From legendary Brazilian jujitsu and MMA master Rickson Gracie comes a riveting, insightful memoir that weaves together the story of Gracie’s stunning career with the larger history of the Gracie family dynasty and the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, showing how the connection between mind and body can be harnessed for success both inside and outside the ring.

This book is an essential guide for anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of jiu jitsu. It provides a comprehensive overview of the various techniques, strategies, and philosophies used in this martial art. It covers topics such as body mechanics, body awareness, footwork, grips and submissions, and how to use them in a live setting.

Richard Bresler was Rorion Gracie's first student in LA, and is widely recognized as the first student of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in the US. His memoir, Worth Defending, chronicles his over 40 years' involvement with the Gracie family and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, including the almost 20 years he spent working closely alongside Rorion helping to grow Jiu-Jitsu through the Gracie Garages, the challenge matches, the founding of the Gracie Academy, and the inception of the UFC.

This book discusses the struggles and importance of Carlos Gracie Jr. and the IBJJF in giving jiu-jitsu structure, shape, and professional credibility at a time where it was under threat of becoming simply another fad. The Rise and Evolution of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu also discusses the greatest challenges the art faces today, as its popularity carries with it problems that threaten to fragment precisely some of the qualities that set jiu-jitsu apart from other martial arts to begin with.

What are the origins of Brazilian jiujitsu? Is it merely a by-product—a rebel offspring—of judo? What was the nature and content of the art that Mitsuyo Maeda, a.k.a. “Count Koma”, and other Japanese were teaching in the Amazon? Was it judo? Jiujitsu? His own personal fight-tested style, built on a foundation of judo and informed by his dozens and dozens of matches around the world? What was the bridge between the art he learned at the Kodokan and the Brazilian style--a style now practiced by millions worldwide and growing bigger every day--that claims him as its godfather?

Flown to Japan as a 16-year-old exchange student, Roy Dean entered the world of fighting through the art of Judo. Returning to the USA, he pursued even more intense study, becoming an apprentice to a Japanese jiu jitsu and aikido master in Monterey, California. This is a recollection of transformative events, his introduction to the art of Brazilian jiu jitsu, and the lessons you can only learn by living in a dojo.

Practitioners across the globe continue to use jujitsu as a tool for personal development. For many, the jujitsu academy is the one place in which we purposefully practice virtuous action. On Jiu Jitsu seeks to codify the mechanisms by which jujitsu shapes the individual, as the character traits required to achieve mastery in sport are the same that our highest humanity requires.

Tim Kennedy has a problem; he only feels alive right before he’s about to die. Kennedy, a Green Beret, decorated Army sniper, and UFC headliner, has tackled a bull with his bare hands, jumped out of airplanes, dove to the depths of the ocean, and traveled the world hunting poachers, human traffickers, and the Taliban. But he’s also the same man who got kicked out of the police department, fire department, and as an EMT, before getting two women pregnant four days apart, and finally, been beaten up by his Special Forces colleagues.

A simple conceptual framework through which the beginning student can understand his or her journey through Jiu-Jitsu while seeking personal development.

Since he burst onto the scene as George St. Pierre’s grappling coach in the late 2000’s, John Danaher has risen to be recognized as one of the foremost minds in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and competitive grappling. More than just a coach, Danaher has garnered a reputation as a philosopher of the art. His social media is read by hundreds of thousands, serving as daily inspiration for students around the world. Danaher is able to take the complex and often contradictory rules of jiu-jitsu and break them down into universal concepts.

This is a manual designed to get white belts to competent blue belts in as fast a time as possible. Zen Jiu Jitsu is more a rendition of concepts than techniques. This is the simplest and easiest way to break down and simplify the many and varied ideas, philosophies, and combinations in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu arsenal. For both competition Jiu Jitsu and self-defense Jiu Jitsu, most white belts need to fully understand the concepts, but they can be VERY confusing!

Her heart has to break before it can open. When star soccer player Peyton Rios receives an offer from her first-choice college, senior year starts off exactly as planned. But when Peyton uncovers her boyfriend's dark secret, she confronts him - and finds herself falling down a flight of stairs. Peyton's knee - and maybe her dream of going pro - is shattered. Everyone is talking: Was she pushed, or did she fall? Peyton knows the truth, even if no one believes her.

When her son Max was diagnosed with autism, Avery Abbot’s life changed forever. Her husband left, and her own dreams became a distant fantasy - always second to fighting never-ending battles to make sure Max was given opportunity, love, and respect. Finding someone to fight along her side wasn’t even on her list, and she’d come to terms with the fact that she could never be her own priority again. But a familiar face walking into her life in the form of 25-year-old Mason Street had Avery’s heart waging a war within.

Man o' wars are not jellyfish, and River McIntyre is not happy. River doesn't know why they're unhappy—though perhaps it has something to do with the way they relate more to captive marine life at the local aquarium than to the people around them. That is, until they have a run-in with Indigo "Indy" Waits on the annual class field trip. Face-to-face with an affirmed queer person, River leaps out of the closet and into the shark tank. Literally.

Ready to return to the mats? New concepts, new stories, and more brilliance from the leading mind in Brazilian jiu-jitsu can be found in the follow-up to the surprise 2019 hit. This is the perfect companion for your BJJ journey. Short, thought-provoking entries can be listened to as you sit in the parking lot before the gym opens, or after class when you're reflecting on training. Be a fly on the wall in the famous blue basement as you study with the kingmaker to champions like Gordon Ryan, Garry Tonon, and Georges St-Pierre.

Dallas Cole loathes football. That's what happens when you spend your whole childhood coming in second to a sport. College is her time to step out of the bleachers and put the playing field (and the players) in her past. But life doesn't always go as planned. As if going to the same college as her football-star ex wasn't bad enough, her father, a phenom in Texas's world of high school coaching, has decided to make the jump to college ball…as the new head coach at Rusk University. Dallas finds herself in the shadows of her father and football all over again.

She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door. With three older brothers, Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, has always been more comfortable calling the shots on a basketball court than flirting with the opposite sex. So when her police officer dad demands she get a summer job to pay for the latest in a long line of speeding tickets, she's more than a little surprised to find herself working at a chichi boutique and going out with a boy who has never seen her tear it up in a pickup game.

Enrique “Quique” Luna has one goal this summer—get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi by pursuing his other romantic prospects. Never mind that he’s only out to his best friend, Fabiola. Never mind that he has absolutely zero game. And definitely forget the fact that good and kind and, not to mention, beautiful Saleem is leaving LA for the summer to meet a girl his parents are trying to set him up with. Luckily, Quique’s prospects are each intriguing in their own ways.

Gin Fielding is counting the days until she escapes the small-town life of Roper, Missouri, for college at NYU. She prefers to blend in, though she’s far from invisible. But when she protects a younger student from a bully, the spotlight turns on her. Chase Matthews enjoys the small-town celebrity being the star quarterback brings. When Gin defends his little sister against a bully, he decides to change her senior year in ways she never imagined. When Gin declines Chase’s invitation to be part of the elite Sweet 16, the repercussions turn both their lives upside down.

Ryan Dean West is a 14-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy. With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important.

Matt Wainwright is constantly sabotaged by the overdramatic movie director in his head. He can't tell his best friend, Tabby, how he really feels about her; he implodes on the JV basketball team; and the only place he feels normal is in Mr. Ellis' English class, discussing the greatest fart scenes in literature and writing poems about pissed-off candy-cane lumberjacks. After a tragic accident, Matt finds himself left on the sidelines, on the verge of spiraling out of control and losing everything that matters to him.

You might’ve heard of me, the guy who rose quickly through the MMA fighter ranks, only to crash just as quickly. No one cares about personal reasons when it comes to losing fights and money. I’m determined to get back to where I was. For you to hear my name again. I’ve finally convinced Blake “Bring the Wroth”, former title champion and owner of Team Domination to take a chance and get me back in fighting - and winning - shape. What I didn’t bargain for is the guy’s daughter.

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain - people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team.

With his father's Ponzi scheme assets frozen, Tom Worthington believes finishing college is impossible unless he can pay his own way. After months of sleeping in his car and gypsy cabbing for cash, he's ready to do just that. But his new older-student housing comes with an unapologetically gay roommate. Tom doesn't ask why Reese Anders has been separated from the rest of the student population. He's just happy to be sleeping in a bed.

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be - sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. For fans of Silver Linings Playbook and Liar, this thought-provoking debut tells the story of Alex, a high school senior - and the ultimate unreliable narrator - unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out what is real and what is not.

A steamy summer encounter with bad boy Jude means trouble for Lucy. Her sights are set on becoming a ballerina, and she won't let anything get in her way...except Jude. He's got a rap sheet, dangerous mood swings, and a name that's been sighed, shouted, and cursed by who knows how many girls. Jude's a cancer, the kind of guy who's fated to ruin the lives of girls like Lucy - and he tells her so. But as rumors run rampant and reputations are destroyed, Lucy's not listening to Jude's warning.

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other Schools. At Hamilton High, it’s a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight or haze a freshman. And on three separate occasions Randy’s car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend’s attention. Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players’ girlfriends go on a hookup strike.

Crest is not excited to be on their Journey: the month-long sojourn on land all teen merfolk must undergo. The rules are simple: Help a human within one moon cycle and return to Pacifica to become an Elder—or fail and remain stuck on land forever. Crest is eager to get their Journey over and done with. Humans are disgusting. They’ve polluted the planet so much that there’s a floating island of trash that’s literally the size of a country.

Running back Mick Johnson has dreams: dreams of cutting back, finding the hole, breaking in to the open, and running free with nothing but green grass ahead. He has dreams of winning and of being the best. But football is a cruel sport. It requires power, grace, speed, quickness, and knowledge of the game. It takes luck, too. One crazy bounce can turn a likely victory into sudden defeat. What elite athlete wouldn’t look for an edge? A way to make him bigger, stronger, faster?

Meet Will Carter, but feel free to call him Carter. (Yes, he knows it's a lazy nickname, but he didn't have much say in the matter.) He has a stuttering problem, particularly around boobs and belly buttons. He battles Attention Deficit Disorder every minute of every day...unless he gets distracted. He's a virgin, mostly because he's no good at talking to girls.