Sperry picks up where he left off from the first tape set. Sperry 2 is sort of the inverse of the first tape set. What I mean by this is that Mario covers positions that he did not cover on the first tape set. On the first tape set Mario covered things like the mount, side control, and knee-on-chest. Most of the moves were offense oriented. On Mario 2 the moves are still mainly offense oriented but now there is a closer look at defense as well. Mario covers the half guard, escaping knee-on-chest, north and south, the turtle and leg locks. In short, this is another must have tape set! Did I say that already?
The most important thing about both Mario 1 and 2 is the underlying premise. Mario assumes that his opponent is as skilled as he is. No other tape set I have reviewed does this. Mario only shows moves that would work against him. He also talks about many moves that are effective, but don't work once you reach this level of fighting.
This go round WMA has Murilo Bustamante as Mario's "opponent." For those unfamiliar with Murilo, he is one of the top sport and NHB BJJ fighters in the world and highly respected. Murilo is just there to take the falls for Mario.
The point is, I have a point, Mario again cuts through the crap and only deals with what really works. Mario has rewritten the book on reality fighting tapes. Mario is making it very difficult for other tape companies to put out, shall I say, less than realistic NHB fighting tapes (read this as Kukuk 2, more to come on this in a future review). The bar has been raised and many tape companies will be unable to do a chin-ups. Mario spends most of the tapes walking you through what works and what, in his opinion, does not work. Mario's series 1 and 2 are mandatory viewing for anyone that wants to fight NHB. These are the only set that offers a complete game plan for control and dismantling your opponent. Control is Sperry's forte. Sperry will not fight you; he just lets you go and then transitions to another position to control you.
For many, the most exciting tapes are the last two. Mario devotes two tapes to leg locks. These are the best leg lock tapes that I have reviewed to date. Very realistic and effective material. Mario covers all the basics and adds his own details that always seem to make a 1000% difference in a technique's effectiveness. Mario also rounds out these tapes with counters to footlocks and kneebars.
On of the other things that I really like about Mario 2 is the fact that Mario answers many of the commonly asked questions that arose out of his first tape set. This gives the tapes a seminar feel. You almost forget for a few moments that you are watching tapes. Of course, then you realize that Mario is really not 7 inches tall standing in front of you in your living room teaching you BJJ (although I think Royce would still want a no time limit fight if Mario were 7 inches tall).
All the questions Mario answers are legitimate ones. Mario's answer to each of these questions proves time and time again how little I know. Each time Mario states the question. "I have been asked, how come your opponent can't do such and such to counter etc" I always find myself say, "yea how come Mario." And then he explains the answers and I always feel embarrassed that I don't know crap (I do know Jack by the way).
For example, everyone wanted to know why you can't ump and roll Mario with the way he holds you in the mount. Mario show on the first tape set to put your right arm around your opponent's head and extend your left arm off at a 45 degree angle and get the hooks in or lock the feet. This is the exact position that everyone is taught to ump and roll out of to escape the mount. Sounds easy. It should be easy. At least I thought it would be easy. Until Mario ruined everything. So the question arises "why can't you ump and roll your opponent easily off you?" Come one, be honest, you are wondering the same thing. Mario then embarrasses everyone who asks this question by saying, "I don't know where you have learned jiu-jitsu." The solution to make it nearly impossible to Ump and roll is to drop you head to ground on the same side that you have your arm extended (in my example it would be your left side). That's it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really! End of story. No more ump and roll. Try it. Also by locking the feet you have shut down the elbow escape. Sit back and let you opponent exhaust himself. You can get out it, it is just very hard and you have to know what you are doing and be patient. Now get one of your training partners and get the mount like Mario describes and drop the head. Just ask them to escape and anyway they see fit. Don't tell them what you are doing, that would ruin the experiment. Relax, sit back and watch the fun begin. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.
Would I recommend Sperry 2 to beginners? Yep I would. However, I would tell you to buy Sperry 1 first because Sperry 2 builds on the first tape set. This is the place to be if you wan to learn the NHB fight game. Would I tell a sport BJJ guy to get these tapes? Yes I would. A large majority of the moves shown can work in a sport situation. Most of the moves that will not work in a sport situation are those that require you to, for example, punch your way through the guard. What a sport person learns is which of his sport moves really work on the street. You will learn that most of the sport methods of passing the guard do not work well on the street. For those looking for leglocks alone don't hesitate to get the last two tapes of Mario 2. These tapes stand on their own and don't rely on the other tapes for support or background.
In sum, buy Sperry 1 and then as soon as you raise enough cash, buy Sperry 2. It will be some of the best money you will spend. Then pray WMA gets Sperry to do a third tape set.
All that being said, I would recommend to anyone the leg lock tapes. You don't need to own any of the other tape to happily learn everything on these tapes. These two tapes stand on their own.