Key Takeaways
- Who it’s for: older, recreational and less athletic grapplers who want reliable submission defense without relying on scrambling, flexibility or explosiveness.
- What it is: the Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Submission Escapes release — a two-volume Fast Track course covering escapes and late-stage defense from every major Gi submission threat: top positions, mount, side control, knee-on-belly, the back and leg locks.
- Core strength: Bernardo Faria’s “recognize danger early, stay calm, move technically” framework, delivered in his signature systematic, pressure-oriented style.
- Key limitation: defense-only and firmly Gi-oriented, so it will not help attackers or No-Gi specialists.
- Rating: 8/10
DOWNLOAD: Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Submission Escapes Bernardo Faria
Fast Track BJJ: Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys – Submission Escapes is Bernardo Faria’s answer to a problem every aging grappler knows too well: as the years stack up, scrambling out of an armbar or explosively ripping free from a bad position stops being an option. Across two focused volumes, the five-time World Champion lays out a defensive system built on recognition, composure and technically sound movement rather than speed or flexibility.
Submission defense only becomes more important as a grappler gets older. Wildly yanking a limb free or rolling frantically to escape a choke is not just inefficient — for a body with decades of training wear, it is a recipe for injury. Faria’s approach is different. The goal is to understand the position, neutralise the immediate threat, and use small, structurally sound movements to work back toward safety.
It is the same philosophy that has made his broader Old Guys instruction so popular: adapt Jiu-Jitsu around longevity, efficiency and intelligent movement instead of trying to make a 40-year-old move like a 20-year-old competitor.
BJJ For Old Guys – Bernardo Farias Speciality
Bernardo Faria is a black belt under Ricardo Marques who spent years working alongside Fabio Gurgel and competing for Alliance Jiu-Jitsu. He won IBJJF World Championship gold in 2010, 2013 and 2015 and is widely regarded as one of the most dominant super-heavyweights of his generation — a 95-win career in which more than half of the victories came by submission. His game was built on pressure, the half guard and the wheel sweep, and it carried him to the very top of the sport without ever leaning on flashy athleticism.
Just as relevant to this release is what Faria has done since his competitive peak. He is a co-founder of BJJ Fanatics, which means the man teaching these submission escapes has spent the better part of a decade watching exactly how recreational grapplers learn — and where they struggle — from instructionals. That background shows in how deliberately this course is sequenced for a student who cannot afford to learn the hard way.
How the Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Submission Escapes DVD Is Structured
The Fast Track format is the key difference from Faria’s full-length sets. Where his earlier Old Guys releases run long, this series is condensed — two volumes, each a tight collection of the concepts and techniques Faria considers most important, at a lower price point. The result is a course that gets you from the sofa to the mats faster, with less filler to wade through.
Volume 1: Submissions From Top, Mount And Side Control
The first volume opens with a section on staying safe from submissions while on top, then works through the three escapes most older grapplers need first: the triangle, the omoplata and the armbar from closed guard. The triangle chapter alone is worth the price of admission — Faria shows a hip-in posture escape, a push-the-leg escape, a shoulder-drive escape credited to Henry Akins, and a standing leg-over escape, giving viewers options depending on how far the choke is locked in. The omoplata and armbar chapters follow the same pattern, each presenting several escapes rather than one “right” answer.
From there the volume moves to guillotine defense — covering both the easy-side and opposite-side escapes — before shifting into survival from bottom positions. The mount section addresses the americana, the cross-collar choke, the Ezekiel and the head-and-arm triangle, with a heavy emphasis on preventing these attacks before they become emergencies. The side control block is similarly thorough, covering how to prevent the armbar and kimura from both the near-side and far-side arm traps, plus escapes from the north-south choke, scarf-hold choke, north-south kimura and bread-cutter choke.
Volume 2: Knee-On-Belly, The Back And Leg Attacks
The second volume continues down the positional ladder. It opens with knee-on-belly, covering the armbar escape and baseball-bat choke defense, then spends a long stretch on the worst place to be for any grappler — having your back taken. The rear naked choke material is genuinely practical: control the choking hand, look to the elbow and remove the hook, and a cross-collar choke sequence built on sliding down and finding the elbow. There is also a bow-and-arrow choke escape, one of the submissions recreational grapplers get caught with most often in the Gi.
The closing section on foot locks and leg attacks is a welcome addition that many defensive instructionals skip. Faria covers the straight ankle lock, toe hold principles, and two kneebar escapes — the first-side and opposite-side escapes — before wrapping the course with a short outro. For an older grappler, leg lock defense is arguably the most valuable material here, since it is the area where late recognition and slow reactions cost the most.
Practical Application: Drilling Submission Escapes That Stick
The standout teaching concept in this course is recognition. Faria returns again and again to the idea that the escape that matters most is the one you start before the submission is fully set. Students who take that seriously will get far more out of the material than those who just memorise the mechanical steps.
Each chapter is short enough to drill in a single class, and the two-volume structure makes it realistic to cycle through the whole course as a rolling defensive curriculum over a few weeks.
Expect a realistic time investment. These are not miracle techniques — they are small, repeatable movements that need reps under pressure to become automatic. The good news is that they are designed to work without athletic attributes, so they will keep working as the student gets older, which is the entire point.
Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Submission Escapes Bernardo Faria DVD LINK
Who Is This For?
This course is aimed squarely at the older, recreational grappler — roughly white through purple belt — who wants to stay safe against bigger, younger or more aggressive training partners.
It is also a strong fit for anyone returning to training after a layoff who wants to rebuild confidence in bad positions without risking injury. The defensive framing and the emphasis on staying calm under pressure will land particularly well with students who are tired of getting caught in the same submissions over and over.
It is not for everyone. Young competitors looking to build an attacking game will find nothing for them here, and No-Gi specialists will only get partial value from a curriculum built around Gi grips and chokes like the cross-collar, bow-and-arrow and baseball-bat. Experienced black belts with a mature defensive game will recognise most of the individual techniques even if the sequencing is refreshing.
Pros And Potential Drawbacks
Pros:
- Meets the older grappler where they actually are. Nothing here relies on explosiveness, flexibility or athleticism, which is precisely the point of the series.
- Broad, realistic coverage. Triangles, armbars, omoplatas, guillotines, mount and side control chokes, back attacks and leg locks — the submissions that actually end rounds in the Gi.
- Systematic and pressure-tested. Faria built a World Championship career on efficiency and pressure, and that same logic runs through every chapter.
- Recognition-first teaching. The emphasis on spotting danger early is the highest-value habit a defensive grappler can develop.
- A genuinely efficient format. Two focused volumes with little filler, at a better price point than his full-length releases.
- Rare leg lock coverage. The ankle lock, toe hold and kneebar section addresses a gap many defensive instructionals leave open.
Potential Drawbacks:
- Defense-only. There is no offense here, so anyone hoping to build an attacking game will need to look elsewhere.
- Condensed depth. The Fast Track format covers some concepts more briefly than Faria’s full-length sets, so complete beginners may want more hand-holding on framing and base.
- Gi-centric. Several key chapters are built around Gi-specific attacks, which limits the value for No-Gi players.
The Verdict: Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Submission Escapes
Fast Track BJJ: Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys – Submission Escapes is a focused, honest and genuinely useful release. It does exactly what it promises: it gives the older grappler a smarter, safer way to survive the submissions that end most rounds, without asking them to move like a 20-year-old. The coverage is broad, the sequencing is deliberate, and the instructor is as credible as it gets on this subject.
