Mastering The 21 Immutable Principles Of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: The Ultimate Handbook for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Students

by Paulo Guillobel, Teresa De La Cruz (Photographer), Homero Villa (Photographer)

"On 'Mastering The 21 Immutable Principles Of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu', Paulo Guillobel wears a hat of a scholar and proves that, in more than 26 years of practicing, he has not only trained, taught and competed at high level, but most important of all, has studied the art thoroughly. Every student, teacher and master will surely take advantage of the knowledge carefully organized in this book. This is by far the best Jiu-Jitsu book I ever read." -Luca Atalla, Vice President and Chief Editor of Gracie Magazine Until this book, there has never been a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu book that has comprehensively explained the most fundamental and unchangeable principles of this martial arts style. Paulo Guillobel’s Mastering the 21 Immutable Principles of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a one-of-a-kind book that goes deep into the foundation of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu techniques and strategies. With an understanding of the 21 principles revealed in this book, any BJJ student will be able to discover the invisible details behind any technique, and also understand why the techniques are being used.

Genres: Martial Arts, Nonfiction, Fitness, Sports

112 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2015

Reviews

[Tom]

Solid advice and ways of thinking about how to get the best out of your training, a short but useful guide.

[Kilian Murphy]

Quite an abstract book with some useful principles and philosophies. I think it will take some re-visiting to truly appreciate it as a useful resource. At the stage of my training currently, some principals felt more applicable than others, however the development of a martial artist is a dynamic process both physically and philosophical and I have little doubt that in time, I will come to appreciate the full suite of concepts explained in this book. Also a really useful multimedia film offered for free online for readers of the book.

[martyn jukes]

A blue print for ground fighting

After a long (5 year) hiatus from BJJ i stumbled across this book on the quest for grappling knowledge and I'm so glad I did.

Concise explanations to the basics of you jitsu that get overlooked by experienced and novice practitioners. It's helped me lose my ego and go back over old ground and instead of hunting for easy subs I've focused on position, persistence and posture and it's paying off in spades.

[James Warren]

Great Book

This is exactly what i needed and was looking for. This is NOT about moves, etc. It is about the core principles of BJJ. And I'm confident it will help me (and you) apply moves and submissions etc more and most effectlively. I will recommend it to all my training partners at Carlson Gracie Gym.

[Traveling Nobody]

Just Started and Great Reference

The book clearly provides a solid foundation of the principles that create BJJ. As a beginner, it provided me a base understanding of what to prioritize and implement on the mat. I can imagine that one will take much more from the wisdom contained with higher levels of experience.

[Carlos]

Good stuff for the beginner martial artist

If you’re new to martial arts this book is good. If you have previous martial arts experience from other arts this book may be a little repetitive. Nevertheless the content is still solid. Being able to read about principles that you subconsciously know through training is invaluable.

[xenol]

Principles presented in this book were very helpful. I started paying more attention to them and have seen some minor improvements. Definitely will give it a read again in few months, to go through them again! Also, this book is rather short one, so it can be read quickly, though make sure you take notes. I found lot of good advices how to improve one’s BJJ game. Recommended!

[Patrick Juhasz]

I liked the tips in this book. They are easy enough concepts to follow even for a newbie like me. It's a quick read that stays on track. I will say the videos on the website are critical to really understand all that he's discussing. Worth a read!

[Nick Wong]

As soon as I see a title with ‘X number of principles / steps to achieve Y’, Ill balk at the book, especially one that claims 21 principles. But as an ever long learner of BJJ there is some good advice here. The size of the book makes it a concise read, and the free videos are a great compliment.

[Błażej]

Although Paulo is no writer, and although there are few pointers on how to actually implement and spot the right moments to use the knowledge, the principles are useful for beginners and more experienced practitioners.

[Alison Froude]

A must read for anyone who practices Brazilian jiu jitsu. A lot of 🤯🤯 moments as well as a lot of “oh yeah, duhhh that makes total sense why did I never think of that?” moments. Look forward to re-reading it

[Noah Gift]

Great ideas about BJJ. Hard to find books that talk about concepts.

[Nick]

Excellent book for the BJJ enthusiast.

[Frank Paul]

Great collection of BJJ principles. It’s such a difficult martial art to learn, so books like this that simplify and organise the essentials are required reading.

[Matthew Dale]

Good read

Great book on learning the foundations of Brazilian jiu jitsu. Easy to read and very practical. I would recommend it to everyone who wants to improve their BJJ game.

[Bruno Rio]

Interesting concepts but nothing special. Easy read

[Alexander Gil]

Great analogies and short chapters, will definitely be implementing these principles into my game!

[Jack Tickle]

Terrible book. A lot of the principles over lap and are poorly defined/explained. If you want deep insight go listen to Ryan hall or John danaher

[Evan]

Very helpful for a white belt to visualize a lot of the key concepts in BJJ. It won’t compare to more classes or mat time but it’s very worthwhile and a quick read

[Mr G]

Very good philosophy for BJJ practitioners. Helps understand the finer details to help with personal progression within the sport.

[Paul Hardman]

Give me my blue belt 🔵

[Michael jäger]

Great Book to teach the basics of BJJ

[Dino]

4.5

[Richard Mulholland]

Great use of analogy and metaphor to explain concepts. A book I certainly needs to revisit.

[Paul Sutton]

solid read

Decent book, nothing earth shattering but if you are new (within 2 months) than it could be worth a read

[Brian Warren]

I’ve been able to use some of the techniques right away and I’m still working on some others.

A useful tool to better yourself at BJJ.

[Afonso]

Calling it “21 immutable principles” overstates the importance of this book. Many of the principles overlap and are either vaguely defined, highly abstract, or simply non-immutable concepts and comparisons. The text could be useful for beginners, but it often explains what a principle is without sufficiently explaining how to recognise it or when to apply it. In between these discussions, a few positions and techniques are explained, but there is nowhere near enough practical instruction to justify calling it “the ultimate handbook.”

The chapter-opening epigraphs are pseudo-intellectual aphorisms, heavily reliant on The Art of War and other familiar sources.

Overall, there are some useful ideas, but they are buried beneath poor writing, weak editing, repetition, and an inflated sense of importance.

[mako]

Fantastic breakdown of principles and concepts you may not realize you have used. And excellent guidance on adapting them to other aspects of your game. Assuredly a book you will read more than once.

[Rob Jacobs]

Great analogies to help remember. Like the quotes too.

[Marcie]

Quick and easy to read/follow... looking forward to putting these principles into practice!!