The 10 Best BJJ instructionals (on BJJFanatics, Submeta & More)

I didn’t really get better at BJJ quickly before I started to watch a lot of instructionals. Some really helped me level up my game instantly while I watched them, whereas many other were forgettable. In this article I want to share the best BJJ instructionals that I ever watched, so you can also level up your game instantly. Let’s get started!

TL;DR: Use the clickable flowchart below to find the best BJJ instructional for you.

Best BJJ Instructionals Selection Guide

🥋 Find Your Perfect BJJ Instructional

Expert Picks from 10+ Years of Training & Reviewing

What’s your current BJJ experience level?
🌱 Beginner
White belt fundamentals
📈 Intermediate
Blue/Purple belt level
🏆 Advanced
Brown/Black belt level
🎓 Instructor/Coach
Teaching & analyzing
What’s your biggest challenge as a beginner?
🏗️ Complete Foundation
Systematic approach
🛡️ First Guard
Easy to learn system
📹 Fix My Game
Personal feedback
🧠 Conceptual Learning
Think better about BJJ
What area do you want to improve most?
🛡️ Guard Retention
Stop getting passed
🔒 Finish More
Top pin submissions
🦵 Leg Lock System
Modern lower body game
📚 Complete System
All-in-one platform
What’s your focus as an advanced practitioner?
🚀 Innovation
Cutting-edge concepts
🛡️ Defensive Systems
Leg lock defense
🥊 Realistic BJJ
MMA perspective
🔬 Advanced Details
World-class precision
What do you need as an instructor?
📊 Student Analysis
Video breakdown tools
📋 Curriculum Building
Systematic progression
👥 Multiple Instructors
Different teaching styles
Expert’s Own Course
Beginner Specific
Blue Belt in 1 Day
The only course targeting problems all white belts face: techniques don’t work, too many to remember, don’t know where to start.
“Perfect for beginners. Solves the specific problems white belts face with checklists and gameplan combining easiest techniques.”
🎯 Designed by the author specifically for white belt problems
Get Blue Belt in 1 Day
First Guard
ADCC Proven
Make Z Guard Great Again
The first guard you should learn – relatively easy knee shield half guard. Craig broke a guy’s arm in 10 seconds at ADCC 2022.
“I think this is the first guard you should learn because it’s relatively easy. Works at elite level too – most guys couldn’t pass it at ADCC 2022!”
🛡️ Craig’s probably the best knee shielder in the game
Learn Z Guard
Unique Feature
Immediate Help
BJJ Mental Models
Send a video of yourself sparring/competing and get black belt analysis. Plus conceptual audio courses for better BJJ thinking.
“Extremely helpful because you might be making a single mistake repetitively. It’s a way to get better immediately.”
🎯 Best feature for beginners – personalized sparring analysis
Get Personal Analysis
Conceptual
Audio Courses
BJJ Mental Models
Audio courses more conceptual than technique-focused. Help beginners think about BJJ more effectively.
🧠 Better for beginners than pure technique – teaches effective BJJ thinking
Think Better BJJ
Expert’s #3 Pick
Purple Belt Game Changer
The Guard Retention Anthology
Lachlan’s style with high pummels, inversions, turtle shells, counter arm locks and leg locks. Took 3 months to work through.
“After I got my purple belt I decided my guard needed to become much better, and this instructional helped me get to a level I’m very happy with.”
📈 Super in-depth – if choosing one, start with “Around the legs”
Master Guard Retention
Gordon Ryan
Anti-Staller
Systematically Attacking From Top Pins
Gordon’s mount and side control systems. Shows common mistakes even at black belt level and how to beat hard stallers.
“I found these DVDs crucial because as a purple belt I found it embarrassing that I couldn’t always submit lower belts if they just stalled really hard.”
🔒 Most details and new information – always shows how things are commonly taught wrong
Mount Attacks Side Control
Historic Classic
Still Relevant
Leg Locks: Enter The System
The instructional that made Danaher famous. Nobody knew leg locks except DDS. Still very relevant – John was so far ahead of the curve.
“Everything John laid out here still is the majority of the leg lock game today. He even predicted problems that leg locks face nowadays.”
📚 Not outdated – John was so far ahead this 2018 DVD is still current
Enter The System
Expert’s #1 Pick
Best Value
Submeta by Lachlan Giles
66+ instructionals from beginner to advanced. Super organized with 6 foundational courses. Lachlan’s the #1 teacher with clearest overviews.
“Submeta ticks all my boxes. You get way more courses for way less money than any other option. Lachlan’s a true innovator.”
🏆 Most structured, lots of new innovations (K guard, backside 50/50), incredible value
Get Submeta Access
Expert’s #2 Pick
100% New
Power Ride: A New Philosophy on Pinning
Craig studied how Khabib holds people down in UFC and applies to pure grappling. Revolutionary approach to pinning positions.
“This is the best single BJJ instructional that I ever watched. 100% new, follows common thread. Nothing else had a bigger impact on my game.”
🚀 Better appreciated by experienced grapplers – positions can be hard for beginners
Revolutionary Pinning
Craig Jones
5.5 Hours
Get Off My Legs Gringo
Most comprehensive leg lock defense instructional. Covers all positions: saddle, 50/50, single x, outside ashi, leg reaps, double trouble.
“Craig’s one of the best leg lockers in the world, so he has tremendous details to share in each position.”
🛡️ Complete defensive system from world-class leg locker
Defend Leg Locks
MMA Perspective
Love/Hate Style
The Modern Defensive Guard
Ryan Hall’s realistic approach to guard. Debunks myths about guard. 80% talk, 20% technique with MMA perspective.
“Ryan debunks myths (guard isn’t equally good as passing, don’t always maximize distance). UFC fighter AND former BJJ world champion perspective.”
🥊 Unique teaching style – like a BJJ podcast with techniques
Realistic Guard
Most Details
World Class
Gordon Ryan’s Complete System
Gordon makes the best instructionals for new details. Always shows common mistakes at black belt level and how to do better.
🔬 World-class competitor details that you won’t find elsewhere. Systematic approach to every position.
Gordon Ryan Guide
Teaching Tool
Student Analysis
BJJ Mental Models
Black belt sparring analysis feature perfect for coaches. Send student videos and get detailed breakdown of mistakes and improvements.
🎓 Revolutionary tool for instructors to help students improve faster
Analyze Students
Best Organization
Curriculum Builder
Submeta by Lachlan Giles
Super organized with 6 foundational courses you can branch off from. Perfect for building systematic curriculum progression.
“Submeta ticks all my boxes for being the best instructional platform. Super organized with clear progression paths.”
📋 Ideal for instructors wanting structured, progressive curriculum
Build Curriculum
Multiple Instructors
Teaching Styles
Top Instructor Comparison
Access different teaching styles: Lachlan (most structured), Craig (funniest), Gordon (most details), Danaher (most explanation).
👥 Each instructor brings unique strengths – combine for complete teaching perspective
Compare Instructors Lachlan (Structured) Craig (Funny)

📚 What Makes the Best BJJ Instructionals

🧵 Common Thread

Not random technique collections! Good instructionals argue for innovative thesis or completely exhaust a single position/theme. Avoid semi-random favorites.

👨‍🏫 Great Instructors

Best come from Lachlan (most structured), Craig (funniest), Gordon (most details), Danaher (most explanation). Clear details, good angles, address misunderstandings.

✨ Something New

Learn something new rather than same old techniques. Best are completely new topics OR new details about old positions from world-class competitors.

💰 Value & Organization

BJJ instructionals ARE worth it vs YouTube. Instructors put best content in focused products. Much better than ADHD-inducing algorithm.

⚠️ What to Avoid:

Grapplers Guide: Mostly outdated courses despite lifetime access. Random YouTube: No structure or progression. Expensive single DVDs: When platforms like Submeta offer 66+ courses for monthly fee.

💡 Pro Tip: Start with fundamentals, find instructors whose style matches your learning preference, and invest in comprehensive platforms over individual DVDs for best value.

craig jones power ride review

The real way to control people (Khabib style)

Ride like Craig

Read my full review

How I evaluate BJJ instructionals (Editorial Criteria)

Let’s specify what makes an instructional go from good to the best. In my opinion, the best BJJ instructionals are those that have:

  • A common thread: You’ll be surprised how many instructionals are just semi-random collections of the favorite techniques of the instructor. Those aren’t worth it because you might as well be watching random YouTube videos. A good instructional either argues for an innovative thesis or completely exhausts a single position or theme.
  • Great instructors: The best instructionals are those from the best instructors (who I named above). These instructors explain all the details clearly, clarify common misunderstandings, show good camera angles, have better details than others, and so forth.
  • Something new: You want to learn something new from your instructional, rather than the same old techniques that everybody teaches. My favorite instructionals are those that are about a completely new topic (I’ll mention a few below), or that share new details about old positions (for this you usually need a world class competitor who figured these details out himself).

Read our reviews and decide for yourself!

Who makes the best BJJ instructionals?

The best BJJ instructionals are made by Lachlan Giles, Craig Jones, Gordon Ryan and John Danaher. They deliver the most quality by far. Between them it’s a matter of taste who you like better. Lachlan’s the most structured, Craig’s the funniest, Gordon has the most details and John explains the most.

Also read: The 7 Best BJJ Instructors: Choose wisely who to learn from

The top 10 best BJJ instructionals

Of course there’s no truly objective answer to the question which are the best BJJ instructionals because it depends on you and your goals. But here are 10 high quality BJJ instructionals that I expect you can learn the most from (like I did too).

1. Submeta by Lachlan Giles

Submeta is a course platform with over 66 BJJ instructionals on there. These instructionals range from beginner to advanced, so you can start with beginner courses and work your way up from there.

Submeta ticks all my boxes for being the best instructional platform:

  • It’s super organized. Lachlan has 6 foundational courses and from there you can branche off to different topics. Ev
  • Lachlan’s a great teacher. The #1 in my opinion. He’s got great details and he gives the clearest overviews of positions.
  • Lots of new stuff. Lachlan’s a true innovator. He kind of invented the whole k guard and backside 50/50 game that became so popular. And his guard retention, no gi bolo game and sweep prevention course are all uniquely his.

The reason that I place Submeta above all other instructionals is the value for the money. You simply get way more courses for way less money than with any other option.

free Craig Jones instructional on BJJ Fanatics

Tip: Watch Craig’s only free instructional

Free

Craig Jones

2. Power Ride: A new philosophy on pinning by Craig Jones

Power Ride by Craig Jones is about a new philosophy on pinning. Pinning, as in, how we hold people down.

Normally in jiu jitsu we use side control and mount for this, but Craig Jones shows another way. Craig studied how Khabib holds people down in the UFC and applies the same concepts to pure grappling.

This is the best single BJJ instructional that I ever watched. It’s 100% new, follows a common thread and is from a great instructor. Nothing else had a bigger impact on my game. (But one word of caution: I think this one is better appreciated by more experienced grapplers, because the positions can be hard to enter for beginners.)

craig jones power ride review

The real way to pin people (Khabib style)

Ride like Craig

Read review

3. The Guard Retention Anthology by Lachlan Giles

The guard retention anthology is about the style of guard retention that Lachlan Giles plays. A lot of high pummels, inversions, turtle shells, and counter arm locks and leg locks.

After I got my purple belt I decided that my guard needed to become much better, and this instructional helped me get to a level I’m very happy with. It’s a super in depth instructional, and it took my 3 months to work through both the Through the Legs and the Around the legs dvd. (If you had to choose one, I’d start with Around the legs by the way.)

4. BJJ Mental Models

BJJ Mental Models is a very cool platform that has possibly the best feature for beginners: black belt sparring analysis. That means you can send a video of yourself sparring or competing, and a black belt will analyze it and give you tips on what you can improve.

This is extremely helpful because you might be making a single mistake repetitively, which messes up your whole rolls. (That was the case for me.) So it’s a way to get better immediately.

Additionally, BJJ Mental Models has many audio courses. These are more conceptual than about techniques, which can be better for beginners. They help you think about BJJ in a more effective way.

Also read: BJJ Mental Models Review | Is Premium Worth It?

5. Make Z Guard Great Again by Craig Jones

Make Z Guard great again covers the knee shield half guard (not just z guard). I think this is the first guard you should learn because it’s relatively easy. And at ADCC 2022 we saw a ton of knee shield half guard as well, and most guys couldn’t pass it! So it works at the elite level too.

Criag’s probably the best knee shielder in the game. At ADCC 2022 he broke a guy’s arm within 10 seconds from here in his first match. He shows how in the instructional and he also shows also all his other submission attacks, such as his patented triangles and inside heel hooks.

Make Z-guard great again by Craig Jones cover

Learn the guard that Craig Jones still uses to sweep and submit people at the highest level

Tricky Z-Guard

Read review

6. Leg locks enter the system by John Danaher

Leg locks: enter the system is the instructional that made John Danaher famous. This is John, in all his eccentricity, teaching his leg lock system while the whole world watches. Nobody knew anything about leg locks at this point, except the Danaher death squad.

People often ask me whether this instructional is outdated, and it honestly isn’t. Everything that John layed out here still is the majority of the leg lock game today. John even predicted many of the problems that leg locks face nowadays (mostly back exposure). So he was so far ahead of the curve that his dvd from 2018 is still very relevant.

7. Systematically attacking from top pins by Gordon Ryan

Gordon Ryan makes the best BJJ instructionals in terms of (new) details. He always shows how things are commonly taught, and how you can do it even better. He also always shows common mistakes that happen a lot, even at black belt level competitions.

The 2 Gordon Ryan instructionals that I enjoyed the most are Systematically attacking from top pins: Mount, and Systematically attacking from top pins: Side control & North South. I found these dvds crucial because as a purple belt I found it embarrassing that I couldn’t always submit lower belts if they just stalled really hard. And these dvds taught me how to do that.

8. Get off my legs Gringo by Craig Jones

Get off my legs Gringo by Craig Jones is the most comprehensive instructional about leg lock defense. It’s about 5 and a half hours long and it covers all the positions you want to defend yourself from: saddle, 50/50, single x, outside ashi, leg reaps, double trouble, and so forth.

And Craig’s one of the best leg lockers in the world, so he has tremendous details to share in each position.

Get off my legs gringo by Craig Jones cover

Learn leg lock defense from Craig Jones

Defend like Craig

Read review

9. The Modern Defensive guard by Ryan Hall

Ryan Hall is a BJJ teacher that you hate or you love. He’s 80% talk and 20% showing techniques (no exaggeration). I personally really enjoy this. If Ryan Hall made a podcast I would certainly tune in.

The Modern Defensive guard is about a more realistic approach to guard. Ryan debunks a lot of myths about guard (such as that guard is equally good as passing, or that you should always maximize distance when playing guard – both aren’t true according to Ryan). And of course he’s got an MMA perspective too, because he’s both a UFC fighter and a former BJJ world champion. So lots to learn from him.

10. Blue belt in 1 day

Of course I have to mention my own course: Blue belt in 1 day.

It’s designed to be perfect for beginners. It’s the only course that targets the problems that all white belts face:

  • The techniques you learn in the gym don’t work for you
  • There are too many techniques to remember
  • You don’t know where to start

You need the following to solve your problems:

  • Learn which techniques work for beginners, which don’t and why.
  • Checklists to see which techniques you know, and which are left.
  • A gameplan that combines all the easiest beginner techniques to win sparring rounds.

And that’s exactly what you get in the course. So check it out.

Are BJJ Instructionals worth it?

Yes, BJJ instructionals are worth it to learn BJJ much quicker. I tried to learn BJJ from YouTube for the longest time, but learning with instructionals is much better. The reason is that instructors really put their best content out there, and they create one focused product for you to follow. This is much better than the ADHD-inducing YouTube algorithm that throws different positions and techniques at you all the time.

Also read: The Essential Guide to BJJ Instructionals in 2023

What about Grapplers Guide?

A lot of people on Reddit recommend Grapplers Guide. They say that it’s good value for the money because for $300 you get lifetime access to a whole bunch of courses. But what they don’t tell you is that almost all the courses are outdated. And you can get access to a whole bunch of better courses for $25 per month on Submeta, so I think Submeta made Grapplers Guide obsolete.

Also read: Grapplers Guide Review: It’s Not worth it in 2022

Why are BJJ Instructionals so expensive?

This question is always hard to answer because it’s subjective what ‘expensive’ means. Many instructionals are 5 to 8 hours long, so even if they’re $200, that’s a lot cheaper than private classes would have been! (And more value because you can rewatch.) The only thing I can say is that it’s relatively more affordable to get Submeta or a good BJJ Fanatics Daily Deals.

50% off Craig Jones, John Danaher and many other instructors!

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