The book is straight forward. BJ shows the reader how to hit the submissions from two views...the front and the back view. Before he shows the move he gives the reader background information or the mindset he's in before and while he executes the move. Good book. Recommended for anyone interested in no-gi fighting. This book is for anyone who competes in mixed martial arts or grappling competitions.

seller shipped product very fast and recieved product with in a week( in iraq). product was in great shape, no defects noted when i recieved product.

This is a very good book for beginners. It was good to review the basics. For a intermediate level maybe the book of Randy is more suitable. Good Luck

this book is amazing it has alot of great techniques explained in a very simple way its easy to follow since it has pictures for every step and i mean every single one! great buy!

This is a great book for anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of mixed martial arts. Its easy to understand and the most complete of its kind out there. I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning this sport.

This book is a great book for anyone interested in MMA. It shows detailed pictures and everything is explained very well. I would absolutely recommend this book for anyone from beginners to experts to learn everything from basic to advanced moves.

When I recently read Victory Belt's publication 'Mastering the Rubber Guard' with Eddie Bravo, I was impressed. It made considerable strides in improving over his last book 'Jiu-Jitsu Unleashed' and gave a detailed insight into one of the most misunderstood positions in today's Jiu-Jitsu world. Well, as far as I'm concerned, Victory Belt has done it again with BJ Penn's 'Mixed Martial Arts - The Book of Knowledge'.

Giving a book a title like that one is a fairly bold move. Those words suggest that this is more a tome - or even "bible" - than a book. And at first glance, it looks like it might be the goods. The black and grey reminded me of later editions of Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding' - a book with a similarly anticipative title. At 308 pages, it also fits the bill size-wise, as well.

Opening up at the contents pages, you'll soon see that the book is very comprehensive. After the introduction, you see that the book is divided into two parts - 'The Standing Game' and 'The Ground Game'. Each of these parts is then subdivided into positions and then further into techniques. One of the things I most enjoyed about the book is the introduction. Most newer martial art books open with a discussion from the authors, but Victory Belt's introductions seem to speak to me a little more.

In this case, the introduction gives you about ten pages of BJ's philosophy and how he arrived where he is. From his early days boxing with "old, ratty gloves" through his eventful MMA career, he gives a little insight into his life. He talks about the sport and how he trains for it. He discusses his philosophy for both technical and physical training and gives some broad ideas the reader can take on board.

I won't get into too much detail about what you'll find in the two fighting parts of the book. I will say this, though. While it looks like a "technique catalogue", it's not really. The book shows BJ working many techniques and combinations against opponent's from his gym. However, each technique fits into his particular fighting structure. What you see here is a collection of the techniques BJ Penn actually uses in a fight and how he strings them together.

If you want to see what BJ would do if he finds himself on his back against a skilled ground 'n' pound guy, the answer's here. So is how to use your striking to set up a takedown (a subject not discussed often enough) and vice versa. Another thing I like is that we see what BJ does from a defensive perspective. We see a lot of defensive postures and escapes, which suits me fine as I'm often the one getting hit. Too often, books like this ignore that part of the strategy and just assume your awesome technique will win out.

As I'm not much of a standup fighter, nowadays, I can especially see myself making use of the simple strategies in the section 'Striking for the Takedown'. That is pretty much my weak point. Honestly, though, there's something here for everyone. You'll see how the various open guard positions play out in MMA. You'll see how to minimise your exposure if you're weak in one area with the more defensive oriented techniques. You'll also learn how Penn counters some very common and tough positions.

From a quality perspective, I didn't notice any grievous spelling or grammatical errors (a small problem I had with 'Mastering the Rubber Guard'). All pictures are colour and are clear and easy to interpret. The descriptions are also quite clear to me, another bugbear I've often had. Although the entire field is getting a lot better in that area.

All up, I really like this book. From this point on, I consider this essential reading for anyone considering a foray into Mixed Martial Arts. However, it's probably more important for coaches and athletes who need to move their game to a multi-dimensional approach. That's something Penn himself has done and done well. I think this makes my "Best of the Best" category.

I watch a mma event on dvd everyday and let me tell you; this book covers pretty much all you need to know to compete.Don't get me wrong,there is always more to learn; but this book covers all the basics at the least for sure! Like I said about Randy Couture' book; these guys are the best mma fighters in the world,charge hundreds of dollars an hour and this book in particular gives you about four months of training for only $35.00 dollars!

If you do martial arts and don't know how to fight - what are you doing? This is an essential compliment to whatever martial art you're studying, as it will flesh out your studies and get you to rethink a few things.

I should preface this review by clarifying that I don't train much MMA - I'm much more of a straight BJJ/submission grappling athlete. With that said, this book is an excellent perspective into BJ Penn's MMA repertoire and the basic theory behind his fighting style. For fighters who come from a striking background, the book may not be quite as applicable. Only a few basic punches are covered, and they are treated primarily as a means to set up a clinch or takedown, with the eventual goal of passing to a dominant position and winning by submission. As mentioned by a previous reviewer, no kicks or leglocks are covered. The book is not designed to be an encyclopedia of every fighting technique one could possibly use (indeed, Penn specifically disavows this purpose in the book itself), but it is a great introduction for grapplers who are curious to know what kind of strategies and techniques could work for them in an MMA context. I use the book primarily as a reference to explore different approaches to situations that I often find myself in just in BJJ/submission grappling, and have found it to be very useful. For example, BJ has an excellent description of how to tighten up the technique on your sprawl and use it to transition naturally to back control. He also has useful tutorials on an alternative technique for the double-leg takedown (as opposed to the standard wrestling shoot where you come over the knee of your lead leg and cut to the inside from a crouched position) that is helpful to know regardless of whether you actually do MMA. Whether you are a pure grappler looking for some insight into the techniques used by one of the best or someone looking to transition into MMA, this book has something for you.

This book was certainly worth the price! It's over 300+ pgs of some of the best MMA advice out there. It starts off with a mini biograhpy of B.J. Penn then goes right into the good stuff. Penn goes thru everything from striking basics to brazilian jiujitsu wizardry in well sorted and easy to follow chapters. The pictures that he uses to illustrate the moves are also great. Most come with several angles of the moves he is demonstrating and are very easy to follow with his great insight on each and everyone! I recommend this book to any who wants to get that edge in their MMA training whether it's for competition or simply to stay one step ahead of their training partners in the gym.

This book touches on all of the major points in MMA sport fighting in an easy to understand format that is coherent and makes learning MMA easier. I've got many expensive dvd sets but I find that this one book is what I work with the most. I met BJ and had him sign my copy.

At last, a textbook of mixed martial arts from the renowned fighter and coach PJ Penn! In this volume he presents a great number of techniques that he finds effective for himself and will work for most fighters. It is particularly strong in ground techniques, due no doubt to his grappling-based approach to the sport generally. The book is not intended to be the "last word" in MMA, or that the particular techniques drawn primarily from BJJ, Wrestling and Muay Thai presented in it are the be all and end all of the sport in its totality. However, they are those that he himself has used and tested. His game plan is to take the combat to the ground and win it there. Thus, he presents only cursory wrestling and striking techniques from the standing position, as the standing phase is not his preoccupation. His volume nicely complements Couture's wrestling-based strategy guide, with its throws. A kind of Muay-Thai for MMA volume might round off a "holy trinity" of textbooks in this genre.
Awesome book! Handy for all fans and participants in the sport!

I was always a big fan of BJ Penn and this book made it even better. Full of information and useful strategies, this book really delivers. I would recommend to anyone who is a fan or just wants to learn fighting. BJ Penn is one of the most talented MMA fighters out there and this book will give you an insight of how MMA really works. Get it.

I highly recommend this book. Very well organized and put together. Very clear instruction. Anyone interested in doing mma should buy this book.

I've been pleasantly surprised by the quallity of books published by Victory Belt, and this one is no exception. For starters, the use of color pictures and multiple angles of a single frame, in addition to color-coded chapters and subsections, really enhances the learning experience. Then, of course, there is the authors. Penn is one of several world-class grappling and MMA experts to share his knowledge. This book covers it all, from standup strikes to takedowns to the ground game to cage tactics. More importantly, it teached one how to blend the various elements into a single strategy that encompases the totallity of MMA combat.

The intro to the book is insightful, as BJ Penn gives the reader an idea of what it takes to develop their own fighting style around a base style. He also offers some wisdom in the form of sharing his experiences in competitions, and what he learned from his losses. Wrapping up the intro are some ideas for circuit training, which runs from straight conditioning excercises (medicine ball workouts and the like) to sport-specific circuit training, such as a minute of strikes followed by a minute of the clinch and so on to round out a full 5-minute round, just like an MMA fight.

The next section is on the standup. While Penn is known more for his ground game, this section was very well-informed and could have been written by someone with a specialty in striking. This section includes two kinds of stances, basic strikes, striking to the takedown (single- and double-leg), countering punches and kicks, takedown counters, clinchwork, cagework, and striking a downed opponent from a standing possition. As I mentioned earlier, BJ likes to blend strikes with grappling; for example, the cross counters include two striking combinations and two takedowns. Noticable in this section was that the author included leg strikes to the head of a downed opponent, which are illegal in the US, but are legal in other parts of the world including Japan.

The third and final section is on the ground game. BJ picks up where he left off and teaches you what to do if you're on your back with your opponent standing over you. He then moves on to the various possitions, including mount, guard, half guard, turtle/back, and side-control, showing both offensive and defensive tactics. As before, Penn blends striking with grappling, often setting up submissions and guard passes with punches. He also shows how to use the cage on the ground, when applicable.

Overall, the book is very good at giving the reader some very detailed basics for MMA. While it's not the be-all end-all of martial arts, as a single volume it's the best MMA book on the market. Other, more detailed books on striking and grappling may augment this text, but won't replace any of the information here-in, and certainly won't bridge the gap between striking and grappling as well as Penn does. For any aspiring MMA fighter or for someone looking for empty-handed self-defense, this text is a must.

I think that anyone can learn a lot of moves to get better in mma from this book, the best part is that you can see BJ Penn doing the moves in his fights (just check youtube while you are cheking the book).
I also bought the Randy Couture book wrestling for fighting, but I think that the BJ book is a lot more complete.

Lots of easy to follow pictures.. MMA use only won't help with BJJ too much but explains how to blend BJJ, wrestling ect....

tons of information and pictures. it seems like b.j.penn is not holding back anything for this book. sometimes with some of the gracie books you feel like they only tell some of what they know so you have to buy their other books to get the rest. not so with this book. it doesn't seem like b.j.penn is only telling you half his game because he's going to come out with a second edition for you to buy later.

This book was fantastic! There are many facets of the game this covers but the author is humble enough to recognize that this is not a comprehensive book on the sport, but merely a tip of the iceberg that is MMA. I'm strictly a ground control guy, so only half the book was dedicated to me, but I still enjoyed it all. The pictures helped greatly with understanding the techniques and it reads well for any fan of BJ Penn.

I got this for my husband who really likes UFC. He loves this book.

BJ Penn is one of the best technical fighters in all of Mixed Martial Arts. I have several books about fighting, training or Jiu Jitsu, but this is the best by far. Simple, straight-to-the-point, and written in a very easy to understand language that would be off-putting to no one. I have drastically improved my workout routine and will continue to improve the drills and workouts with other fighters. Fantastic book.

This is a BIG book. Nicely organized with at least 6 color photos of each move from two angles.
Be sure to have this book out WHILE training. You want to be able to drill each of these moves to properly learn them.
Keep in mind that this is primarily a grappling book. BJ does strike but it is usually to gain a better position for take-down. Look to Muay Thai, Capoeira, boxing, etc books to improve your stand-up game.
This book is pretty well-rounded but I would like to see a few escapes added to the mix, or at least a theory of escaping submissions, take downs, etc.

BJ Penn did himself well when he put his name on this book. Full of beautiful full color, multi-angle photos and incredible MMA insight. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone interested in BJJ, MMA or just plain self-defense on the street. It was a pleasure to read, and contains a wealth of MMA knowledge that I have not encountered in any other book on Mixed Martial Arts.

This book is thick - 305 pages and the title should be Octagon, MMA the book of knowledge. In terms of contents, there are the usual guard, side control, mount sections, but it also tries to cover striking, clinch, ground & pound, and fighting in the cage. While those seem to be new elements in comparison to other jujitsu and martial arts books on the market, but a book on boxing covers whole lot more on striking, a Muay Thai book gives you more information on clinch but also kicks, knees and elbows ... and the so called technques on ground & pound are no more than "ground...pound...& pound more"

This is a great training aid for someone with grappling experience looking to transition to MMA or for someone currently training in MMA.

The techniques and explanations are very well written, and the photos show the techniques from multiple angles. The latter are exceptionally helpful as many of the techniques would be considered advanced or MMA specific and the book does not focus on the basics at all.

The book does give some insight and strategy - spcifically BJ's - in regards to fighting and technique, but is not at all preachy.

This is a great resource with quite a few neat tricks worth learning.

This book is worth every dollar. BJ shows a complete game, with moves and strategies that ACTUALLY work. His intro is really good, especially on his training. The format of the book is fantastic, covers all aspect fo a fight. I can definitely say this book will put an extra edge into one's MMA game.

I really appreciate BJ's honesty in this book. He shows what works for him but also shows how you can incorporate your own techniques. He leaves the door wide open to expand on these techniques and make them your own. He also shows the progressions which is missing from alot of the other books out there.
Though I doubt I'll ever stand in an Octagon or Cage I think this book was of great value to me and will be useful to any martial artist. BJ shares his journey through the martial arts from street fighter to professional, through wins and how to handle losses. The challenge for all of us is how to take all this knowledge we've received from our instructors and make our own expression of the techniques so that we can fluidly "converse" with another opponent.
The bottom line is it is a good book, great quality, with excellent photography and worth adding to anyone's collection.

I have been doing BJJ and Kickboxing for some time now and this book has been very insightful on ways to break the gap and bring the opponent to the ground. The left hook to the double leg attack has been working for me. Thank you BJ Penn, "The World Is Yours".

Great book, and who better to get help from then BJ Penn. There is a ton of information and techniques in this book that have been proven in the cage time and time again. Anyone looking for useful and awesome techniques for mma should definitely pick up this book.

This book is well organized, packed with techniques, easy to read and has great step-by-step captions. BJ Penn is one of the most talented fighters out there and proves that he knows his stuff with this book. Every technique in this book is useful and practical. Great resource for striking, wrestling, jiu jitsu, in MMA. Great book for any level.

If I had to buy one single book on MMA it would be this book. Well laid out, easily understood, by one of the best technical fighters to emerge in years. He has done himself proud with a book that is packed with pictures and knowledge anyone can understand.

thes book is great but i wanted to know more about bj penn himself. the instruction excellent very informative and eassy to follow.

Finally someone made a book that was all encompasing. If you train in MMA then you NEED this book. If you want to train in BJJ then you need this book. If you want to train in Muay Thai then you don't need this book. This is even a good book for learning street fighting because most of the stuff in the cage is aplicable to street fighting. The most unique aspect of this book is how it connects stand-up to take-down to submission to defense to ground and pound. It is unprecidented in combat instructional books. This book is hands down then only book you will need to buy for MMA. Now if you want BJJ I recoment Gene Simco's "The Master Texts". If you want striking, Hatmacker's Striking book.

three stars for a three star book. bas did better even if it cost 3 times as much as bj's book. i'm still upset about him beating pulver so that might have effected my review by a star. maybe after a while i will agree to a 4 star rating. also there were no kicks this is why a 4 star rating would be the best i could give this book

I bought this book simply as a huge fan of BJ and his style of MMA. If you are a BJJ guy looking for a book that show allot of BJJ technique this book isnt for you. his book is exactly as the title reads..MMA. It is a great book to show how BJ blends his style of BJJ with striking and MMA in general. I recomend this book to anyone that loves BJ and is a fan or that is looking for a basic to intermidate view at blending the MMA game. Much love to BJ and watch out for him to dominate this yr!

In terms of his experience his application of kickboxing, wrestling, boxing, jiu-jitsu, and raw talent, BJ Penn is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. This book is simply a guide to his knowledge, experience, and talent. There's no other book in existence that will provide the necessary tools for being a complete mixed martial artist.

-Dave Camarillo
Head Grappling Coach
at American Kickboxing Academy.
Trainer of UFC Fighters

The two most valuable lessons to take from this book is that first, a style of Mixed Martial Arts fighting should be built off of one main discipline with techniques from other styles added to complement the base style. Second, that the style should be an integrated blend, not a disintegrated patchwork hybrid creation. Penn warns us against developing the habit of separating grappling from striking, switching on the fly from one to the other. Rather, he says, we should always be doing both. The techniques in The Book of Knowledge are presented as whole MMA techniques which blend striking with grappling.

Bj's book is made up of techniques that work for him and would be usable by most people. There are no kicking techniques and no leglocks. What is shown are basic techniques, which if done properly, are always dangerous. Nothing fancy, just master the basics and shove them down your opponent's throat until you beat him.

All basic positions are covered, standing and on the mat with multiple angles of clear color pictures on coated paper. The sections are color coded and tabbed. The book is physically of a high quality.

The only problem might be for absolute beginners. Knowledge of some of the most basic concepts and positions is assumed. Even so, with some extra careful study and though, the total beginner would pick this material up.

This is the first mixed martial arts book to give all the detail a true fighter (or trainee) needs, and it is written by one of the most accomplished and colorful fighters in the sport. Not only does Penn cover all aspects of the MMA game -- from striking to takedowns to setting up submissions and finishing -- but he does it all step-by-step. Whether you're just starting out in the sport or already a BJJ blackbelt, this book will become your bible. Just beware, at over 300 pages, it might take some time to digest all of the techniques.