In 1987 I started to seriously cross-train in Wrestling from my martial arts buddy and friend to this day, Ron Loz.  We both were both attending the University of Buffalo and practicing Modern Arnis, and I was sharing the art of Kenpo with him.  We found it to be a good blend of arts!

In those days long before "Ultimate Fighting", Wrestling was looked down upon by most martial artists we encountered.  Time and again, after throwing someone to the floor and finishing them off they would ask "What was that?" with wide-eyed interest, but when told "Wrestling" they would react like "Oh, that's all" since it was not magic Karate or Kung Fu.  Flash forward a few years and suddenly everyone was scrambling the other direction, hurrying to note that "Grappling has always been a part of Tae Kwon Do" (uh...yeah, right)

I wanted to give a little personal background up front in this review to explain that I've been around the block as far as grappling goes.  It is not new to me.  I have studied many books and videos on the subject over the years and spent a lot more hours training the various aspects of grappling such as standing control, joint locking, takedowns, throws, chokes, ground control, ground escapes, ground submissions, grappling with sticks and knives, and so on.  My grappling training comes from a mix of Western Freestyle Wrestling, Medieval German Combat Wrestling, Shuai Chiao, Chin Na, Judo, Sambo, "Brazilian Jujitsu", and "Filipino Jujitsu" (as Professor Remy Presas called what he did)

Now, when one starts to look at videos on different aspects of grapping, it becomes obvious that there several kinds of instructors out there making tapes:

1) The kind who are great competitors but who simply can not teach.  Often, limited by language or experience in actually teaching, these guys may be able to do impressive things in the cage but are unable to transfer their natural abilities to you through the medium of video.  One of my favorite Russian competitors from many UFCs falls into this category.

2) The kind who are great competitors but who are simply unwilling to teach.  These tapes often feature lame moves that will only work on a chump and that leave the person using them at the mercy of an experienced grappler.  One very famous Brazilian competitor who won several early UFC events did exactly this, producing a series of tapes showing only 2 or 3 moves each that were full of giant holes for any kind of semi-experienced grappler to exploit.

3) The kind who are poorly skilled and mainly bluffing.  Because of the explosion of interest in grappling in the 90's, many people "half-learned" how to grapple from videos and then proclaimed themselves as experts.  On their videos they often seem to enjoy "torturing" their training partners with submissions to show what tough-guys they are.  Often these guys are fat and out of shape.

4) The kind who can do magical things with a compliant partner.  Depending on what your interest in grappling is, and if you understand that this kind of work is designed mainly as training vehicle and NOT as a literal street application, these videos can be of value.  But, the "50 submissions in a row chains" and endless "finger lock transition flows" are NOT the be all and end all of grappling.  They are examples of motion that are best utilized by someone who already has a strong foundation in basic grappling skills!  Without that they are just so much eye-candy and will not be very helpful in a fight.

5) The kind with good things to teach but not an integrated methodology.  These tapes are often mixed pieces of the grappling game - usually the specialty of the teacher, such as "defending the single leg takedown".  As such, these are best for the advanced grappler who has a lot of fundamentals and now wants to explore "100 variations of the hammer-lock" of some specific.  To the new grappler, these kinds of videos will just lead to frustration and confusion.  One of biggest mistakes for new grapplers is to jump right into a video on "10,000 submissions" without ever learning the basics of wrestling first.

6) The kind with great information and great instruction to share.  THESE are the ones you want to get!  These instructors know their art and can teach it in a simple way.  They are not afraid of you becoming excellent and will freely share their knowledge on the video, giving all the little tricks that make these movements work.  Often the whole "secret" of the move is in the little details, the angle of the force, the subtle weight shifts, and so on.

Now, having seen literally hundreds of videos on grappling arts, let me say that there are only a handful of instructors that I would consider to be of this 6th class, having both great information and great instruction to share.  On this "short list" would be instructors like Marco Lala, Mario Sperry, Bas Rutten, and now Mark Hatmaker!

Ah yes, this is a review of Mark Hatmaker's Clean Sweeps, is it not?  Let's get to it!

This two DVD / two-hour long set is a GOLDMINE of information on exactly how to escape from the bottom position (commonly known today as "The Guard", called the "Bottom Scissors" by Wrestlers and done slightly differently as you will see) and how to get back to the top position - where you want to be!  While today, because of what they have seen on TV many are content to flop to the Guard thinking it is a superior position, but in Wrestling it is not considered so.  There are simply more possibilities for striking, submissions, accessing weapons, and ESCAPE when you are on the top than when you are on the bottom.  Thus, this tape is VERY IMPORTANT in the fact that it teaches the specifics of how to get out from the bottom quickly and turn the tables on your opponent!

Being the thorough and considerate teacher he is, Mark Hatmaker breaks down the escapes and reversals piece by piece, showing the nuances of each and how to combine the pieces back together.  He starts this by explaining the concepts behind the escapes and then breaks it down into a series of lower body controls and upper body controls that when put together form the nucleus of all the specific reversals taught.  This "mix and match" approach is a very smart way to go for learning and allows the students to make their skills fit the situation rather than trying to match a specific counter to a specific attack.  Thus, there is no "move" to forget or remember, just ingrained correct responses you can flow with.

From here, Mark Hatmaker moves into specific combinations and escape flows, showing all manner of drills with his partner.  You get to see the flow and the rhythm of the drills, which is important for new grapplers to see so they can get a sense of how to practice in a productive yet challenging environment.  Too often beginners use too much ignorant strength and don't know HOW to learn or help their partner develop but even just by watching Hatmaker and his partner train, the beginner can really see just how-to-do-it at home!  How to get good - FAST!

So, all in all, this is a MUST HAVE DVD for anyone who wants to "get the goods" on this very important topic.  Even if you are not interested in Wrestling, this is a great DVD to get to supplement your striking or weapons based style, because the potential of getting knocked to the ground or taken down and having an opponent on top of you is great, especially today with the increase in the popularity of sport grappling and MMA.  This DVD will show you exactly what to do, what to train, and how to put it together to get out of trouble and back into action in a flash.  If you will supply some sweat (ie. get training!) Mark Hatmaker will supply the rest!

Clean Sweeps Is Available From Paladin Press