While these apps have been around the market for a very long time, I decided to get them only 3 months back during my long flight from Malaysia to Japan. I needed something entertaining to watch & wasn't interested in movies, so I decided to check in my Iphone and typed the word "BJJ".
There are many BJJ apps in the Iphone store but I wanted to find something that was easy to view and digest (considering the art of BJJ, the attention is in the detail)... I also wanted to try 1 of the free apps 1st since I wasn't really interested in buying at 1st.
Roy Dean Academy is a pretty heavy apps on the Iphone (above 50mb) and after waiting for about a good 3 minutes, I couldn't wait to open this new app to see what's in it. 1st a quick intro of who Roy Dean is:
Roy Dean began training in martial arts at the age of 16 when he moved to Japan as an exchange student. While there he received his shodan (first degree black belt) in Kodokan Judo.
At age 19 he began training in Aikikai Aikido under Kalvin Koshiyama, eventually serving as uchideshi (live in student) under Julio Toribio. By age 24, he had received his shodan in Aikikai Aikido, and Enshin Itto-Ryu Batto Jutsu (Iaido), as well as a sandan (third degree blackbelt) in Seibukan Jujutsu.
Training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu began under Claudio Franca in 1997, where he received his blue belt. In 2000 he began training under Roy Harris in San Diego and was promoted to purple belt in 2002, brown belt in 2004, and the prestigious black belt in 2006. He was promoted to second degree black in September 2010.
Mr. Dean served as a staff member under Mr. Harris from 2002 to 2006; led the grappling program at Jiai Aikido, and instructed the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu recreation class at the University of California, San Diego. Dean has competed and won in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling competitions.
- Extracted from their main website at: http://www.roydeanacademy.com/
Roy Dean's RDA Iphone app comes with the following sections:
"Shortened" version of The White Belt Bible - teaching you how to tie a belt around your gi & a White belt to Black (Armlock) video that shows you how a White belt BJJ sees & understands BJJ as he slowly progress to Blue, Purple, Brown & ultimately Black, how each belt will view BJJ as a bigger picture and how the path of training BJJ is like.
"Shortened" Year One Seminars - A video of his BJJ Summer Seminar, Purple Belt Test & some techniques.
"Shortened" Blue Belt Requirements - A beginner's guide to BJJ split in 3 section of: Armlocks, Combinations & a trailer of his Blue Belt requirements moves & tecniques.
"Shortened" Purple Belt Requirements - The next level after Blue Belt, putting techniques together & a different approach in thinking.
"Shortened" The Art of Wristlock - A display of his Aikido techniques & how to do it.
"Shortened" No Gi Essentials - Techniques used in no gi for BJJ.
Additional Resources - some live videos of Roy Dean's seminars, competition clips & "The Best of Roy Harris"; his teacher.
Music for Martial Arts - a trailer with a mesh of some music produced by RDA.
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While I wont go too much in detail what each app gives and does (you can read a long and detail review from slideyfoot.com about each of the apps I downloaded: Blue Belt Requirements & No Gi Essentials), I do want to say that Roy Dean is indeed very clear in his instruction when it comes to techniques & shows you more than one option on executing it.
Compare Gracie University videos to Roy Dean you can read the review here on what slideyfoot thinks, as far as I'm concern the Gracie videos seems more focused on "avoiding punches" for the street compared to Roy's videos who might be more "competition" related... but it really is up to your preference on what you expect out of BJJ.
I found Roy Dean Academy BJJ videos both to be really beginner friendly and gives you a good idea on some of the techniques shown. The Iphone apps for "Blue Belt Requirements" (840MB) & "No Gi Essentials" (881MB) are USD 24.99. They can also be purchased from Amazon: "Blue Belt Requirements" for USD 42.62 / "No Gi Essentials" for USD 44.95.
Despite all that, it is important to note that learning from videos without actually practicing it with a partner makes one only a video warrior. Therefore it is important to find recognized BJJ club near you. Sabahan readers can try BJJ Borneo Academy here / Sarawakians readers can try Studio 23 here / Brunei reader can try Bussiido MMA here.
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