Key Takeaways
- A focused 3-volume deep dive on the Americana from every relevant position — mount, cross side, scarf hold, turtle, arm drag, and even open guard
- Covers fundamental mechanics, position-specific setups, and counters to common defenses (locked hands, neck protection, pushing the face)
- Henry Akins brings Rickson Gracie–level pressure detail to a submission most grapplers think they already know but actually finish poorly
- The “Super Chill Position” is a standout concept — a modified cross side that destroys the opponent’s frames and opens the Americana from angles they can’t defend
- Best suited for gi grapplers at blue belt and above who want to turn a “basic” shoulder lock into a reliable finishing system
- Rating: 8.5/10
MAKE AMERICANAS GREAT AGAIN HENRY AKINS DVD FULL DOWNLOAD
The Americana is one of the first submissions a white belt learns, so most grapplers stop thinking about it. Henry Akins disagrees — he believes the Americana is one of the most underdeveloped submissions in the sport because nobody teaches the detail behind it.
Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD builds a complete Americana system across 3 volumes, covering setups from mount, cross side, scarf hold, turtle, arm drag, and open guard. This Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD breaks down the instructional and evaluates whether Rickson Gracie–level detail can make a “basic” submission great again.
Are People Still Doing Americanas?
The Americana occupies a strange place in BJJ. It is taught early, drilled often, and rarely finished against anyone who knows what it is. The reason is not that the Americana is a bad submission — it is that most people learn the mechanics without learning the control. You can crank an Americana on a white belt who does not know how to hide their elbow. Against a blue belt or above who rolls their shoulder and protects their arm, the basic Americana stops working.
Akins approaches this problem by ignoring the finish and focusing on the breakdown. His philosophy, rooted in Rickson Gracie’s approach to pressure and connection, treats the Americana as the end of a sequence that starts with position. If the mount or cross side is perfect — if the weight is distributed correctly and the frames are destroyed — the Americana becomes a matter of time rather than technique.
Henry Akins Hidden Jiu Jitsu approach has been documented across his previous instructionals, and this one follows the same pattern. The Americana is not treated as an isolated shoulder lock but as a submission that emerges naturally from superior positional control. The concept applies to both gi and No-Gi, though the grips favor the gi.
The Guru of Hidden Jiu-Jitsu – Henry Akins
Henry Akins is a BJJ black belt under Rickson Gracie and one of the most direct links to the original Gracie Jiu-Jitsu philosophy still teaching today. He is the third American to receive his black belt from Rickson Gracie, a testament to the time and trust required to earn that distinction.
Akins trained under Rickson for 15 years, becoming the head instructor at the Rickson Gracie Academy from 2005 to 2008 — a background that makes this Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD uniquely credible. He resigned from that role due to a back injury but continued teaching through his own organization, Hidden Jiu-Jitsu, which focuses on the pressure, connection, and sensitivity principles that Rickson emphasized.
His blog and online presence document a philosophy that prioritizes positional control over athleticism. Akins teaches that most BJJ players train too hard and think too little — that the secret to Rickson’s effectiveness was not strength but an almost meditative awareness of weight distribution and opponent movement. This philosophy carries directly into his Americana system, where the submission is presented as the result of correct positioning rather than a muscular crank.
Akins previously released Guard Passing Mastery on BJJ Fanatics, which was well-received. The Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD follows the same teaching philosophy applied to shoulder locks.
Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD Review
The Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD is not for grapplers who want flashy submissions. It is for grapplers who want to finish one submission from everywhere — mount, cross side, scarf hold, turtle, and open guard — with enough detail that the opponent knows what is coming but cannot stop it anyway.
Volume 1 — Americana from Mount
The opening volume builds the Americana system from the most traditional starting point: the mounted position. Akins starts with the basic mechanics of the Americana from the mount, then immediately addresses the problem most grapplers face: the finish fails because the mount itself is not stable enough.
The “Being Stable” chapters are where the Rickson influence is most visible. Akins focuses on weight distribution, pressure points, and connection rather than traditional mount control (grabbing the collar, digging in the knees). His approach lets you maintain the mount with less energy while creating the isolation needed for the Americana.
The troubleshooting chapters in this Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD. Rather than switching to a different submission, Akins shows how to break the defense while maintaining the mount.
Volume 2 — Americana from Cross Side
In part two moves to the cross side, where the Americana becomes harder because the opponent has more mobility. Akins introduces the “Super Chill Position” — a modified cross side where he drops his weight back and creates space to attack the near arm. The name is deceptively lighthearted; the mechanics are subtle and effective.
The Reach Around from the Super Chill Position and the Near Side Americana are the main attacking options. The “Bending The Arm From Cross Side” chapter covers the finishing mechanic when the opponent frames against your chest, which is the most common defensive reaction in cross side.
Akins also covers the “Americana When They Push Your Face” — a specific but common defense (the bottom player shoves the top player’s face away to create space) — and shows how to turn that defense into a submission opening.
Volume 3 — Advanced Americana Setups
Thelast volume is where the system extends beyond the standard positions. Akins covers the Americana from scarf hold (kesa gatame), which is a natural position for the submission but one that most grapplers do not associate with shoulder locks.
The Mir Lock from open guard is the surprise of this Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD. Its is a shoulder lock from a leg entanglement position, named after Frank Mir’s use of it in MMA. Akins shows how to enter it from open guard, making the Americana system relevant even when you are on the bottom.
Americana from arm drag, from turtle, and from anaconda choke position round out the volume of the Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD. The arm drag entry is particularly useful for competition, where the Americana is rarely seen but highly effective when set up from a drag.
Simple Works… Mostly
The Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD rewards drilling with resistance. The Americana mechanics are simple enough that you can learn the finish in five minutes, but the position-specific setups — especially the weight distribution from mount and the Super Chill Position from cross side — require live feel to internalize.
A practical study cycle: start with the mount entries from Volume 1, drilling the stability and the hand-locking defense until they feel natural. Then add the cross side entries from Volume 2, focusing on the Super Chill Position. Leave Volume 3 for last — the advanced setups (Mir Lock, arm drag, turtle) are situational tools that you can add once the core system is solid.
Positional sparring from mount and cross side is the best testing method. Have your partner start with hands locked or neck protected, and practice breaking through those defenses into the Americana.
GET IT HERE: MAKE AMERICANAS GREAT AGAIN HENRY AKINS DVD
Who Is This For?
Gi grapplers are the primary audience. The Americana works in No-Gi, but the grip control (especially on the sleeve or lapel for the initial isolation) is stronger in the gi. Blue and purple belts who have a basic Americana but cannot finish it against resisting opponents will get the most value from the Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD.
White belts who want to learn their first submission system will also benefit, though they should supplement with more foundational guard and passing material. Brown and black belts who think they already know the Americana should still watch the “Super Chill Position” section — it may change how you approach cross side entirely.
No-Gi specialists will find the concept of the Americana useful (it works in No-Gi too), but many of the specific grip details assume gi fabric. Grapplers who rely on the Kimura as their primary shoulder lock may find limited value — the Americana and Kimura share mechanics but the Americana requires different positional setups.
Pros and Potential Drawbacks
Pros:
- The troubleshooting chapters (locked hands, neck protection, face pushing) address real defenses that most Americana instructionals ignore entirely
- The “Super Chill Position” is a genuinely useful innovation for cross side control that changes how you approach the position regardless of whether you finish with the Americana
- Akins’ teaching philosophy — pressure and connection over strength — makes the system accessible to smaller and older grapplers
- The Mir Lock from open guard adds value for grapplers who want a shoulder lock option from the bottom
- At 3 volumes covering the Americana from every angle, the depth is hard to fault for the price point
Potential Drawbacks:
- The Americana is a gi-favored submission and the No-Gi application is limited without grip adjustments
- The “Super Chill Position” is effective but may feel counterintuitive to grapplers who are used to heavy pressure passing from cross side — it requires some trust in the system before it clicks
- The instructional assumes you already understand basic Americana mechanics; absolute beginners may need to spend extra time on the finishing mechanics before the position-specific material
The Greatest Shoulder Lock
Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD takes a submission most grapplers dismiss as basic and builds it into a legitimate finishing system. The Make Americanas Great Again Henry Akins DVD combines mount stability details, the Super Chill Position, and troubleshooting into a package deeper than its premise suggests. Akins’ Rickson Gracie lineage and his focus on pressure over strength give the material a distinct philosophy that sets it apart from standard technique collections.
