A great way to add more grappling knowledge is to read a book. There are so many grappling, BJJ, wrestling and judo books on the market now that it can be tough to choose the right one for you.
A book can be useful as you can really understand the technique and gameplan better as it is right before you, they can be read anywhere and anytime. A great place to read is right at your bedside as you can always check out your favorite move and make sure you are on top of things in terms of your technical knowledge.
Here are top 6 BJJ and Grappling books we recommend you to read:
1. Jiu-Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro
This is the absolute best written book on BJJ you can get, period. First, it’s written by Saulo Ribeiro – a 6 time BJJ world champion and one of the most technical practitioners around. Saulo has a very logical approach to teaching in this book, he separates sections by belt levels, with many illustrations and even goes on with showing the common errors and how to fix them. There are 200+ rock solid techniques and all of them are high % and effective.
There are some great insights within the book and a very easy to understand teaching style that will make the techniques really sink in.
2. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu: Theory & Technique by Renzo and Royler Gracie
If you were to look at the perfect book for beginning BJJ practitioners as well as a book that covers the full aspect of BJJ, this would be the book for you.
This book has been written by 2 titans of BJJ, Renzo and Royler Gracie, both of which have won many BJJ and submission wrestling championships and fought countless MMA battles.
They cover the absolute basics, standing techniques such as self defence and throws, ground fighting and submissions. There are great step-by-step photographs and the written explanations are well written.
3. Drill to Win: 12 Months to Better Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Andre Galvao
Andre Galvao is one of the best competitors to ever grace the mats both in BJJ and Submission Wrestling, he has won all major titles and done so in dominant fashion.
This book takes a totally different approach to teaching BJJ as it is a day by day, week by week, month by month program to better your overall BJJ skills. This book is not for the absolute beginner but if you have 6 months of BJJ under your belt, this book can for sure help you accelerate your learning.
The program he represents is broken into monthly sections, where each month is a different focus and presents different drills. These drills if practiced will for sure enhance your BJJ game and it is presented in an interesting manner with a focus on building a solid foundation through drilling.
4. Mastering Jujitsu by Renzo Gracie and John Danaher
Renzo Gracie and John Danaher bring you a book that is more of an overall intro to BJJ as it covers deep history, concepts and techniques that they believe to be pivotal to understand the soft art of BJJ.
Renzo and John are the brains behind many of the top BJJ champions that are dominating tournaments worldwide.
They cover everything from solo skill development, drills and strategies to help you become the best grappler you can be.
5. Kodokan Judo by Jigoro Kano
Written by the founder of Judo – Jigoro Kano, this book is the bible of Judo. Here are the original techniques with great explanations as well as this book covers all aspects of judo, throwing, ground fighting, kata and more.
This is the textbook of judo and anyone interested in learning judo should definitely read this book as it is not only a book, but a part of the history of judo.
6. The Black Belt Blueprint: An Intelligent Approach to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by Nicolas Gregoriades
Nicolas Gregoriades takes a totally different approach to teaching his concepts in this book. This book is not a book that will present you with 200 techniques but it will help you fine tune your game with his distinct look on the principles that make techniques work. Gregoriades also writes a lot about auxiliary activities you can do to add to your BJJ in order to gain an extra edge on the mats.
This book truly is an intellectual approach to BJJ and one for practitioners wanting to fine tune their game not by step by step photos but by discovering concepts that will help them become better grapplers.
In Conclusion
We highly recommend all of these books, they are great to have on the coffee table or by your bed and you can always learn a little more from reading them. All these books we own and have read, so you can be sure our review of these grappling books are genuine.
