Key Takeaways
- Compact, concept-driven system that turns the knee lever into a universal sweeping and off-balancing tool, not just a single half guard move.
- Shows how to connect failures (stuffed sweeps, posts, retreats) to back takes, leg entanglements, and guard recovery so you never feel “stuck” under pressure.
- Great for smaller, older, or less explosive grapplers who want reliable leverage-based reversals instead of strength-based scrambles.
- Clear Danaher-style structure but in Brian’s more relaxed, approachable teaching voice, with plenty of built-in training ideas and progressions.
- Rating: 8.5/10
KNEE LEVER MASTERCALSS BRIAN GLICK DVD DOWNLOAD
The Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD is the latest addition to Glick’s growing catalog of carefully structured Jiu-Jitsu systems, this time zeroing in on one of the most underrated sweeps in grappling. In this review, we’ll look at how the material is organized, what makes Glick’s approach to the knee lever different, and where this instructional fits in the broader landscape of modern guard work.
Rather than offering a grab bag of half guard moves, the course builds a clear, repeatable process for understanding and applying the knee lever across positions and levels. If you’ve ever wondered how far you can push a single mechanic, this course offers a clear answer.
The Hardest Easy Half Guard Sweep
The knee lever sits in a sweet spot between classic fundamental sweeps and the more complex modern guard meta. At its core, you are using your shin and knee as a lever to tilt the opponent’s base, disrupt their weight distribution, and create a predictable direction of fall. That basic idea shows up in closed guard, half guard, open guard, 50/50, and even scramble scenarios if you know what to look for.
The Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD leans into this universality, treating the knee lever as a study in leverage, kuzushi, and timing rather than a one-off trick you hit once in a while. For Jiu-Jitsu students who came up on older “technique catalogue” style instructionals, it’s refreshing to see the knee lever presented as a concept-driven system.
Once you understand where the opponent’s center of mass is, what posts they’re trying to build, and which leg you can attack as a lever, you can start to recognize knee lever opportunities any time someone steps a leg forward or shifts their hip line.
Modern Mastermind Brian Glick
Brian Glick is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under John Danaher and also a Judo black belt, which already tells you a lot about the lens he brings to sweeps and off-balancing. Over the past two decades, Brian has become a full-time instructor in Brooklyn, known for building systems that regular students can actually retain, not just techniques they watch once and forget.
He is widely described as one of Danaher’s “hidden gems”: a smaller, highly technical grappler who survived the rough early days of the Renzo Gracie academy and emerged with a deep understanding of leverage and positional safety.
If you’ve followed his previous work, you’ll recognize the same calm, precise communication style here: short conceptual frames followed by tightly focused sequences that show where a move fits in the bigger picture. He often speaks to older and less explosive grapplers, encouraging them to slow the game down, solve problems methodically, and build a guard that can last for years.
The Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD continues that theme, giving hobbyists and competitors alike a roadmap for using one tool to solve a bunch of common problems from guard and transitional positions.
Detailed Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD Review
Before we dive into the individual volumes of the Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD, it’s worth pointing out how tightly organized this instructional really is. Instead of scattering knee lever ideas across random positions, Glick builds a clear “zoomed-in to zoomed-out” structure: starting with the core mechanics from classic half guard, then layering in chest-to-chest battles, then moving on to distance-based entries and transitional moments.
Volume 1 – Basic Mechanics
The opening volume of the Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD serves as your on-ramp into the system. After a short dedication and introduction, Glick spends time explaining why half guard is such a valuable home base and how the knee lever fits into that landscape.
He breaks down the benefits of working from half guard, emphasizing the balance between safety and attacking potential, then moves into the underlying mechanics of the knee lever itself. He walks through body alignment, where your knee and shin should be, and how to aim the opponent’s weight so the sweep feels light.
A big chunk of Volume 1 is devoted to identifying your biggest obstacles and major objectives. Common problems like a heavy cross-face, a strong post on the far side, or an opponent who is constantly backing their leg away are all framed as puzzles that the knee lever can help solve.
By the end of the opening volume, you have a clear sense of why the Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD is built as a system rather than a string of unrelated half guard clips.
Volume 2 – Being Smashed
Part two of the Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD shifts the focus to chest-to-chest half guard, where a lot of grapplers feel both safest and most trapped. Glick starts with the overhook knee lever, detailing how to secure chest-to-chest, protect yourself, and still create enough space and angle to load the opponent on top of your shin.
The mechanics and finishing details get a careful breakdown, so you understand not just what to do, but why each element matters when someone is driving hard from the top. From there, the volume really starts to shine when he explores what happens if the initial knee lever doesn’t go as planned.
This is where the failed knee lever sequences become the heart of the Knee Lever Brian Glick DVD. Instead of treating a stuffed sweep as the end of the road, Glick shows how to use the reactions to enter tight waist controls, heist to the back, attack Ashi, recover closed guard, or transition into sumi gaeshi and clamp-style positions. Each follow-up is presented as a natural answer to a common defensive reaction, which makes the system feel very usable in live rolls.
Volume 3 – Working From Distance
With the fundamentals of half guard and chest-to-chest exchanges in place, Volume 3 zooms out to working from distance. Here, Glick looks at situations where the opponent’s knee is on the floor or they are in a split-squat style stance, which opens up a different family of knee lever entries.
He shows how to put the knee on the floor deliberately, when to attack with a double knee lever, and how to use one-on-one grip configurations like double wrist control, wrist-and-scoop, and elbow wrap to line up strong kuzushi angles without sacrificing your own base.
The later chapters of this volume are packed with two-on-one sequences, arm drags, and reactions to common pullback defenses. As the top player tries to retreat or change levels to avoid the sweep, Glick layers in options like forward heisting to a single leg, taking the back off an elbow post, or threatening an arm-in guillotine when their neck becomes exposed.
There is also smart coverage of what to do when your knee lever attempt moves the opponent but doesn’t quite finish the reversal, including follow-ups to double leg takedowns, attacks on the extended leg, counters to over-under passing, and a transition into Te Gatame-style control. It’s here that the Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD really sells itself as an “all-position” lever system, not just a bottom-half specialty.
Creating a Fallback Game Plan
On the practical side, this instructional is built to plug straight into regular training. You can easily take one or two ideas from the first volume—such as where to position your knee and how to direct the opponent’s weight—and turn them into a narrow focus for a week of half guard rounds.
As you add in the chest-to-chest and failed-knee-lever sequences, it becomes natural to design specific sparring rounds where you must start under pressure, hit a knee lever, and then chain into back takes or leg attacks depending on your partner’s reaction.
The structure of the Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD makes it straightforward to turn chapters into mini training blocks. Because the core concepts are about leverage and timing rather than athleticism, they translate well to both Gi and No-Gi.
Smaller grapplers and older students will appreciate how much emphasis Glick places on making the opponent carry their own weight while you work, rather than exploding through resistance.
Even for stronger, more explosive players, there is a lot of value in learning to rely on clean mechanics, so your game doesn’t fall apart on days when you’re tired, injured, or facing someone who can’t be bullied physically. Over time, the knee lever stops being just a “half guard sweep you know” and becomes a lens for understanding how to tilt and reverse people from almost anywhere.
GET HERE KNEE LEVER MASTERCALSS BRIAN GLICK DVD
Who Is This For?
In terms of audience, this is a very friendly instructional for anyone from late white belt upward. Brand-new students who are still getting crushed in half guard will find the early material on benefits, obstacles, and objectives particularly helpful, since it gives them a clear reason to stay in half guard instead of bailing to closed guard or giving up the pass.
Blue and purple belts who already use the knee lever occasionally will probably get the most immediate value out of the Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD, because the course shows exactly how to link their favorite sweep to back takes, leg entanglements, and guard recoveries without rebuilding their guard from scratch.
For higher belts, the biggest draw is seeing how a long-time Danaher black belt thinks about leverage and problem-solving in live guard situations.
Personality-wise, the teaching style is calm, methodical, and free of fluff, which suits students who prefer a more analytic approach to Jiu-Jitsu. If you’ve enjoyed Glick’s previous work on half guard, crucifix, or escapes, this release feels like a natural companion: one more system built on decision trees and clear objectives.
The Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD is especially appealing if you’re trying to build a game that will age well; the focus on structure and timing over speed or explosiveness is very much in line with his broader message about longevity on the mats.
Pros & Potential Drawbacks
Pros:
- Concept-first structure that explains why the knee lever works before piling on variations, making it easier to remember and actually apply under pressure.
- Strong emphasis on “what happens if it fails,” with built-in pathways to tight waist controls, back takes, ashi garami entries, closed guard, and clamp-style positions.
- Clear links between close-range half guard work and more distant open guard and split-squat scenarios, so the knee lever becomes a unifying theme across your guard.
- Teaching style is precise and down-to-earth, with chapter titles and sequences that make it simple to re-watch specific sections before training.
- Great fit for smaller, older, or less explosive grapplers who want a leverage-based answer to heavy top pressure without having to learn an entirely new guard.
Potential Drawbacks:
- If you are looking for a broad “all guards” overview or a lapel-heavy modern Gi curriculum, a tightly focused Brian Glick Knee Lever DVD may feel too narrow in scope.
- Players who already have a very developed knee lever game might wish for more standing entries or connections to specific meta positions like modern leg entanglement systems.
It’s All About Leverage
Knee lever enthusiasts—and anyone who constantly finds themselves stuck on the bottom half—will get a lot out of this release. The Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD carries forward Glick’s broader message about building a smart, sustainable game that doesn’t rely on youth or athleticism.
It’s not a complete guard encyclopedia, and it doesn’t try to be—but as a deep dive on one of the most transferable sweeps in Jiu-Jitsu, it hits the target. If you’re willing to spend a few weeks deliberately drilling and sparring around the concepts, the Knee Lever Masterclass Brian Glick DVD has all the pieces you need to turn a single movement pattern into a core pillar of your bottom game.
