly different way that’s useful and reinforcing. You also get to see some other non-expert people experimenting with the techniques, and see how Roy helps them.

What I would have liked to see more of. Personally I think this is a great overview of both systems, anyone interested in either Bjj or Aikido/Japanese jujutsu should check it out. However for those of us who have spent a fair amount of time with both systems, it’s not quite in-depth enough. I would like to have seen more of Roy’s personal “game”, and more of his personal solutions to grappling problems. However I understand that there are not lot’s of people out there already experienced in both systems. There is a much broader audience for this type of Dvd. I personally hope we see a second Dvd, of this caliber from Mr. Dean, and that it covers more of his personal style.

If you’re coming at this from either the sport side, or the traditional side, and are looking at some information on the other. Roy is the right guy to talk you through it. And he’s done it in a very nice Dvd here. I would recommend it.

[Ron Tisdale]

Thanks for the review Chris, I appreciate it!
Best,
Ron

[Kevin Leavitt]

I am watching Roy's DVD this weekend as well. So far my comments echo Chris'.

What I really appreciate about Roy is he is clear, succinct, and a technician.

He breaks things down into very easy to understand, efficient moves and then repeats them the same way, cleanly, over and over.

There is no philosophical discussion or "just move your hips", useless kind of descriptive languaging. Just step by step simple easy to understand methods.

One thing I like is that he always completes a move to a useful immobilization or pin. This is lacking in many folks practice.

His body contact and relationship to uke is positive and on the money. No jumping or flying through the air kind of moves.

Good stuff! I recommend this to anyone that wants a good, basic primer on some effective wrist locks that will work.

[salim]

The evolution of Jujitsu has taken many forms over the last several decades. There have been life long questions regarding the effectiveness and training methods of Aikido. Something new is on the market, unlike anything you may have seen. A bold new approach to Aikido and it's Jujitsu roots, infused to bring precession flow to a mixture of techniques. This exclusive, bold new approach, exemplified so eloquently, while remaining simplistic. Roy Dean brings the world of Jujitsu all into one. It's unparalleled to anything on the market for instructional Aikido/Jujitsu available today. This clear, detailed, precession instruction is presented in a simplistic fashion, while maintaining a first class, professional approach.

Roy Dean's Art of Wrist Locking, unfolds the common roots shared by all Jujitsu art forms. Whether it be Judo, Jujitsu, Aikido or Brazilian Jujitsu; they share the same common goals of redirecting the opponents energy, allowing for chokes, locks and throws. These techniques and many more are all from the same heritage of Jujitsu.

The DVD presents an introduction of Jujitsu and how Aikido fits into the scheme of Roy Dean's Aikido training. He explains his life long quest of Aikido and Jujitsu, what has worked and what hasn't worked from proven real resistance. You get the feeling, Mr. Dean is speaking honestly and really wants to express the true nature of proven self defense techniques. He not only talks about his experiences, but clearly shows step by step how these techniques are applied. He repeats each technique, slowly, demonstrating each technique from various angles. The classroom participation is also shown. You really see how a beginner or the advance student applies the same techniques.

The set is a two DVD collection with an array of techniques explained. The first DVD shows 5 basic techniques. Then he explores Shihonage, Kotegaeshi, ground fighting and some excellent demonstrations at the end. DISC two shows seminars as stated before, but they are really instructional, not some flabby, run of the mill seminars. Unlike so many seminars, you walk away with no real instruction and mostly philosophical rhetoric. Roy's seminars are different. A must see for those who really want to learn proven, tested techniques.

[Roy Dean]

Gentlemen,

Thank you! I appreciate the time you all took to review the set, and hope it adds something to each of your martial skill sets.

I aimed broadly with this project, so that Aikidoka,Traditional Jujutsu, Aiki-Jujutsu, and BJJ practitioners would all receive cross exposure to related movements. Through the demonstrations, the basic wristlocks that I teach are repeated in the context of Aikido, Japanese Jujutsu, and resistant grappling scenarios. This was my attempt at a forward thinking, integrative DVD that not only respects other arts, but encourages practitioners to explore and experiment to discover their own truth.

Again, many thanks for the reviews!

[ChrisHein]

I think you hit your mark!