Key Takeaways
- Let them Cook Bro Yuri Simoes DVD — a compact, two-volume instructional that chains standup entries, open-guard and knee-shield passing, pinning, and submission finishes into one top-game progression.
- The “cook” idea is a real pressure-pinning theme — north-south, the straight jacket, and cradle options — rather than empty marketing, but it is not an exhaustive guard-passing system.
- The two volumes run a little over an hour in total, so every phase — takedowns, passing, pinning, and finishing — is condensed rather than deep.
- Best for intermediates who already pass at a basic level and want a connected path from standing contact to a finished attack.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 8 out of 10.
DOWNLOAD HERE: Let them Cook Bro Yuri Simoes DVD
Yuri Simões has spent his competitive career being the person on top. The multiple-time ADCC champion built his reputation on relentless pressure passing and a finishing game that gives opponents almost no room to rebuild guard. His latest BJJ Fanatics release, Let them Cook Bro: Open Guard and Knee Shield Pinning Passing and Finishing, tries to compress that entire top game into a single connected sequence: make contact on the feet, pass the open guard or the knee shield, settle into a pin, and attack before the guard player can recompose.
Pressure Starts With Passing
Open-guard and knee-shield passing is where a huge number of grapplers stall. The guard player has frames, feet, and the threat of recovery every time the passer commits weight. A course that only teaches the pass often abandons the student at the exact moment of success — they clear the legs and immediately get re-guarded because they have no plan for the top position.
That is the gap this instructional is explicitly trying to close, and it is the reason the pinning and finishing chapters matter more than a casual look at the chapter list would suggest. That said, this is a crowded corner of the market. Dedicated passing systems such as Roger Gracie’s guard passing system or Buchecha’s pressure passing go far deeper into the mechanics of a single passing philosophy, and the Gringo Guard Passing Knee Shield course is built specifically around dismantling that one position.
What Simões offers instead is breadth plus connection: a short, usable chain from standing to finish rather than an encyclopedia. Whether that trade-off is worth it depends entirely on which of those two things the buyer is missing.
No-Gi Mainstay Yuri Simoes
Yuri Simões is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Ricardo Vieira, awarded after earlier instruction under Maurício “Behring,” and he now trains with the Caio Terra Association. His competitive record is elite by any measure.
Before even reaching black belt he swept the 2011 IBJJF World Championship, the No-Gi World Championship (weight and absolute), and the European Open — a colored-belt run good enough to earn his black belt in December of that year. He went on to win ADCC in 2015, 2017, and 2022, alongside IBJJF No-Gi World titles at black belt.
One detail is worth underlining for this particular product: Simões lists the open guard itself among his favorite positions. A man who lives in the open guard from the bottom understands exactly what the guard player is hunting for, which is the precise knowledge a passer needs to shut it down. That credibility carries the pinning and knee-shield material here.
Detailed Review: Let them Cook Bro Yuri Simoes DVD Review
What makes the release unusual is the scope. Most instructionals pick a lane — takedowns, or passing, or a specific pin. This one spans all three, plus the finishing layer, inside just two volumes. The question is not whether each individual technique works; it is whether a two-volume course can hold that much ground without leaving every phase underdeveloped. That question is the spine of this review.
Volume 1: Standup Takedown Offense
The first volume is the entry layer, and it is short — roughly 24 minutes. Simões works through underhook entries to single- and double-leg finishes, underhook-to-arm-drag and collar-tie-to-arm-drag sequences, a collar tie to the single leg, and an inside tie to the double leg.
The material is clean and competition-tested, and the through-line is sensible: establish a dominant tie, then either shoot from it or use it to pull the opponent out of position for a drag. Nothing here is revolutionary, but it is exactly the set of entries a pressure passer wants before the match hits the floor.
The limitation is depth. Each entry is demonstrated and finished, but the troubleshooting — what to do when the single leg gets whizzered, how to adjust the arm drag against a heavy collar-frame — is compressed by the runtime. Volume 1 reads as a refresher and a connector for someone who already has takedowns, not as a takedown system on its own.
Volume 2: Open Guard Passing, Pinning, and Finishing
The second volume is where the product earns its name, and where most of the ~47 minutes of material lives. Simões opens with open-guard passing, pinning, and multiple submission options before moving into the “karate chop” knee-shield pass — a specific answer to the frame-and-shield problem that clears the shield knee and transitions straight into finish options.
From there he covers a tight-waist pass, a pass into north-south that adjusts to the straight jacket, a leg whip to the cradle with additional cradle options, a leg drag, and finishing sequences for the triangle and the armbar.
The “cook” concept becomes concrete here. After the pass, the emphasis is not on rushing to a submission but on settling into a pin — north-south, the straight jacket, the cradle — and letting the opponent carry the pressure while the finish opens up.
That is a genuine positional progression rather than a title gimmick: pass, pin, cook, then attack. The cradle material in particular is a welcome addition, because most passing courses stop at the pass and leave the student to improvise the follow-up.
The honest caveat is the same one that runs through Volume 1. Eight chapters carrying passing, pinning, and finishing across under 50 minutes means several ideas get minutes, not full breakdowns. The leg drag chapter, for example, is around three minutes, and the triangle-and-armbar finishing chapter runs about four. A student who wants multiple entries, counters, and failure modes for each position will need to supplement this elsewhere.
How to Use a Pressure Cooker
The realistic way to use this course is as a single loop rather than a reference library. Watch the two volumes in order, then drill the sequence as one unit: underhook or collar-tie entry to the pass, pass to the pin, pin to the finish.
Because the runtime is so compact, a grappler can consume it in an afternoon and then spend the following weeks pressure-testing the chain in positional rounds — open guard against a live partner, reset on the pass, and see whether the pin holds before the guard rebuilds.
The material is best learned in a No-Gi-flavored top game. The grips Simões relies on — collar ties, underhooks, and leg controls — are grip-neutral and transfer to the Gi as well, but the course does not trade in Gi grips, and the takedown entries assume a wrestling-style tie-up rather than sleeve and lapel control.
Let them Cook Bro Yuri Simoes DVD AVAILABLE HERE
Who Is This For?
This is an intermediate’s course. A blue or purple belt who already has a basic pass and a basic takedown will get the most from it, because the value is the connection between phases, not the phases themselves. Grapplers with a wrestling-heavy or No-Gi top game will feel at home; Gi players who build their passing off sleeve and lapel grips will find less to borrow.
Beginners should look elsewhere — the course assumes you already know how to hold a pin and how a pass is supposed to feel, and it does not spend time teaching fundamentals. The same goes for anyone hunting a complete passing or takedown system: this is a chain, not an encyclopedia, and it will not replace a dedicated system from Roger Gracie, Buchecha, or a specialist takedown course.
Pros And Potential Drawbacks
Pros:
- A genuinely connected sequence. Standing entry, pass, pin, and finish are stitched into one progression, which is rarer than it should be in a market full of single-phase courses.
- The pinning layer earns its keep. North-south, the straight jacket, and the cradle are treated as the finish line, not an afterthought, and they create real attacking opportunities rather than stalling positions.
- A named knee-shield answer. The karate-chop pass gives a concrete solution to the frame-and-shield problem that stymies so many passers.
- Instructor credibility. An ADCC and No-Gi World champion who lists the open guard among his own favorite positions knows exactly what the guard player wants to do.
- Efficient and watchable. Just over an hour of material means no filler, and the whole chain can be absorbed in a single sitting.
Potential Drawbacks:
- Thin per phase. The breadth comes at the cost of depth; several chapters run only a few minutes, and troubleshooting is compressed throughout.
- Not a standalone system. Buyers expecting a complete passing or takedown reference will find this too narrow, and it leans on wrestling-style grips that Gi-grip passers may not use.
- Value per minute. At $97 for roughly 70 minutes, the price is steep against deeper systems at a similar price point — the 30-day refund window for undownloaded courses softens that risk, but only if the buyer actually tests the material quickly.
Pressure Cooking Bros
Let them Cook Bro: Open Guard and Knee Shield Pinning Passing and Finishing is a focused, well-sequenced top-game chain rather than a broad open-guard or passing reference. It delivers on its promise — the takedown material feeds naturally into the passing, the knee-shield solution is concrete, and the pinning chapters turn the pass into a genuine finishing position instead of a stopping point.
Reviewed by: Ognen Dzabirski, BJJ black belt, full-time coach and gym owner. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication
