Long before Brazilian jiu-jitsu came to the United States, George Kirby wrote a book that would shape America’s understanding of jujitsu for decades to come.

This seminal primer by Black Belt Hall of Fame member George Kirby is the perfect place to begin a journey toward jujitsu mastery. As the expanded edition of the original book that launched Kirby’s five-volume series, Jujitsu: Basic Techniques of the Gentle Art will help advanced practitioners and new grapplers quickly put basic jujitsu techniques into motion.

In addition to the detailed photo sequences and comprehensive captions that made the original edition a classic, the expanded Jujitsu includes the following:

•updated belt-rank requirements and scoring sheets
•notations that cross-reference the expanded edition with other volumes in Kirby’s Jujitsu series
•Japanese and English terms for all the techniques
•new illustrations, such as a chart for sensitive points on the human body
•an in-depth history of how budoshin jujitsu was formed

Like the other books written by Kirby in his lifelong study on jujitsu—Jujitsu: Intermediate Techniques of the Gentle Art, Advanced Jujitsu: The Science Behind the Gentle Art, Jujitsu Nerve Techniques: The Invisible Weapon of Self-Defense, and Jujitsu Figure-4 Locks: Submission Holds of the Gentle Art—this book is an excellent reference, insightful learning resource and a fascinating study for students of grappling.