Key Takeaways
- Four Main Rulesets in BJJ Max Hanson DVD review — a four-volume, roughly two-and-a-half-hour digital instructional from a 2024 IBJJF Pan No-Gi champion on how to win under the four competition rulesets.
- Built around transferable match strategy — guard pulls, the boundary and resets, advantages, stalling, referee management, gameplanning, and overtime — rather than a pile of isolated techniques.
- The boundary and reset chapters are the standout: a genuinely uncommon look at how the edge of the mat changes scoring, submissions, and match control.
- Hanson’s record is the credibility: 98 career wins, including 22 by points, 2 by advantage, 57 by submission, and 2 in EBI overtime.
- Best for competitors from blue belt up who already know the rules and want a gameplan for winning under them.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 9 out of 10.
DOWNLOAD: The Four Main Rulesets in BJJ Max Hanson DVD
Every ruleset rewards a different version of Jiu-Jitsu, and most competitors never learn the version they are actually standing in. Max Hanson is one of the rare athletes who has learned to win under nearly all of them. The Canadian black belt has 98 career wins, and they arrive every possible way: 22 by points, 2 by advantage, 57 by submission, and 2 in overtime. That spread is exactly what Playing the Game: The Four Main Rulesets in BJJ DVD is built to teach.
Released as a four-volume digital instructional that streams or downloads through the BJJ Fanatics app, Playing the Game is not a rules explainer for any one BJJ ruleset. It assumes you already know what an advantage is. What it sells is the layer above the rules — how to pull guard and score off it, how the boundary changes a match, how to manage advantages, stalling, and the referee, how to gameplan from top and bottom, and how to finish under the clock.
Why Ruleset Strategy Matters More Than The Rules
Most competitors study technique and treat the ruleset as an afterthought, then lose matches they looked like they were winning. The rules decide what is worth chasing: under IBJJF rules an advantage and a stalling call can swing a scoreless match, ADCC rules ignore advantages entirely and punish passivity with negative points before sending finals to submission-only, and EBI rules push draws into a positional overtime.
We’ve covered each system in detail on the site — from the best points systems compared to the heel hook and knee reaping rules to a full competition guide for beginners — so this review will not re-explain them. The question Hanson is answering is harder: what do you actually do differently to win under each one?
The Instructor: A Black Belt Who Wins Every Way
Max Hanson is a Canadian black belt under Dante Leon, promoted in December 2022, who represents both Adamas Jiu-Jitsu and Pedigo Submission Fighting. He won the 2024 IBJJF Pan No-Gi title and has claimed invitational gold from 155 to 185 pounds at Enigma and Sapateiro, plus two Midwest Finishers championships, and he has appeared at CJI 2.
His record is the point: 98 wins, 22 by points, 2 by advantage, 57 by submission, and 2 by EBI overtime — a competitor who wins matches in every way a ruleset can be won, not just by hunting the finish. That is exactly the credibility a course called Playing the Game needs, and it is what separates Hanson from an instructor whose resume only exists in one format.
Four Main Rulesets in BJJ Max Hanson DVD Review: What Each Volume Teaches
The four volumes are organized by match phase and position rather than as four clean ruleset playbooks — the strategy is taught once and then adjusted to the ruleset in front of you, which is the more honest way to build it. Here is what each volume actually covers.
Volume 1: Guard Pulls, The Boundary And Match Management (41 Minutes)
The opener sets the tone for the whole set. Hanson’s guard pulling strategy is not about grips for their own sake; it is about pulling to score and staying safe in the transition, then converting the pull into points.
The middle of the volume is the rare material: how the boundary works, resets at the edge, and scoring and submission situations near the line — a part of match strategy almost no instructional touches, despite deciding tight contests every weekend. The back half turns to advantages, stalling and referee management, the invisible factors that settle more matches than most competitors admit.
Volume 2: Game Planning, Scoring And The Turtle (38 Minutes)
The competition gameplan material here is the most transferable part of the set. Hanson runs through how to gameplan to win from bottom and from top, how to initiate exchanges on your terms, and how to score points deliberately rather than waiting for openings. The turtle section — funk rolls and the seal position — is genuinely useful, then a short chapter on finishing matches quickly and a closing chapter on overtime that addresses the BJJ overtime rules of sub-only formats.
Volume 3: Fighting Passers And Leg Lockers (36 Minutes)
This volume is defensive gameplanning for the two styles most likely to beat a guard player. Hanson works through dealing with outside passers, inside passers, and kneeling opponents, then moves into 50-50 and the true mechanics of breaking leg locks and ankle locks. The standout is the counter-offense: fighting a leg locker with wedge back-takes and crab rides rather than just surviving, which is a far more useful answer than “just don’t get heel hooked.”
Volume 4: Back Attacks, Armbars And Escapes (41 Minutes)
The final volume is the most conventional of the four: winning from the back right away, cycling hands for the RNC, accumulating time on the back, and switching to the armbar, then a deep armbar block that includes the scythe armbar and the armbar-to-back switch. It closes with escapes — hitchhiker, reverse hitchhiker, stacking armbar escape, and advanced back escape details — which round the course out as a full match curriculum rather than a single-position study.
Across the four volumes the connective thread is clear: everything is framed by how the clock, the score, and the referee will treat the position. That is the part a technique library cannot give you.
Ready for Competion?
Treat this as competition-prep material, not a technique library. The four volumes run just over two and a half hours, so a single watch is realistic before a tournament, but the value comes from drilling the boundary and gameplanning concepts in live rounds and then applying the match-management details under actual competition pressure.
The stalling, advantage, and referee material is immediately usable for anyone with a competition coming up; the turtle, leg-lock defense, and back attack blocks need mat time to internalize. Hanson keeps the ideas broad enough to transfer, which means you are buying a decision-making framework more than a fixed set of sequences.
Playing the Game: Four Main Rulesets in BJJ Max Hanson DVD DOWNLOAD
Who Is This For?
Playing the Game is aimed squarely at competitors from blue belt up who already understand the rules and want the strategy to win under them, and it will land hardest for No-Gi athletes who bounce between points and sub-only events. Coaches building a competition gameplan for students will also get a lot out of the framing.
It is not for absolute beginners, who will be lost the moment the material assumes you know what an advantage or a reset is, and it is not for Gi-only specialists hunting collar and lapel systems — there is no Gi-specific strategy here. Casual hobbyists who never compete will find little to apply.
Pros And Potential Drawbacks
Pros:
- Genuinely uncommon boundary and reset coverage. The mat edge is a neglected part of competition strategy, and Hanson treats it as a scoring and submission weapon.
- Instructor credibility across formats. A record split across points, advantages, submissions, and overtime gives the strategy real weight.
- Full-match framing. Top, bottom, edge, referee, and overtime are all covered, not just one position.
- Concrete gameplanning. The material teaches decision-making and scoring deliberately rather than piling up techniques.
- Practical leg-lock defense. The counter-offense against leg lockers fills a common gap for points competitors.
Potential Drawbacks:
- The “four rulesets” framing is looser than the title. The volumes are organized by match phase, and the specific four rulesets are never named on the page.
- Assumes competition experience. Beginners will struggle with the assumed knowledge of scoring and match flow.
Know the Rules
This Four Main Rulesets in BJJ Max Hanson DVD lands at 9 out of 10. The course delivers the spirit of its title — deployable strategy for winning under the rulesets competitors actually face — even if its four volumes are built around match phases rather than four clean ruleset playbooks.
The boundary and reset chapters alone are worth the price of admission for a serious competitor, and Hanson’s record gives the material a weight no pure rules explainer can match.
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
