Company: Vee Arnis Jitsu
Tape Name: Vee Jitsu Te For The Street
Tape Cost: $35.00
Length of Tape/Time: Approximately 1 hour
Number of Moves/Techniques: 12 Techniques + Variations + Many Concepts
Return Policy: ?
Experiences in dealing with this company: Excellent
The Instructor: David James
Company's Address: 4202 Ave U, Brooklyn, NY, 11234
Company's Phone Number: 718-252-8944
Web Page: http://www.vajjujitsu.com/
E-Mail: info@vajjujitsu.com

Primary Grading Criteria:

1. Production/Tape Quality: 9
2. Instructors demonstrated skill level: 10
3. Comprehension Score/Immediate Understanding: 10
4. Degree to which this will make someone a better Martial Artist: 10
5. Score on delivery vs hype: 10
6. Degree to which we would recommend this product: 10
7. Wasted Time ( The higher the number, the less " fluff" /repetition ): 10
8. Playback Score/Watching if over-and-over again: 10
9. Would I purchase more of this company's products: 10
10. Overall grade based on cost vs. Value: 10

Grand Total: 99% ( Excellent = 4.75 Stars out of possible 5 )

Secondary Grading Criteria:

1. Beginners benefit: Excellent
2. Intermediate benefit: Excellent
3. Advanced benefit: Excellent
4. Time to benefit: Immediate for most
5. The need to buy additional tapes to understand this one: Vee Arnis Jitsu series from ESPY would be of value but is not a necessity.

Written Summary:

Readers of these reviews already know what we at MAVR think of Vee Arnis Jitsu as a street self defense system. For those of you who do not know, I think it is one of the very best two or three systems in existence for street self defense. This system was developed by the late Professor Florendo Visitacion ( a.k.a. Professor Vee ) over many years. Professor Vee recently passed away and the heir to his system is Shihan David James, one of the very best street self defense martial experts and the instructor on this magnificent video presentation. If you have never seen Shihan James in action or you are unfamiliar with Vee Arnis Jitsu, you will be in for the martial arts video treat of your life when you see this tape. But be warned: This video is hard hitting, the training is rough and painful and the intensity of Shihan James can be a little shocking to those accustomed to a more laid back style of video presentation. But as Shihan James says, there is "no such thing as effortless self defense. We are not violent. The ex convict in the street is violent."

These guys train hard and they mean business. There is a little bit of overlap of material between this video and the previous Vee Arnis Jitsu series by ESPY. But there is still more than enough new material to make this an absolute must have for anyone interested in real life self defense training.

The video is organized into 12 self defense techniques. Readers of my reviews know that I am not normally a fan of purely technique oriented training. This video is a huge exception to that rule. While Shihan James does teach by technique, he is constantly illustrating key concepts within each technique. So even though you are learning technique, you are also learning the underlying concept behind each technique. It really is a marvelous way to train and I wish I had the opportunity to train in person with Shihan James. To make it even better, the techniques are shown at street speed and done with intensity seldom seen in a video. Each technique is shown at normal speed and then the fine points are shown slowly. There is no cutting and overdubbing. Everything is shown in real time and what you see is what you get. Within each technique, Shihan James also gives a "what if" scenario in case you get an unexpected response. These "what if" options are very believable and frankly, they just make good common sense.

To sum up the Vee Arnis Jitsu system, I would say it is an incredibly rapid fire system of counterattacking that incorporates the best of western boxing, karate, arnis, jiu jitsu, judo, and thai boxing into a devastatingly effective street system. Key concepts introduced within these techniques (or Te's as they are called) are: head moves the body, striking from the closest point, true autonomic responses (not the bogus stuff from SCAR's), low line kicking, high low striking, "what if" training and a whole lot more. The basic techniques cover defenses against shoulder pushes, getting slapped in the face, a guy reaching for your pocket, a guy grabbing both your wrists, back grabs, side shoulder grab, defending against a front thrust kick (this one alone is worth the price of the tape), two handed shove defense and defenses against someone reaching for you. In other words, these "attacks" are a lot more believable than standard dojo issue techniques which are often very static and non alive. For those who like their training "real", then this is for you. There is real pain on the faces of the uke's but I suspect that pain tolerance is part of the Vee Arnis Jitsu training as well.

I am not going to tell you all the details involved in each technique. That would take too long. But if you are the least bit interested in street self defense, you need to get this video. I do not routinely give out video grades in the high 90's and when I do, you can bet that I think the video is something very special.

CJ

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