Here's a review of the second edition of our book:

http://www.slideyfoot.com/2009/10/book-review-passing-guard-ed-beneville.html

Heh - I was wondering why I was getting hits from here. As I mentioned in the review, I was wondering what your thoughts were on including techniques like the can opener, neck cranks in BJJ. Personally I'm not keen on them, but then I'm only a blue belt, and I also don't train for self defence.

Do you think it is an important part of class, perhaps from a self defence perspective, or was there some other reason why you wanted to make sure those were in the book?

I should add that I think the book is brilliantly done: the inclusion of techniques like neck cranks/can openers etc was the only thing I didn't like.

Hi Can,

Thanks for the excellent review.

There are a number of techniques in BJJ that are "illegal" in gi competition that are still very useful either in other sport venues (Sub Grappling, MMA) or real life self-defense, and they should be taught and practiced.

A well rounded grappler should also be familiar with all kinds of techniques, if only so he knows how to defend against them.

When I started competing, forward neck cranks (can opener, full Nelson...) were legal in BJJ competition, and are still part of the art.

I think it's always better to be exposed to as many types of techniques as possible, one can always choose which techniques are appropriate for which situation.

That's an understandable perspective: thanks for taking the time to respond. I look forward to future books in the series.