Jiu-Jitsu seems to be about trust—trusting in others' competence and trust in the physical intimacy of physical intimacy of those around you. There is not much of this in the rest of life and I think it's a wonderful thing."

This phrase alone describes the world of Jiu-Jitsu. Whether it be Brazillian, Japanese, or any variation thereof, Jiu-Jitsu is one of the few martial art forms where the mastery is dependent upon trust and co-operation over individual achievement.

With the increasing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts organizations, the popularity of Jiu-Jitsu has increased exponentially and with it the desire to learn.

David Walker brings his years of experience and his ability to make Jiu-Jitsu personal to his series of books focusing on learning Jiu-Jitsu at home, beginning with Jiu-Jitsu for Beginners: An Illustrated Introduction to the World's Hottest Martial Arts Discipline.

In Walker's first book in the series, we are introduced to the basics of the first three belts in the Japanese Style of Jiu-Jitsu, Yellow, Orange, and the Green belts. Each belt is broken down into separate chapters that introduces the beginning concepts of throws, blocks, movement and most important the proper way to fall.

While the pictures that are included to provide a step-by-step visual instruction to compliment the written instruction can at times be a little confusing, they are an integral part of the training process and do help provide a foundation to build from. While it would be simple for Walker to list and show an image of specific throws, he does intertwine personal stories of how the concepts of Jiu-Jitsu were applied to his life.

The second main portion of this book that is important to discuss is Walker's desire to maintain the traditional aspects of Japanese Jiu Jitsu by giving the traditional terminology and meaning of many of the words associated with the sport.

However, it must be said that if you purchase this book with the intentions of entering the world of MMA with the knowledge of how to submit an opponent with a wide variety of choke-holds, key locks, armbars then this book is not for you.

In the end David Walker presents an easy to follow introduction to Jiu Jitsu without over whelming the reader with extensive amounts of details. If you are looking for a personable, intuitive book on the history, culture and beginning stages of Jiu-Jitsu, then this is the book for you.