Review - The Body Lock Pass(Lachlan Giles)

 





Info
In this instructional Lachlan focuses on the bodylock pass and the Sao Paulo pass. Although there are other instructionals that go over the bodylock pass this is the only one that focuses solely on this pass and goes into this much detail. Recently this pass has become very popular and many people are having success with it on the no-gi bjj scene. Lachlan was a bit ahead of the curve and released this right as it's popularity started increasing. He goes over setups, getting past the legs, consolidating the pass and troubleshooting. This is a no-gi instructional, but it can be used on gi also(it may not be quite as effective though). 


Organization

This(as well as Lachlan's other DVDs) is the gold standard for organization and clarity. Before you buy it you can easily see what will be covered and after you buy it you can easily find specific sections if you want to review. There is a ton of information on this, but I haven't had problems finding answers to my problems. Generally the  sections are short and focus on 1 problem or movement. Everything is laid out well with the first section being an intro, then setups and finally finishes. After that is done he shows the São Paulo pass and how it leads into the bodylock pass. Finally he shows sparring footage and him correcting students. 

Instruction

Lachlan has a lighthearted approach that makes him easy to listen to, but he is also very straightforward. There isn't much time wasted on jokes or stories, but he isn't overly serious or boring. He goes into detail about bodylock passing and focuses on what you should be doing and your opponent's possible reactions. The shorter sections allow him to focus on just 1 point and it almost feels like a private lesson with Lachlan where he fixes your mistakes. 

The sparring section is particularly good and IMO it should be included in every DVD. He does a voice over explaining what he's doing and mistakes that the opponent makes(sometimes ones that he makes). Finally he shows students doing it and corrects their mistakes, which is helpful. 

The only thing I can complain about is he sometimes warns you not to do things that actually are OK. He talks about a knee trapping position and says he doesn't like and doesn't use it and explains why. I didn't try this position for a long time because of this, but later found that technique actually works well. The same could be said about float passing. I think this is mainly due to body type though. 

Value

As far as I know this is the only instructional purely on bodylock passing. Considering the amount of info it is more than worth the price. He shows almost everything you'd want to know about the pass as well as a few tricks that you can use elsewhere. There is quite a bit of info and it is by no means short. I would have expected something with this much info to cost a bit more, but I'm not complaining about saving money. This is a great instructional that you can keep coming back to and learning new details, so if you're interested in the body lock I'd highly recommend it. 

Personal experience 

If I'm being honest this wasn't easy to add into my game, but after working on it for a while I feel fairly confident in it. This instructional was a life saver, because every time it failed or I did something wrong I could refer back to the DVD and find the solution to the problem. The subtleties of the technique make it hard to add to your game right away, but once you get it it is an extremely powerful tool. If you are primarily a no-gi player this is a must have. 

Conclusion

If you have any interest in the bodylock pass this is the first place I'd look. Lachlan is a great teacher, things are wonderfully organized and it isn't too expensive compared to other instructionals. The only reason I can think of not to get this is if you have no interest in the bodylock pass or you hate Australian accents. 



Comments