Key Takeaways
- Yuri Simoes’s three-part defensive course covering standing defence, guard retention, and escapes from closed guard and mount in No-Gi.
- Built on Simoes’s own competitive calling card — he is a multi-time ADCC champion known for being extremely hard to submit.
- Strong, affordable fundamentals course aimed at “all levels”, with standing defence getting more attention than most survival instructionals give it.
- The “complete” label oversells the scope — side control, back, and turtle escapes are not covered.
- Best for white-to-purple belts and competitors who want a defensive foundation from an elite No-Gi athlete.
- Rating: 7/10
GET HERE: COMPLETE POSITIONAL NO-GI SURVIVAL GUIDE DVD
Yuri Simoes has built his career on being the guy opponents cannot finish. Across three ADCC titles, including the 2022 absolute crown, his competitive identity is defensive solidity — the ability to survive bad positions, deny takedowns, and frustrate elite grapplers. Complete Positional No-Gi Survival Guide DVD is that skill set packaged as a three-part course, and it is aimed squarely at the problem every developing grappler runs into: not losing, before worrying about winning.
The survival side of No-Gi is chronically under-taught. Instructionals skew toward offence — submissions, passes, back takes — while the defensive fundamentals that keep you in a match get one chapter or are skipped entirely. Simoes flips that emphasis, building the course around three survival zones: the feet, the guard, and the two worst bottom positions a No-Gi competitor lands in. It is a defensive-first philosophy, and for the right student it fills a real gap. In a sport where the instructional market leans heavily toward offence, a course that treats survival as the first skill is rarer than it should be — and Simoes is unusually well qualified to teach it.
Timeless BJJ Warrior Yuri Simoes
Yuri Simoes is a Brazilian black belt under Ricardo Vieira and one of the most successful No-Gi competitors of his generation. He won ADCC in 2015, 2017, and 2022, taking the absolute title in that most recent run, and added IBJJF No-Gi World titles in 2014 and 2016. He currently represents the Caio Terra Association.
His competitive record tells the story that matters for this course: across 88 wins, nearly half came by points and only a fraction by submission, while his own losses by submission are rare. Simoes wins by being hard to score on and harder to finish — exactly the qualities a survival instructional should be teaching.
His defensive head position, grip fighting, and guard retention are battle-tested against the best in the world, which gives this course a credibility that a generic “basics” package would lack.
Detailed Positional No-Gi Survival Guide Yuri Simoes DVD Review
The Complete Positional No-Gi Survival Guide Yuri Simoes DVD is not as “complete” as it claims — the title promises more than it delivers — and advanced players will find it thin, but for the white-to-purple belt No-Gi grappler who needs to stop losing positions, it is a smart, affordable buy.
Part 1: Standing Defence
The course opens where most survival instruction never goes — on the feet. Simoes lays out his “keys to standing defensive positioning” and immediately lands on the theme of the whole series: head position. He shows how head placement defends underhooks, arm drags, wrist ties, double underhooks, and the two-on-one before moving into grip fighting and wrist control as a collar tie defence.
The single leg work is the standout, with two distinct hip defence options, one of which covers the specific problem of the opponent keeping their hands locked. For No-Gi competitors who get taken down by wrestlers, this section alone is a reason to buy.
Part 2: Guard Retention
Part two moves to the guard, and again the focus is posture and positioning over technique-for-technique’s sake. Simoes teaches open guard retention fundamentals, then the harder scenario of retaining when the opponent circles fast.
He addresses double under and body lock defence directly — the two passing threats modern No-Gi competitors fear most — plus half guard defence options and breaking the double under grip. It is practical, current material that reflects how No-Gi passing is actually done today, rather than a dated grab-bag of counters.
Part 3: Closed Guard And Mount Escapes
The final part is the longest and the most directly useful for beginners. Three closed guard escapes — coming to your feet, trapping the wrist, and the extend-and-walk-away — give a clear progression, and then Simoes moves into mount, which is where he spends the most time.
There are hip-turn escapes, the bridge and roll, the arm trap bridge and roll, and a full treatment of S-mount escape including the scenario where the opponent advances further than you wanted. The recurring pattern is “alternative angles” — for almost every escape he shows a second entry, which is exactly the kind of redundancy you need against a resisting opponent.
It is unglamorous but essential material, and it reflects the reality of competing at Simoes’s level: the first escape fails against a good opponent, and the second one is what actually gets you out.
Learning to Survive
This course slots in differently from Simoes’s more advanced material. It is a fundamentals package, and the realistic time investment is short — a motivated student can work through it in a few weeks and start using the standing head position and mount escapes in sparring immediately.
The value compounds over time, though: the head position principles in particular are the kind of thing that quietly improves every round you ever have. Drillers should treat the “alternative angle” chapters as the core, because they are what makes the escapes work under pressure.https://bjj-world.com/revYuriSimoesSURVIVALNOGI
DOWNLOAD: POSITIONAL NO-GI SURVIVAL GUIDE YURI SIMOES DVD
Getting Out When Things Get Sticky
This is a course for white through purple belts, and for competitors at any rank who know their defence is the weak link. It fits No-Gi specialists and those cross-training from Gi who want to tighten up their standing and escape game.
The honest limits: if you are an advanced competitor with a developed survival game, much of this will feel like review, and if your problem is specifically side control or back escapes, the course will not fix it — those positions are not covered. It is also a purely defensive course, so do not expect counter-attacks or submission threats beyond regaining position.
Pros & Potential Drawbacks
Pros:
- An elite source for defensive fundamentals. Simoes’s competitive record is the proof the material works at the highest level.
- Standing defence is covered properly. Head position and single leg defence are rare in survival instructionals and invaluable against wrestlers.
- Modern No-Gi focus. Body lock and double under defence reflect the passing meta as it exists today.
- “Alternative angle” redundancy. Multiple entries for most escapes make the techniques resilient under pressure.
- Excellent value. At $97 it is the cheapest of the major-name courses here, and appropriately priced for a fundamentals package.
Potential Drawbacks:
- “Complete” oversells it. Side control, back, and turtle escapes are absent, so the survival guide is far from complete.
- Foundational, not advanced. Strong competitors with an established defensive game will find much of this familiar.
- Defensive only. There is little on converting survival into offence, which limits its ceiling as a standalone course.
How to Survive BJJ
Complete Positional No-Gi Survival Guide is a well-priced, well-structured fundamentals course from one of the most defensively sound competitors of his era. The standing head position work and the modern guard retention material are genuine highlights, and the mount and closed guard escapes give developing grapplers exactly the foundation they need.
