Key Takeaways:

• Comprehensive submission system covering front headlock, guillotine variations, and finishing positions from a proven UFC/Bellator veteran
• Four volumes with detailed breakdowns of high-percentage No-Gi chokes including D’Arce, Anaconda, and rear naked choke variations
• The No-Gi Choke and Strangles Blueprint by Rory MacDonald DVD is perfect for intermediate to advanced No-Gi grapplers looking to sharpen their finishing skills and understand proper mechanics
• Strong focus on control-first mentality rather than just submission hunting, reflecting MacDonald’s MMA background
• Some techniques may require significant flexibility and timing that newer practitioners might struggle with initially
• Rating: 8.5/10

NO-GI CHOKE AND STRANGLES BLUEPRINT BY RORY MACDONALD

The No-Gi Choke and Strangles Blueprint by Rory MacDonald represents a methodical approach to submission grappling from one of mixed martial arts’ most technically sound fighters. MacDonald, who challenged for the UFC welterweight championship and became Bellator champion, brings his wealth of high-level competition experience to this four-volume instructional series.

What sets this system apart from typical submission collections is MacDonald’s emphasis on controlling positions first, then systematically breaking down the mechanics that make chokes inevitable rather than forced attempts.

The Hardest Part of Chokes: Finishing

Submission finishing represents the highest expression of grappling control, where positional dominance transitions into fight-ending technique. In No-Gi competition, chokes and strangles become even more critical since the absence of gi grips eliminates many traditional joint lock setups.

The modern No-Gi submission game revolves around front headlock control, back attacks, and opportunistic finishing from dominant positions. Understanding proper pressure application, angle creation, and defensive counters separates recreational grapplers from serious competitors. MacDonald’s systematic approach addresses these fundamentals while building toward advanced finishing sequences that work under pressure.

MMA Veteran Rory MacDonald 

Rory MacDonald competed at the highest levels of mixed martial arts for over a decade, establishing himself as one of the most technically proficient welterweights of his generation. The Canadian fighter earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under David Lea and compiled a professional MMA record of 23-10-1.

MacDonald challenged Robbie Lawler for the UFC welterweight championship at UFC 189 in what many consider one of the greatest welterweight fights in UFC history. After leaving the UFC, he captured the Bellator Welterweight World Championship by defeating Douglas Lima and successfully defended it twice. His transition to the Professional Fighters League in 2019 further demonstrated his adaptability across different rule sets.

MacDonald’s grappling credentials include competing at Metamoris V against high-level Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, proving his submission skills translate beyond MMA contexts.

No-Gi Choke and Strangles Blueprint by Rory MacDonald DVD Review

The four-volume structure allows focused study of specific submission categories while building toward a complete finishing game. While the instruction assumes intermediate-level knowledge and some techniques demand significant practice to master, serious No-Gi practitioners will find substantial value in MacDonald’s methodical approach to submission grappling. The system’s emphasis on position-first mentality and mechanical precision makes it a worthwhile investment for grapplers looking to elevate their finishing skills.

Volume 1 – Front Headlock Chokes

The opening volume establishes MacDonald’s systematic approach through comprehensive front headlock and guillotine instruction. The ten-finger guillotine provides the foundation, followed by the essential Gable grip front headlock choke that forms the backbone of modern No-Gi attacks. MacDonald methodically covers the core guillotine family including power guillotine, arm-in variations, and modified arm-in positions.

The ninja choke and high elbow guillotine demonstrate advanced applications, while the “Nicotine” technique adds a creative finishing option. Each technique receives detailed mechanical breakdown showing exactly how to create the angle, apply pressure, and finish cleanly. The D’Arce, Anaconda, and Peruvian neck tie round out the front headlock system, giving grapplers multiple finishing options from similar control positions.

Volume 2 – Head and Arm Specials 

Volume two shifts focus to head-and-arm control scenarios that frequently arise in No-Gi grappling. The classic head and arm choke receives thorough treatment, followed by the Monoplata variation that provides an escape-resistant finishing option. MacDonald introduces the Vagner Rocha Special, a creative technique that demonstrates his willingness to incorporate modern innovations.

The Ezekiel choke adaptation for No-Gi contexts shows how traditional techniques translate without gi grips. Von Flue and North South chokes complete this section, covering dominant position control that frequently appears in both grappling and MMA situations. MacDonald’s explanations emphasize proper shoulder pressure and hip positioning to maintain control while setting up submissions.

Volume 3 – Triangles & Buggies

The third volume explores lower body and front-facing submission opportunities, beginning with comprehensive triangle instruction. MacDonald’s triangle setup and finishing details reflect his competition experience, showing multiple entries and defensive counters.

The Gogoplata receives detailed attention despite being a lower-percentage technique, with MacDonald explaining when and why to attempt it. The Buggy choke and Gogo clinch variations provide additional front-facing options that work well in No-Gi scenarios. This volume demonstrates MacDonald’s versatility, moving beyond traditional submission categories to include creative finishing positions that arise during scrambles.

Volume 4 – RNC Masterclass

The final volume focuses entirely on back control and rear naked choke mastery. MacDonald’s approach to the rear naked choke goes far beyond basic instruction, covering grip variations, angle adjustments, and troubleshooting common defensive responses.

His emphasis on control maintenance reflects years of high-level competition where losing position means losing the submission opportunity. The systematic progression from initial back take to submission finish provides a complete roadmap for developing reliable back attack skills.

Master Positional Details First

This instructional series works best when practitioners focus on one volume at a time, drilling the techniques until the mechanics become automatic before moving to live applications.

Rory’s control-first philosophy means grapplers should spend significant time on positional drilling, especially front headlock and back control scenarios. The system integrates well with both pure grappling training and MMA preparation, since all techniques work without gi dependencies.

Regular positional sparring from the covered positions will help students understand timing and resistance patterns. More advanced practitioners can begin connecting techniques across volumes, creating submission chains that flow naturally during rolling sessions.

DOWNLOAD RORY MACDONALD NO-GI CHOKE AND STRANGLES DVD

Who Is This For?

This instructional targets solid blue belts through black belts who want to systematically improve their No-Gi submission finishing rates. Competitors will find particular value in MacDonald’s emphasis on maintaining control under pressure and working through defensive reactions.

The system works well for both pure No-Gi specialists and mixed martial artists looking to shore up their ground finishing skills. Students with flexible front headlock games will get the most immediate value, though the progression allows development of these positions over time. Brand new white belts may find the pace and complexity overwhelming, as MacDonald assumes basic positional knowledge and doesn’t spend time on fundamental concepts.

Pros & Potential Drawbacks

Pros:

• Comprehensive system covering all major No-Gi submission categories with logical progression between techniques
• High-level competition experience evident in troubleshooting defensive reactions and maintaining position under pressure
• Excellent technical instruction with clear mechanical breakdowns showing exactly how pressure and angles create submissions
• Control-first mentality that emphasizes position before submission, leading to higher success rates in live situations
• Good variety of techniques within each category, giving practitioners multiple options from similar control positions
• Production quality allows clear viewing of all grip details and body positioning throughout instruction

Potential Drawbacks:

• Some techniques require significant flexibility and timing that developing practitioners may struggle with initially
• Advanced instruction assumes solid understanding of basic No-Gi positional concepts without extensive review
•  Focus on No-Gi specific applications means gi players get limited crossover value from certain techniques
• Pace moves quickly through complex positions, potentially requiring multiple viewings for full comprehension

Match-Ending Strangles

The No-Gi Choke and Strangles Blueprint succeeds as a comprehensive submission system built on solid fundamentals and tested through high-level competition. MacDonald’s systematic approach to control and finishing provides grapplers with reliable tools for ending matches rather than just attempting submissions.

Key Takeaways

• A three-volume closed guard instructional focused on internal mechanics, posture control, push-pull pressure, submissions, and sweeps.
• Best suited for grapplers who already understand basic closed guard but want to make it feel tighter, calmer, and less strength-dependent.
• Friedrich’s approach is less about collecting random techniques and more about making the same classic attacks work with better structure.
• The main limitation is that absolute beginners may need extra mat time before the “internal” details fully click.
• Rating: 8/10

GET IT HERE: EFFORTLESS CLOSED GUARD BJORN FRIEDRICH DVD 

The Efforless Closed Guard Bjorn Friedrich DVD is a very different kind of closed guard instructional. Instead of selling the position as a list of armbars, triangles, and sweeps, Friedrich frames it around structure, alignment, pressure, timing, and the small weight shifts that make closed guard annoying in the best possible way.

That makes the actual product especially interesting for people who already know the closed guard works but still feel like they are squeezing too hard, yanking too much, or losing the position as soon as the top player postures up.

Another Bite at the Closed Guard

Closed guard is one of those positions everyone learns early and many people abandon too soon. It feels simple at first: lock the legs, break posture, attack. Then you roll with someone who has strong posture, good base, and no interest in letting you climb their arms, and suddenly the position feels like a dead end.

That is where the Efforless Closed Guard Bjorn Friedrich DVD finds its lane. Instead of treating closed guard as a static holding position, Friedrich looks at it as a place to create constant micro-problems. The head gets pulled, the arms get stretched, the hips extend, the opponent’s posture weakens, and suddenly traditional attacks become available without a frantic scramble.

This is important because a good closed guard system is not only about finishing. It is also about making the top person carry tension. If you can make them afraid of posture breaks, triangles, shoulder crunches, and hip bumps, they cannot open your guard on their own terms. That is the difference between closed guard as a stall and closed guard as a real attacking hub.

German BJJ Pioneer Björn Friedrich 

Björn Friedrich is one of the long-running names in German Jiu-Jitsu. Based around BJJ Rhein-Main in Obertshausen, he is listed as a 4th-degree BJJ black belt and described as one of the pioneers of BJJ in Germany. His background also includes more than 40 years in different martial arts, more than 30 years of BJJ experience, and a Submission Wrestling European heavyweight title.

That matters for this review because the Efforless Closed Guard Bjorn Friedrich DVD is not built like a flashy competition highlight reel. Friedrich’s style leans into efficiency, body mechanics, and teaching details that are supposed to work even when the student is not the faster or stronger grappler.

His broader Fighter-Fitness background also fits the theme. Fighter-Fitness presents itself as a long-running bodyweight training and movement system in Germany, which helps explain why Friedrich often talks through movement quality, alignment, strength use, and efficiency rather than only “move A leads to move B.” That makes him a credible person to teach internal mechanics Jiu-Jitsu without turning it into vague theory.

The Full Efforless Closed Guard Bjorn Friedrich DVD Review

The Internal BJJ Effortless Closed Guard is divided into three volumes. The structure is clean: first Friedrich builds the control platform, then he turns that control into submissions, and finally he uses the same principles to create sweeps and follow-up attacks:

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Volume 1 – Foundations Of Control

Volume 1 is the most important section in the course because it explains why Friedrich’s closed guard is supposed to feel different. He starts with options on dealing with upright opponents, preventing leg locks when the guard has to open, and using head control through push-pull mechanics.

This part of the Efforless Closed Guard Bjorn Friedrich DVD also covers overhook control, shoulder crunch positioning, a head-and-arm position tribute to Roy Harris, and the difference between hip extension and leg curling.

Many closed guard players try to curl their legs and squeeze harder, when what they really need is better hip use. The modified spider guard control at the end also gives the volume a useful bridge. It shows that Friedrich is not pretending closed guard never opens. He is giving you ways to maintain meaningful control when the position starts to shift.

Volume 2 – Control To Submission

Part two turns the first volume’s control concepts into finishing mechanics. The triangle choke is the first major focus, including entries, the push-pull principle, and using three different finishing angles.

That is a smart way to teach the triangle because most people do not fail the move only because their legs are short or their squeeze is weak. They fail because they lose the angle, allow the posture to recover, or stop controlling the upper body once the legs get into place. Friedrich keeps tying the submission back to the same control logic from the first volume.

The second half of this volume moves into armbars. The straight armbar material emphasizes bodyweight into the opponent’s upper body, followed by a Mir lock variation and a shoulder crunch armbar based on creating the right distance. This makes the Efforless Closed Guard Bjorn Friedrich DVD especially useful for grapplers who like classic closed guard submissions but want cleaner reasons for why they work.

Volume 3 – Control To Sweep

The final portion focuses on the hip bump family and related attacks. Friedrich covers the guard reset as the missing key to the hip bump sweep, then connects the hip bump to the guillotine, Kimura, and posture-breaking Kimura.

This is a good ending point because the hip bump is one of the first sweeps most people learn, but it is also one of the easiest to butcher. Folks tend to sit up too late, chase the sweep without first changing posture, or try to muscle through a base that is not actually compromised.

Here, Friedrich’s push-pull theme gives the hip bump more context. It becomes a reaction-based layer of a broader closed guard system. If the opponent resists posture control, the sweep appears. If they post, the Kimura appears. If their neck gets exposed, the guillotine appears. That gives the final volume a simple but very practical attacking logic.

Making Your Guard Efficient

The best way to use the Efforless Closed Guard Bjorn Friedrich DVD is not to watch all three volumes and try to add everything at once. Start with Volume 1 and spend a few weeks testing the posture-breaking ideas, especially head control, overhook control, shoulder crunch positioning, and hip extension.

After that, pick one submission lane. Triangle players should start with the triangle section and focus on preserving the push-pull structure while changing angles. Armbar players should pay close attention to how Friedrich uses bodyweight and distance rather than just swinging the leg over and hoping the arm stays there.

For positional sparring, begin every round from closed guard with the top player trying to posture and open. The bottom player’s only goal should be maintaining control with minimal squeezing. That kind of training fits the spirit of the Bjorn Friedrich closed guard instructional perfectly.

DOWNLOAD: EFFORTLESS CLOSED GUARD BJORN FRIEDRICH DVD 

Who Is This For?

The Efforless Closed Guard Bjorn Friedrich DVD is best for blue belts and above, especially grapplers who already use closed guard but feel their attacks are too effortful. It also makes sense for older practitioners, smaller grapplers, and coaches who enjoy teaching position through mechanics rather than only step-by-step technique.

Gi players will get plenty from it because closed guard, posture control, triangles, armbars, Kimuras, and hip bumps are all highly relevant in the Gi. No-Gi players can still benefit, especially from the overhook, shoulder crunch, head control, and hip bump-to-guillotine material, but this does not feel like a modern No-Gi leg-lock-era guard course.

Brand-new white belts may find some of the internal details hard to feel at first. They can still learn from it, but they may need a coach or training partner to help them understand why a small hip extension or angle change makes such a big difference.

Pros & Potential Drawbacks

Pros:

• Strong conceptual thread: The course keeps returning to structure, posture, push-pull pressure, and efficient movement.
• Classic closed guard attacks made sharper: Triangles, armbars, Kimuras, guillotines, and hip bumps all get tied to better mechanics.
• Good for grapplers who hate muscling: Friedrich’s approach rewards timing and sensitivity over squeezing harder.
• Useful control layer: Volume 1 alone gives plenty of material for improving BJJ closed guard control.
• Practical progression: The course moves from control, to submission, to sweep without feeling scattered.

Potential Drawbacks:

• Not ideal for pure beginners: Some details may feel too subtle if you do not already understand basic closed guard.
• Narrow positional focus: This is a closed guard instructional, not a full guard retention or open guard system.
• Less flashy than many modern releases: Grapplers looking for wild new entries may find it more practical than exciting.

Internal BJJ Guard Mechanics

The Efforless Closed Guard Bjorn Friedrich DVD is a solid, thoughtful closed guard instructional for people who want the position to feel less like a strength battle and more like a system of pressure, posture, and timing. Friedrich does a good job connecting foundational control to practical submissions and sweeps, especially through push-pull mechanics, head control, shoulder crunches, triangles, armbars, Kimuras, and hip bump attacks.

Key Takeaways

• A seven-part self-defense focused Jiu-Jitsu instructional built around real-world problems rather than sport scoring.
• Covers punches, tackles, bear hugs, headlocks, guillotine defense, guard passing in a fight context, and weapons awareness.
• Best suited for beginners, self-defense-minded practitioners, coaches, and sport grapplers who want to reconnect Jiu-Jitsu with practical control.
• Michael Heinz’s teaching background comes through clearly: the structure is simple, progressive, and easy to follow.
• The main drawback is that pure sport competitors looking for tournament-specific tactics may find the focus too street-oriented.
• Rating: 6.5/10

THE PRACTICAL JIU JITSU MICHAEL HEINZ DVD DOWNLOAD

The Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD is not trying to help you win by advantage, game an ADCC ruleset, or build a lapel guard that requires three YouTube breakdowns to understand. This is a self-defense-first instructional built around messy, awkward, very human problems: punches, tackles, bear hugs, loud drunk relatives, headlocks, and the kind of chaos that does not happen inside neat sport positions.

That immediately gives this course a clear identity. The Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD is for people who want simple answers to ugly situations. It is also for BJJ students who have spent years learning guard retention, leg entanglements, and back takes, only to realize they have no clear plan when someone swings a bad punch or rushes them like a linebacker.

Grappling for Self Defense: Real or Faux Pas?

Self-defense Jiu-Jitsu is a strange topic in modern BJJ. Everyone agrees it matters in theory, but many academies quietly drift toward sport training because it is cleaner, easier to measure, and more fun for regular sparring. You can run rounds from half guard, back control, and leg lock positions all night.

It is much harder to safely train someone charging forward, throwing wild punches, grabbing from behind, or falling over drunk while still being dangerous. That is where a course like the Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD makes sense. It brings the conversation back to distance, posture, standing control, and the ability to manage untrained aggression. The big value here is not that every technique is exotic.

In fact, the opposite is true. Body locks, sprawls, guillotines, mount control, side rides, trips, knee cuts, and 2-on-1 wrist control are all recognizable BJJ and grappling tools. The difference is the frame. Instead of asking, “Can this score?” the course asks, “Can this keep you safe, get you control, and reduce unnecessary risk?”

That makes this real-world Michael Heinz instructional especially useful for students who only know BJJ through a sport lens. The mat is still the lab, but the problems being solved are much less polite.

SBG’s Michael Heinz

Michael Heinz is the head coach at SBG New Braunfels in Texas. He’s as a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under John Frankl, the founder of SBG Korea, and notes more than 14 years of training across Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, and boxing. Heinz is also a former professor of rhetoric with a master’s degree in education, with teaching experience across subjects including Yoga, Jiu-Jitsu, history, public speaking, debate, and English as a second language.

That teaching background matters a lot. Self-defense material can get messy very quickly if the instructor jumps from scenario to scenario without a clear map. Heinz’s broader coaching resume suggests someone used to explaining ideas to different types of students, not just athletes who already speak the language of grappling.

The Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD is not coming from someone pretending sport BJJ does not exist. It comes from a coach whose public material presents self-defense and alive training as parts of the same larger skill set.

Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD Review

The Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD is structured across seven parts. The instructional begins with foundations and core concepts, then moves through bear hug defense, aggressive or untrained opponents, tackle defense, headlock and guillotine defense, guard passing in real-world context, and weapons awareness.

Volume 1 – Foundations & Core Concepts

The first volume lays the groundwork for everything that follows. BJJ Fanatics lists the opening section as covering an introduction, mapping Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu positions, relaxation, meditation, the Drunk Uncles concept, and delivering plenty of foundational principles.

This is a smart opening because self-defense starts before technique. Range management is the difference between being able to choose your entry and already being stuck in someone else’s chaos. The Helmet and Crash idea appears to function as the core bridge between striking danger and grappling connection, which is exactly the kind of simple tool beginners need.

The Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD also deserves credit for including mount with punch resistance early. Too many self-defense courses teach the takedown and then act like the fight is over. Heinz seems more interested in the next question: once you put someone down, can you actually stay safe while controlling them?

Volume 2 – Bear Hug Defense

Part 2 is focused on bear hug defense. The listed material includes preventing yourself from being picked up and slammed, goes into the Thai clinch, and covers stuff like grip breaks and midair suplex defense.

Bear hugs are not elegant, but they are common. More importantly, they create panic. A student who can stay calm, drop weight, address grips, and turn the exchange into clinch control is already far ahead of someone trying to remember a move.

The inclusion of slam prevention is important. In sport BJJ, it may be illegal or paused depending on the ruleset. In real life, gravity does not care about your rulebook. This volume seems built around keeping your feet under you, breaking dangerous control, and returning to positions where Jiu-Jitsu can take over.

Volume 3 – Dealing With Aggressive / Untrained Opponents

The third volume leans into the Drunk Uncle theme directly. It goes over the ready position, punch frames, body fold entries, takedowns, rear naked choke options, and similar. This might be the most interesting part of the course conceptually. Untrained opponents do not move like grapplers.

They overcommit, stumble, grab, shove, posture up, and create weird angles that would get them killed in a competition room but can still be dangerous in the moment. The ready position is a useful idea because it sits between awareness and action. You are not squared up like you want a cage fight, but you are also not standing flat-footed with your hands at your sides.

Volume 4 – Tackle & Grapple Defense

Volume 4 covers tackle and grapple defense. Sections include Hip of Doom or hip check, Bunny Hop Sprawl, sprawl to side ride, standing guillotineand combos. This is where the Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD crosses into territory that sport grapplers will immediately recognize.

Sprawls, side rides, guillotines, and back exposure are all part of grappling, but the trigger is different. Here, the problem is not a clean double leg from another trained athlete. It is someone blasting forward with bad posture and bad intentions.

The side ride material is a good inclusion because it gives students an alternative to always settling into classic side control. In a self-defense setting, pinning someone while staying mobile can be more useful than chasing perfect chest-to-chest control. You want control, but you also want awareness, base, and the ability to disengage if needed.

The guillotine options fit naturally, but this is also a place where students need coaching maturity. Guillotines can escalate quickly. Used correctly, they are powerful control and finishing tools. Used carelessly, they can become a bad habit against bigger or armed opponents. The volume seems useful, but it should be trained with context.

Volume 5 – Headlock & Guillotine Defense

Here, Heinz flips the script by focusing on headlock and guillotine defense. Headlocks are one of the great traps of beginner Jiu-Jitsu. New people love them because they feel strong. Experienced grapplers often dismiss them because they know the counters.

This volume is likely valuable for newer students because it gives them permission to slow down. The first job is not to explode. The first job is posture. Once posture returns, the headlock becomes less scary and the takedown or escape becomes more available.

The guillotine defense section also matters. Self-defense courses often teach guillotines as attacks but forget that untrained people grab the neck constantly. Learning to regain posture and turn bad neck positions into top control is exactly the kind of practical skill beginners should have.

Volume 6 – Finishing & Guard Passing In A Real-World Context

The sixth part focuses on finishing after someone has fallen, with guard passing placed in a real-world context. The listed material includes not getting kicked in the face, pressure passing and finishing when the opponent rolls, bullfighter pass, cross knee cut pass, stopping a strong roll away, clearing the iliac, double under pass, and same-side knee cut.

This is a very important section because it addresses a mistake common in both sport and self-defense thinking. Sport grapplers sometimes assume passing is just passing. Self-defense people sometimes assume once the other person is down, they are no longer a problem. Neither is true.

In a real-world context, entering someone’s legs can mean catching a kick, getting upkicked, or giving the person enough space to scramble back up. That is why the “not getting kicked in the face” theme is not a minor detail. It changes how a familiar guard pass should be approached.

Volume 7 – Weapons Awareness & Control

The final volume moves into weapons awareness and control. The listed material includes guns, knives, and headbutts, and is a waste of everyone’s time. That said, the choice of 2-on-1 wrist control makes sense – just not for hwanddling weapons. In grappling terms, controlling a limb with two hands is one of the simplest ways to create temporary dominance over a weapon-bearing arm. Adding body weight and pinning concepts also fits Jiu-Jitsu’s logic.

From Punches And Tackles to Drunk Uncles and Handguns

The best way to use the Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD is not to binge it once and assume you are suddenly prepared for every bad night out. The material should be broken into small training blocks. Start with range management, Helmet and Crash, body lock entries, mount control with punch awareness, and simple bear hug defense. Then add tackle defense, headlock escapes, and real-world guard passing later.

A good training format would be short technical study followed by controlled positional rounds. For example, begin from the ready position with one partner feeding light forward pressure or bad punches. Another round could start from a bear hug, a sloppy tackle, or a headlock. The goal is not to recreate violence at full speed. The goal is to build decision-making under increasing resistance.

This is also where Heinz’s “aliveness” philosophy matters. In the Voyage Austin interview, he described training with partners who resist intelligently and without excessive restriction, while still emphasizing safety protocols. That is the sweet spot for this kind of material. Dead drilling alone will not make self-defense work, but careless chaos is not training either.

For sport grapplers, the biggest benefit may be reconnecting familiar moves to unfamiliar entries. Your knee cut, sprawl, guillotine, body lock, mount, and side ride may all improve because you are learning to apply them from worse, uglier starting points.

DOWNLOAD  NOW: THE PRACTICAL JIU JITSU MICHAEL HEINZ DVD

Who Is This For?

The Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD is best for beginners, early blue belts, self-defense students, and coaches who want a structured way to teach practical Jiu-Jitsu without turning class into a fear-based seminar. It also fits parents, smaller practitioners, and hobbyists who care less about medals and more about having a plan if someone grabs, shoves, tackles, or swings at them.

Sport BJJ athletes can still benefit, especially if their academy has given them a strong guard game but very little standing self-defense context. The course can help them understand how body locks, trips, sprawls, guillotines, and top control shift when strikes or unpredictable aggression are part of the problem.

Pros & Potential Drawbacks

Pros:

• Clear self-defense identity: The course does not pretend to be a sport BJJ system. It is built around punches, tackles, grabs, headlocks, fallen opponents, and weapon awareness.
• Beginner-friendly structure: The product page explicitly frames the course as understandable and applicable for beginners, and the seven-part progression supports that goal.
• Strong use of familiar grappling tools: Body locks, sprawls, guillotines, trips, knee cuts, mount, and wrist control all appear in practical contexts instead of being treated as separate “street techniques.”
• Useful for coaches: The structure could help academy owners or instructors add realistic self-defense modules without abandoning normal Jiu-Jitsu training.

Potential Drawbacks:

• Not sport-specific enough for competitors: If your only goal is tournament performance, the self-defense framing may feel indirect.
• Broad rather than hyper-deep: Seven parts means wide coverage, but some topics could naturally become full instructionals on their own.

Efficient Jiu Jitsu?

The Practical Jiu Jitsu Michael Heinz DVD is a strong reminder that Jiu-Jitsu was never supposed to exist only inside clean sport exchanges. Its value is in taking recognizable grappling tools and putting them back into messy, practical situations: punches, tackles, bear hugs, headlocks, grounded opponents, and dangerous grips.

Heinz builds from foundations into common threat categories, then ties everything back to control, posture, range, and safety. That makes the instructional much more useful than the usual self-defense highlight reel.

Key Takeaways

• A focused No-Gi instructional built around the back step as a hub for passing, leg locks, back takes, and upper-body submissions.
• Best suited for grapplers who already understand basic passing and want a more connected attacking system from transitional positions.
• The strongest parts appear to be the Bear Trap leg lock material, Starsky Step chains, and Euro Step upper-body attacks.
• Not ideal for brand-new white belts who still need basic positional orientation before jumping into dynamic back step entries.
• A strong pick for No-Gi players, 10th Planet students, leg lockers, and anyone who likes creating offense from odd angles.
• Rating: 8.5/10

GET THE BACK STEP CLAN MARVIN CASTELLE DVD

The Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD is exactly the kind of instructional that will either make immediate sense to your game or feel like the weird stuff your trickiest training partner keeps hitting on you. That is not a criticism. The back step is one of those transitional movements in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu that looks simple until someone uses it to turn your guard into a leg lock, a back take, or an upper-body trap.

Marvin Castelle frames the position as more than a flashy passing motion. The idea here is to use the back step as a repeatable gateway into offense. Instead of treating passing, leg locks, and back takes as separate departments, this instructional connects them through one mobile, angle-changing system.

The Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD earns its 8.5/10 rating because it takes an underused movement and gives it real structure. It is not the most beginner-friendly instructional on the market, but for the right No-Gi grappler, it has a lot of bite.

Systematizing Back Steps

The back step is one of the most useful “in-between” movements in grappling. You see it during guard passing, half guard battles, leg lock scrambles, rolling exchanges, and back exposure sequences. It is not always a stable position by itself, but that is partly the point. It creates motion, confusion, and angles.

In modern No-Gi, where guard players are constantly hunting inside position, leg entanglements, and off-balances, a good back step can change the entire direction of the exchange. You are no longer trying to smash straight through the guard player’s frames. You are stepping around the problem, forcing them to turn, defend, expose legs, or give up upper-body connections.

That makes back step guard passing a strange animal. It is not pure pressure passing, and it is not pure movement passing. It sits somewhere between both. You need balance, hip mobility, timing, and enough submission awareness to know what is becoming available as the opponent reacts.

The Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD is interesting because it treats the back step as a full offensive platform. That is the correct way to look at it. If you only use it to pass, you will miss half the value. If you only use it to chase leg locks, better opponents will start reading you. The magic is in the switching.

Marvin “Da Cerberus” Castelle

Marvin Castelle is a first-degree black belt under Eddie Bravo and the head coach at 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu: Torrance. Understandably, this is very much a No-Gi-first instructional. Castelle’s game sits comfortably in the 10th Planet universe: creative entries, leg lock awareness, unconventional transitions, and submission-oriented movement.

He is also the founder of the Dark Arts Association, a No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu movement that has expanded beyond California. Castelle has a 10-7 grappling record, including submission wins and matches at events such as ADCC Trials, Fight 2 Win, SubStars, and IBJJF No-Gi competition.

That competitive background does not automatically make an instructional good, but it does help explain why the material is so focused on transitional finishing opportunities rather than static positional control. The Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD feels like it comes from someone who enjoys chaos but still wants a map through it.

The Complete Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD Review

The product page presents the instructional in a clean progression: movement foundations, entries, leg lock systems, Starsky Step attacks, Euro Step upper-body options, defense and concepts, then an outro. That is a sensible order because the back step can become messy very quickly if you do not understand how to move first.

The biggest strength of the Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD is that it does not pretend the back step is just one move. It shows it as a position-changing mechanism. One entry can become a pass, leg entanglement, Kimura, triangle variation, crucifix route, or back take depending on how the opponent reacts.

Volume 1 – Foundations & Movement

The first section covers the base mechanics: the introduction to the Back Step Clan system, along with a bunch of drills and entry details. This is the right place to start because the back step is easy to imitate badly. Most people can swing a leg around and far fewer can do it without losing base, giving up leg position, or falling into a counter.

The combat sit-up material is particularly relevant for No-Gi because it connects seated guard movement with entry mechanics. If you are stiff through the hips or slow to transition between seated and turning positions, the rest of the system will feel forced.

Castelle’s decision to start with solo movement gives the Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD a better foundation than if it had opened with submissions immediately. This section is probably less exciting than the leg lock material, but it is the part most people should revisit the most.

Volume 2 – Entries & Setups

The second section introduces lots of original work, such as the front step and Rosenswag, followed by Marvin’s bread and butter – backsteps into leg locks. This is where the instructional starts becoming more than movement practice. You begin seeing how Castelle wants to enter the back step instead of just arriving there by accident.

The value here is in the directional change. A good back step does not happen in isolation. It usually comes after the opponent commits their hips, frames, knees, or underhooks in a way that opens the angle. By covering multiple setups, Castelle gives the viewer a better chance of finding an entry that matches their existing passing style.

For guard passers, this is probably one of the most important sections in the Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD. Without reliable entries, the rest of the system becomes a highlight reel you cannot actually force in rolling.

Volume 3 – Bear Trap System (Leg Locks)

The Bear Trap section is one of the standout parts of the instructional. I couldn’t make up my mind whether I like the Aoki Lock to calf slicer or Hayden Bar to heel hook better. And these are not the only submissions in this portion of the Marvin Castelle instructional.

Bear Trap leg locks are useful because they punish the opponent for turning, extending, or trying to recover too casually. Instead of seeing the back step only as a way to pass, this section shows how it can become a direct finishing route.

The Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD does well here by stacking threats. If the opponent clears one danger, the next one is nearby. Aoki Lock, calf slicer, inside heel hook, heel hook chains, and Z-Lock options all fit the same general theme: enter the angle, trap the leg, and force the bottom player to defend before they can rebuild guard.

Volume 4 – Starsky Step System

The Starsky Step section moves into backside leg lock territory, including the Starsky Step to Backside Honey Hole and Starsky Step to roll, backside, and heel hook. This is where the instructional leans deeper into modern No-Gi leg entanglement language.

The appeal of this section is that it gives the back step a follow-up layer. Sometimes your initial angle will not give you the clean pass or the first leg lock. The Starsky Step appears to function as a way to keep spinning the exchange into a more dangerous backside configuration.

In practical terms, this is the kind of section that will reward repeat viewing. The movement pattern may not click immediately for everyone, especially if they are not already comfortable with backside leg lock positions.

Volume 5 – Euro Step Attacks (Upper Body Focus)

The Euro Step section is a smart shift because it prevents the instructional from becoming too leg-lock obsessed. Kimuras, triangles, Crucifixes and more upper-body attacks all feature here, tied to the Euro Step in a very 10th Planet-flavored set of upper-body attacks.

This section helps balance the whole course. If every back step only leads to legs, opponents will start hiding their feet and turning their knees away. The Euro Step attacks punish that overreaction by climbing toward the arms, shoulders, neck, and back exposure.

For grapplers who thrive on upper body submissions, this section gives the Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD broader appeal. It also makes the system more useful under different rulesets.

Volume 6 – Defense & Concepts

The defense and concepts section addresses how to stop the backstep in a small but important inclusion. Too many instructionals teach offense without explaining what shuts it down. That leaves students confused when a good partner blocks the first layer.

A section on stopping the back step helps the viewer understand both sides of the position. If you know what kills your own back step, you also know what details you need to protect when attacking.

This portion also gives coaches something useful to bring back to the room. Teach the attack, then teach the counter, then let students play the scenario. That is probably the best way to make the Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD translate into actual rolling instead of isolated drilling.

Volume 7 – Outro

While it is not a technical volume in the same way as the previous sections, the final one still matters as a closing point. That is especially important here because the back step connects several different families of attacks. The Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD is best approached as a modular system rather than a weekend binge.

More Than Just a Leg Lock Setup

The best way to use this instructional is through narrow positional sparring. Start from a seated or half guard-style exchange where the back step is realistically available. Give the top player one goal: enter the back step and stabilize. Give the bottom player one goal: deny the angle or recover guard. That alone will teach more than ten dead reps.

Once the movement feels normal, add one finishing branch at a time. For example, spend two weeks on the Bear Trap entries before touching the Starsky Step. Then add one Euro Step upper-body option so you are not always diving on legs. This keeps the No-Gi back step instructional material from becoming cluttered.

The Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD can affect a grappler’s development in a useful way because it teaches transitional awareness. Instead of thinking “pass or fail,” you start thinking “angle, reaction, next attack.” That is a more advanced way to pass and submit, but it is also how a lot of modern No-Gi exchanges actually work.

Competition players can use this to build dilemmas off scrambles. Coaches can turn the sections into scenario rounds. Hobbyists can use it to make their passing less predictable.

THE BACK STEP CLAN MARVIN CASTELLE DVD DOWNLOAD

Who Is This For?

The Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD is best for blue belts and above who already understand basic guard passing, leg lock safety, and No-Gi movement. Strong white belts with wrestling, MMA, or previous grappling experience may still get value from the movement sections, but complete beginners will probably need more foundational passing material first.

Stylistically, this is for No-Gi players who enjoy attacking from angles. Leg lockers will naturally like the Bear Trap and Starsky Step material. Passing-focused grapplers will benefit from having a more dynamic alternative to straight-line pressure. 10th Planet students and fans of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu Torrance will likely feel at home with the terminology and submission chains.

It is less ideal for pure Gi players who want collar-and-sleeve passing, lapel control, or classic pressure passing. It is also not the first instructional I would recommend to someone who is still confused about basic half guard top position. For the right person, though, this is a fun and dangerous system.

Pros & Potential Drawbacks

Pros:

• Strong central theme: Everything revolves around the back step, which gives the instructional a clear identity instead of feeling like random No-Gi techniques.
• Connects passing and submissions: The course does a good job showing how a guard passing motion can become leg locks, back takes, Kimuras, triangles, and crucifix attacks.
• Excellent No-Gi relevance: The material fits modern No-Gi exchanges where leg entanglements, hip turns, and transitional back exposure are constant threats.
• Good lower-body attacking depth: The Bear Trap and Starsky Step sections give leg lockers several useful branches from the same general movement family.
• Upper-body options prevent predictability: The Euro Step material helps keep opponents honest when they start over-defending their legs.
• Includes defensive thinking: The “Stopping the Backstep” section adds useful context and helps students understand the position from both sides.

Potential Drawbacks:

• Not beginner-first material: Newer white belts may struggle if they do not already understand passing posture, hip angles, and leg lock safety.
• Very No-Gi specific: Gi players can still learn movement concepts, but the system is clearly built for No-Gi application.
• Potentially narrow if you dislike leg locks: While upper-body attacks are included, a major portion of the appeal comes from lower-body threats.

Step Back to Attack!

The Back Step Clan Marvin Castelle DVD is a sharp, creative, and highly usable instructional for grapplers who want to make the back step a real part of their No-Gi game. Its biggest strength is the way it connects passing, leg locks, back takes, and upper-body submissions without making them feel like separate systems.

It is not the best pick for someone who still needs basic guard passing structure. It also will not be equally valuable for Gi-only players or beginners who are not ready for heel hook and calf slicer territory. But for intermediate and advanced No-Gi grapplers, especially those who like attacking through scrambles and odd angles, there is a lot to work with.

Key Takeaways

• A very beginner-focused instructional that prioritizes orientation, positional awareness, and survival over flashy techniques.
• The course is short, broad, and easy to follow, which makes it approachable for true day-one students.
• Joel Bouhey leans into BJJ fundamentals for white belts, such as core positions, point-system awareness, basic defense, and foundational mat logic rather than building an advanced submission system.
• More experienced grapplers will likely find it too surface-level, but that same simplicity is exactly why it works for its intended audience.
• Rating: 7.5/10

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO JIU JITSU JOEL BOUHEY DVD DOWNLOAD

The Beginners Guide To Jiu Jitsu Joel Bouhey DVD is aimed squarely at the student who still feels overwhelmed by the sport. Instead of trying to impress the viewer with exotic guards, long chains, or niche reactions, it takes a stripped-down approach and focuses on the kind of information that actually helps a beginner stop feeling lost. That alone gives it a clear purpose in a crowded instructional market.

What stands out right away is that this is not a product pretending to be a complete encyclopedia of Jiu-Jitsu. It is a short-form foundational guide built around the essentials: understanding major positions, surviving common bad spots, recognizing a few central submissions, and getting familiar with concepts like base, grips, passing, guard, and points. If you are looking for a beginner-friendly roadmap rather than a deep technical rabbit hole, that is exactly what this course is trying to be.

Where Do Beginners Start? 

Beginner instructionals live or die on one simple question: do they reduce chaos? Most new students are not really struggling because they lack cool moves. They are struggling because everything feels disconnected. Mount, side control, half guard, back control, posture, grips, pressure, passing, submissions, defense, scoring, self-defense, and live rounds all hit them at once. Without a basic framework, even a good class can feel like random information.

That is why broad foundations still matter. A solid beginner resource should not just show a move and move on. It should help the student understand where they are, what the danger is, what the main goal should be, and which concepts repeat across positions. In that sense, there is real value in a course that explains base before it explains offense, and positional overviews before it dives into specialization.

The downside, of course, is that beginner content can become too shallow if it stays at the overview level for too long. There is always a balancing act between clarity and depth. The best beginner material gives a student enough structure to survive the first months while still leaving them with at least a few usable actions they can take into sparring. That is the standard this review has to judge the Beginners Guide To Jiu Jitsu Joel Bouhey DVD against.

Top Coach Joel Bouhey

Joel Bouhey has the credentials you would want for this kind of instructional. He is listed as a 2nd-degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Luis “Limao” Heredia, a multiple Hawaii state champion, and a coach who has taught grappling for around 15 years across age groups and experience levels. He is also described as someone who has coached high-level MMA athletes and built a reputation for his teaching, which matters here because beginner instruction is often more about communication than raw competitive accolades.

That background makes Bouhey a credible person to deliver a beginner product. Not every accomplished grappler can teach a new student well, and not every good teacher can organize information cleanly enough for overwhelmed white belts. Bouhey has built his reputation on accessible coaching, and that shows in the structure of this course. He also has multiple instructionals to his name, so this does not feel like a random one-off release from someone with no track record as an educator.

Detailed Beginners Guide To Jiu Jitsu Joel Bouhey DVD Review

The Beginners Guide To Jiu Jitsu Joel Bouhey DVD is organized into two volumes, and that immediately tells you something important: this is a compact primer, not a massive system. The course focuses on the broad fundamentals a new student needs to understand early, and the material is framed more as orientation and applied basics than as a deep technical syllabus.

Volume 1 – Positional Fundamentals

Volume 1 of the Beginners Guide To Jiu Jitsu Joel Bouhey DVD is really about helping a new student understand the map of grappling. The content starts with base and then moves through standing and mount, half guard, guard, side control, knee on belly, and North-South.

That is a smart choice, because the absolute beginner usually does not need more moves first. They need to stop being confused by the names of positions and start understanding what those positions are for. I like the emphasis on base here because it is one of those concepts that gets mentioned constantly in class but rarely lands with newer students until someone slows it down.

Bouhey seems to understand that early learning is mostly about stability, posture, and pressure before it becomes about speed or technical layering. Volume 1 also benefits from its restraint. Instead of cramming in ten variations from every top pin, it stays with simple positional overviews, which suits the audience.

At the same time, this is also where the course reveals its main limitation. If you are expecting a full positional game from every major area, you are not getting it. You are getting introductions and conceptual grounding. For true beginners, that is useful. For anyone past that first stage, it may feel a little too light.

Volume 2 – Focused Movement

Part 2 of the Beginners Guide To Jiu Jitsu Joel Bouhey DVD shifts from positional orientation into broader application. It covers back basics, concepts for passing, guard principles, submission basics, and something that really stood out – a point-system awareness. That is an interesting mix, but it makes sense if the goal is to help a student make better sense of live training.

The inclusion of passing and guard concepts matters because those are the two areas that usually make beginners freeze during rolling. Likewise, basic armbar defense and triangle understanding are exactly the kind of topics that get immediate return on the mat.

The points section is also a nice touch. Plenty of beginners train for months without really understanding what scores and why. That gap creates confusion in sparring and especially in first tournaments.

Finally, the self-defense mindset portion rounds the course out in a way that broadens its appeal, though it does add to the sense that this volume is trying to cover a lot of territory in a relatively short span. This portion bring nothing of value to this Joel Bouhey instructional. Overall, Volume 2 feels useful, but again, it is useful in a survey-course way rather than in a deep-dive way.

The Hardest Choice for Beginners: Picking One Thing

The best way to use the Beginners Guide To Jiu Jitsu Joel Bouhey DVD is not to binge it once and assume you now “know Jiu-Jitsu.” This course works better as a companion to your first months on the mat. Watch a section, go to class, notice where that position shows up, then come back and review it after you have felt the problem live. That feedback loop is where a foundations product like this starts to pay off.

For brand-new students, the biggest gain here is language and recognition. You will understand more of what your coach is saying, you will identify more of the positions you keep getting stuck in, and you will have a more coherent sense of what to prioritize. That is real progress, even if it does not look dramatic on the surface.

This is also the kind of instructional that could work well for academy owners recommending material to nervous white belts. It is broad enough to reduce early confusion, and it covers enough common themes that it can support class learning without competing with it. The catch is that students should still expect to outgrow it relatively quickly. Once you are no longer drowning in the basics, you will need something more layered.

CLICK HERE: BEGINNERS GUIDE TO JIU JITSU JOEL BOUHEY DVD

Who Is This For?

The Beginners Guide To Jiu Jitsu Joel Bouhey DVD is for true beginners first and foremost. If you are in your first weeks or first few months of training, and you still feel like every position blends into the next, this course makes sense. It is also a good fit for the kind of student who likes structure, wants a calmer entry point into the sport, and needs help connecting the dots between positions, defense, and overall mat logic.

It should also work for returning students who trained a little, stopped, and now want a clean reset. In that context, the course can function like a quick refresher on the core framework of Jiu-Jitsu without overwhelming the viewer.

It is less ideal for experienced blue belts, competitive grapplers, or people specifically shopping for a tightly built system. Those students will probably want more detail, more resistance-tested sequencing, and more depth from each position. If you already understand how the major pins, guard categories, and common submission threats work, this course may feel too introductory to justify much replay value.

Pros & Potential Drawbacks

The Beginners Guide To Jiu Jitsu Joel Bouhey DVD succeeds most when it is judged for what it is actually trying to do, not for what a more advanced instructional would do. With that in mind, here is the balance sheet.

Pros:

• Very beginner-friendly structure: The course clearly prioritizes orientation and clarity, which is exactly what many new students need most.
• Covers the right foundational topics: Base, major positions, guard, passing, the back, submission awareness, scoring, and self-defense all belong in a first-stage learning resource.
• Easy to digest: Two compact volumes make the material far less intimidating than sprawling multi-hour systems.
• Strong coaching fit: Bouhey’s teaching background comes through in the way the course avoids overload and keeps the focus on what matters most early.
• Useful for nervous first-timers: Students who feel lost in class should get confidence simply from understanding the basic map of training.
• Practical defensive value: Armbar defense, triangle awareness, and positional understanding can immediately help beginners survive longer in live rounds.

Potential Drawbacks:

• Limited depth: The course is broad rather than deep, so intermediate students may outgrow it quickly.
• More overview than system: You are not getting a fully layered game plan from the major positions.
• Mixed-topic pacing: Volume 2 covers a lot of ground, and some viewers may wish certain sections were expanded into fuller modules.

Welcome to The Mats

The Beginners Guide To Jiu Jitsu by Joel Bouhey DVD is a solid entry-level product that understands its job. It is not trying to be a giant technical reference, and it is not trying to impress advanced grapplers with intricate detail. Instead, it gives beginners a calmer, more organized way to understand what is happening on the mat and why. For the right student, that has real value.