The Closed Guard Attacks DVD features Luiz Palhares, a 6th degree black belt under Rickson Gracie. Mr. Palhares started training in 1976 with Rolls Gracie and has been a student of Rickson's since 1982. He has an incredible reputation as an instructor and his depth of knowledge seems formidable.

Closed Guard Attacks is my first DVD from PracticalGrappler.com and while they have a couple of other titles that I really want to check out, my reasons for doing so had little to do with the quality of the DVD itself.

The first several techniques on the DVD fit very nicely together into a series that is already working extremely well for me on the matt. Each time Mr. Palhares repeated a technique he added greater and greater levels of detailed explanation. Most of the techniques are simple enough and explained expertly enough that I honestly believe that you will find yourself pulling them off against your training partners after just a few practice sessions.

I have watched the DVD five or six times now and I have a strange feeling that, even though I have about ten pages of notes, I'll probably watch it at least one more time this month (01/15/2007). I, personally, really prefer the closed guard or half guards when I am fighting off the bottom and the techniques on this DVD are like a goldmine for me.

The DVD features 16 techniques divided into four sections: closed guard attacks from the entangled arm position, what to do when you cannot break his posture and entangle his arm, what to do when your opponent stands, and a couple of final tricks.

There are a few things that I wish were different: The lighting is horrible, way to bright. The post production work needs more work, the sound seems hollow and makes me think that it was recorded directly off of the camera itself.

But why sweat the little things when the meat of the product is this good? I really don't care if you're a top game guy or a bottom game guy, this DVD is a fantastic resource.

1. Instructors demonstrated Knowledge (idsl): 10
2. Ease of comprehension (how easy is it to understand?) (eoc): 9
3. Organization (did they jump around, or did they solve each problem completely before moving on?) (org): 10
4. Level of applicability within stated goals/confines (la): 10
5. Use of space (Formating makes it easier to understand the content, etc. high is good, low is bad) (uot): 10
6. Did you want to read it again (immediately) (wia): 10
7. Can you recommend this product? (rtp): 10