Trans Grappler Facing Dilemma: “How Do I Get Promoted If I Don’t Compete?”

By
BJJ World
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Trans Grappler Facing Dilemma: “How Do I Get Promoted If I Don’t Compete?”

  • A trans grappler white belt from Florida sparked debate by asking how to get promoted in BJJ without competing.

  • Governing bodies like IBJJF, NAGA, and ADCC currently require trans women to compete in men’s divisions.

  • The grappler’s letter raised broader questions about recognition, inclusivity, and belt progression in the sport.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has long branded itself as the “gentle art” — a space where technique trumps size, and everyone from toddlers to retirees finds purpose. But for one transgender athlete, that philosophy is being tested.

In a candid and heartfelt letter shared online recently, a 28-year-old white belt trans grappler from Florida opened up about a painful but honest question:

“How do I get promoted if I don’t compete?”

A Trans Grappler Letter That Hit a Nerve 

The athlete, who has been on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for six years and legally holds an “F” gender marker, initially took up Jiu-Jitsu for self-defense.

“I originally got into the sport as a way of learning practical self-defense with all the anti-trans rhetoric going around and living in the state of Florida,” they wrote. “But now that I’m in it, I want to get belted beyond a white belt.”

Their issue isn’t just personal — it’s systemic. Promotions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, while technically left to the discretion of instructors, are often heavily influenced by competition experience. That’s where the conflict begins.

Trans Grappler Sparks BJJ Belt Promotion Debate

Grappling With the Gender Divide in Competition

Standing 5’7” and weighing 125 pounds, the trans grappler in question trains mostly with women at their gym. While noting their leg length as a modest advantage, they also candidly admit, “I’m not in great shape. I get tired faster than girls half my size.”

But competition isn’t just a question of cardio.

“I’m not entirely opposed to competing against men, but I also don’t want to make a scene about it, and I have F legally on my documents.”

That’s where the governing bodies come in.

  • NAGA: Requires transgender women to compete in men’s divisions.

  • ADCC: Maintains that competitors must register in their sex assigned at birth.

  • IBJJF: Implements strict requirements aligned with biological sex.

The options for trans women, then, are murky at best and exclusionary at worst.

When the Mat Isn’t Neutral

In response to the post, the BJJ community delivered a mix of empathy, pragmatism, and resources. One practitioner clarified a common misconception:

“Most coaches base promotions on time, effort, conceptual knowledge, skill, how you do in rounds at the gym, attitude, teaching ability, etc. Competition is optional and many people never do it.”

Others recommended connecting with LGBTQ+-affirming networks like Triangles Everywhere, an international group supporting queer grapplers with subgroups specifically for trans athletes.

Tournaments in places like Seattle were mentioned — events that “skew more inclusive” but often require travel, time, and financial flexibility.

BJJ Promotion Anxiety Is Real — and Widespread

The letter struck a chord not only because it was emotionally vulnerable but also because it raised an unspoken tension in the sport. For practitioners who don’t compete — whether due to anxiety, safety, gender policy, or simply life — how do they prove they’ve earned their next belt?

And for a trans grappler, the burden is even heavier.

Unlike most sports, BJJ belt ranks are public and visible. Walking into a gym as a purple or brown belt brings expectation. Skipping competition entirely may leave many trans practitioners feeling underqualified or under scrutiny.

Broader Echoes in the Combat Sports World

The timing of the letter couldn’t be more poignant. Trans inclusion is at the forefront of multiple sports — from NCAA swimming to Olympic weightlifting — and BJJ has yet to produce a unified response.

While gymnastics has seen a rise in acceptance, as recently reported by the Associated Press, grappling sports remain hesitant. That hesitancy leaves individual athletes caught between legal recognition and tournament rules that don’t reflect it.

The trans grappler question might seem simple: “How do I get promoted if I don’t compete?”

But its implications are profound. It’s about whether Jiu-Jitsu is a place for self-expression or a rigid hierarchy. Whether it welcomes all bodies — or only the ones it knows how to categorize.

In a sport where belts are earned, not given, maybe the real question is: What are we truly rewarding?

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Leg Entanglement System: X Lock Owen Jones DVD Review [2025]

By
Ognen Dzabirski
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Leg Entanglement System: X Lock Owen Jones DVD Review

Key Takeaways

  • A No-Gi BJJ DVD explaining how Owen Jones sets up, adjusts, and uses his X Lock system. 
  • Features fundamental principles, positional details, entries from different guards, and precise finishing guidelines. 
  • Explains the role of the X lock in the Ashi Garami system and offers easy ways to connect the positional dots.  
  • BJJ World Expert Rating: 8 out of 10. 

X LOCK OWEN JONES DVD GET HERE

Leg Entanglement System: X Lock Owen Jones DVD Preview
SEE THE TRAILER: Leg Entanglement System: X Lock Owen Jones DVD

Every now and again, a new, or better said, hybrid, Ahsi Garami option appears and claims to be the next revolutionary thing in leg locks. I tend to be suspicious of these claims and prefer to see grapplers showcase their Ashi innovations before they offer instructionals.

A great example of this is Lachlan Giles, who beat several huge giants at the ADCC with his distal 50/50 system before offering any information about it. Owen Jones has followed the same path with the X Lock Owen Jones DVD. Given that he is still a brown belt and barely over 20, I expect this system to grow and evolve as Owen does. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, check out the review:

Building Leg Entanglement Systems

If you take a look at any of the leg locking systems built by great leg lockers, such as Danaher, Dean Lister, or Lachlan Giles, you’ll notice that each one of them found a centerpiece to work with.

It may be a position (Lachlan’s 50/50 or Danaher’s Inside Senkaku) or a submission (Lister’s heel hooks and Caio Terra’s ankle lock, for example). Whatever the focus point, all great systems start with a centerpiece. Whether you opt for control or a finish for your main role is entirely up to you.

There is also another way forward. You could hybridize both of the focus areas mentioned above, and develop a finish dependent on a simple, but super-effective position. Mikey Musumeci did it, and so has Owen Jones. The X Lock Owen Jones DVD holds the blueprint to the latter’s leg locking system.

Apex Predator Owen Jones 

Not many people stay loyal to their parent academies, especially in the pro competitor circles. Similarly to baseball and football, athletes change teams, trying to compete as much as possible, and earn as much as they can in the process.

Several big-name teams are the target for everyone, so it’s no wonder that Apex Jiu-Jitsu product Owen Jones ended up polishing his trade with the B-Team, and occasionally, team Los Badidos from the UK. Still, when he gets on the mats, Jones to this day only represents his parents’ Apex Jiu-Jitsu Academy and his first coach, David Cartwright-Khoza.

Currently a brown belt (although not for long), Owen is one of the youngest participants in the 2024 ADCC World Championship at the age of 21. He won the European No-Gi championship at purple belt and placed first in the 2023 ADCC European Trials.

The former rugby player, originally from London, has been keeping the BJJ world on their toes, with explosive performances that have already tamed some big black belt names. Namely, he already has victories over Robert Degle, Ashley Williams, and Gabriel Sousa, to mention a few.

With roughly a 60% submission rate in his pro matches so far, Owen has built a reputation as a submission hunter for himself, particularly in the leg-locking domain. With two holds and ankle locks both featuring in his box of tricks, the X Lock Owen Jones DVD offers something modern and different to leg lockers.

Detailed X Lock Owen Jones DVD Review

The X Lock Leg Entanglement System Owen Jones DVD contains two volumes, each just under an hour, covering everything you need to know about one of the best leg locking positions in modern BJJ:

Part 1 – X Lock Essentials & Guard Entries

The X lock, as per the X Lock Owen Jones DVD, refers to the leg configuration of the Ashi Jones uses to finish ankle locks, rather than a submission itself. For anyone who has seen him fight, this is not a surprise.

Crossing the legs in an X-like fashion in Ashi is a dangerous game to play, but not one without benefits. Owen has seemingly figured out a way to reduce some of the risks through carefully crafted leg positioning in the Ashi. He outlines the key differences between different versions of the position that he uses, most notably the shallow and deep X lock.

I appreciated that he shares his thoughts on when to bail out on the X lock, and even when to skip over using it, depending on key aspects of a leg lock exchange. That said, he also outlines when you can capitalize on using it, and then follows up with a bunch of entries, featuring DLR, shin-to-shin, and X-guard.

Part 2 – Finishing And Transitions

Part two extends the X Lock game into transitions, mostly focusing on how to traverse through different Ashi Garami positions while still using the X configuration to boost your ankle lock finishing options.

This second and final part of the Owen Jones X Lock DVD offers connections with the Outside Ashi, Butterfly Ashi, and Y-guard. Jones builds a closed-loop system here that revolves around X lock availability from any of these positions, and vice versa.

IN the second part of the DVD, he also goes over the details of finishing mechanics, extending the submission option way past just the classic ankle lock. Aoki locks (currently all the jazz) feature heavily, but Owen also covers some interesting options in the Tren Lock, Deca Lock, and his take on setting up the outside heel hook.

‘For When Letting Go Was Never Your Strong Suit’

The key thing about becoming a leg locker is finding an Ashi position that suits your style of Jiu-Jitsu, your body type, and your overall game. Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of people pull off different Ashi Garami games at the highest levels, while other high-level grapplers failed to replicate them.

This doesn’t mean that there’s not a hierarchy in the world of Ashi Garami – it just means that there is no silver bullet in BJJ, and whatever you do, you need to work for it. Owen found the X lock to be his main position, just like Eddie Cummings made the Honeyhole his playground, Geo Martinez rose to infamy with Truck attacks, and Mikey Musumeci came up with his own submission from an Ashi Garami variation.

These are just a few examples of how developing a sticky Ashi leads to a high-level leg locking game. That said, the one thing all these grapplers I mentioned above have in common is that they all went through multiple Ashi combinations before settling, or coming up, with their own.

So, to shorten the learning curve, pick up the X Lock Owen Jones DVD and start experimenting with crossed legs from the Ashi Garami. Who knows, it may inspire you to come up with the next big thing in leg locking that will bear your name.

Leg Entanglement System: X Lock Owen Jones Fre DVD Sample
CHECK OUT A FREE DVD SAMPLE: Leg Entanglement System: X Lock Owen Jones

DOWNLOAD HERE: X LOCK OVEN JONES DVD

Faster, Tighter, Lethal Ankle Locks

I’ve always been more of a fan of heel hooks, but having a strong ankle lock game never hurts. In fact, these days, with people savvy to heel hooks, following up with a tight ankle lock is my go-to leg lock finish. So, if your ankle locks are lacking in tightness, pressure, and positioning, check out the X Lock Owen Jones DVD. It holds plenty of answers for all levels of BJJ leg lockers.

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[WATCH] John Wick Invitational 2 Delivers Viral Suit-Jitsu Spectacle

By
BJJ World
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[WATCH] John Wick Invitational 2 Delivers Viral Suit-Jitsu Spectacle

  • John Wick Invitational 2, hosted by Pit Boss Grappling, featured a viral Suit-Jitsu tournament where BJJ athletes competed in full formalwear.

  • The event delivered high production value, cinematic flair, and widespread community praise across Reddit and YouTube.

  • While lighthearted in concept, Suit-Jitsu is being embraced as a legitimate, entertaining twist on traditional grappling competition.

In a sport defined by rashguards and regulation kimonos, Pit Boss Grappling John Wick Invitational 2 brought something refreshingly absurd to the mats: full formalwear. Hosted on April 20, 2025, the second installment of the now-viral “Suit-Jitsu” concept saw Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes ditch traditional gis for tailored suits—while keeping the submissions deadly serious.

Whether you saw it as performance art, parody, or simply elite-level grappling with a tuxedo twist, the event captivated audiences across YouTube, Reddit, and niche corners of the BJJ internet. And with good reason—this wasn’t just cosplay. It was a high-production, submission-only tournament that fully embraced chaos and creativity.

Mayhem in Tailored Threads: A Sequel That Dialed Up the Drama

Building off the momentum of the original John Wick Invitational, the second edition raised the stakes with better lighting, cleaner cinematography, and a bolder presentation. T

The visual style borrowed heavily from the John Wick film franchise—complete with cinematic walkouts, dark noir aesthetics, and a soundtrack worthy of a fight scene at The Continental.

This latest event not only expanded its bracket but also attracted a significantly larger online audience, with clips circulating widely across Instagram and Reddit within hours of going live.

The Rules (and Suits) Still Apply

As with the previous edition, matches followed a submission-only format, with no points awarded and a focus on decisive finishes.

What made it truly unique, however, was the required attire: competitors were mandated to wear full suits—jackets, shirts, ties, belts, and slacks—with many opting for full three-piece ensembles.

No rashguards, no gis—just fashion and violence. Some wore loafers, others chose hard-soled dress shoes. Wardrobe malfunctions were a given, but everyone stayed committed to the look.

A Viral Hit with the BJJ Community

Though no individual matches or athletes were highlighted by name in the official coverage, what stood out most was the surging popularity of the format.

The videos uploaded by Pit Boss Grappling drew thousands of views within a day, and Reddit’s r/jiujitsu lit up with reactions ranging from amused disbelief to genuine excitement.

Users on the Reddit thread here praised the event’s originality and execution:

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“Better than most professional cards I’ve seen recently.”
“This should be the new gi division.”
“Can someone tell me where to buy a submission-proof tux?”

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While some traditionalists shrugged it off as a novelty, many in the BJJ scene saw Suit-Jitsu as a breath of fresh air in a competition scene that can often feel rigid and repetitive.

Turning Grappling Into a Cinematic Universe

Pit Boss Grappling has hit a sweet spot between combat sport and stylized entertainment. The event wasn’t just a tournament—it felt like a theatrical production. From the lighting to the walkouts, the entire vibe was built for virality.

What’s most striking is that this could be a new blueprint for growing niche combat sports: blending skill, style, and spectacle into something digestible for both hardcore fans and casual viewers alike.

With such a strong reception, it seems inevitable that Suit-Jitsu will return—possibly even as a traveling concept. The groundwork is already there for a series of invitationals in other cities or countries, all under the signature aesthetic of John Wick-style grappling.

 

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What’s Better: Gun Jitsu, Knife Jitsu, or Suit Jitsu?

Fans of the John Wick universe know the assassin world is full of deadly styles—Gun-Fu, Knife-Fu, even car-based takedowns. But in the real world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Suit-Jitsu may be the most practical and watchable evolution yet.

The John Wick Invitational 2 opened the door to matches that include grappling for control over a toy gun or knife, effectively bringing crazy viral videos we’ve seen to a competition format. We know we want more of it!

If anything, the John Wick Invitational series proves that martial arts don’t always have to take themselves so seriously to be taken seriously.

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Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey DVD Review [2025]

By
Ognen Dzabirski
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Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey DVD Review

Key Takeaways

  • A wrestling for BJJ DVD covering the fundamentals of defensive wrestling in an efficient and no-nonsense way.
  • Delivers solutions to standing ties, leg takedown attacks, and front headlock counters.   
  • Features a lot of information on preventing and countering mat returns for BJJ purposes. 
  • BJJ World Expert Rating: 8.5 out of 10. 

DEFENSIVE WRESTLING FOR JIU-JITSU PAT DOWNEY DVD GET HERE

Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey DVD Preview
FULL TRAILER: Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey DVD

Takedown defense in BJJ is something that is massively undertrained. For some reason, people think they’ll be able to pull off something they’ve tried in class, or worse, seen on YouTube. They fail miserably, and that’s how we create involuntary guard pullers.

It is very logical to turn to wrestling for the best options to deal with common threats. Since most attacks on the feet these days are ‘stolen’ from wrestling, figuring out how to modify defenses from the same sport makes sense. It is exactly what the Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey DVD does for you.

Scramble with a Purpose

What do you do to stop a takedown in BJJ? I get plenty of technical answers from people about it, at all belt levels, but when they go live, none of that seems to work. The real answer, however much you might dislike it, is that you scramble when you’re trying to stop takedowns in Jiu-Jitsu.

The more the opponent knows what they’re doing, the more chaotic the scrambles become, as you lose the purpose of what you’re doing and you’re just playing catch-up. You already know what inevitably follows such chaotic exchanges.

But, there is good news about your approach yet – it can actually work. In fact, scrambling as a defense is a lot more reliable than trying technical, BJJ-style defenses to common wrestling takedowns. This is the approach covered in the Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu DVD.

Wrestling Bad Boy Pat Downey

The BJJ World loves a bad boy, and Pat Downey certainly qualifies, even if he is still not quite King Ryan level (whom he lost to in 2020). The 32-year-old NCAA Division I American wrestler has a stellar grappling record behind him with bronze in the Pan American Games, gold in the US Nationals, gold at the NJCAA Championships, and plenty of others.

Downey had a knack for trouble from his high school days, which often affected his opportunities to wrestle as punishment for his behaviour, which stretched out into illicit activities. He figured out how to stay on the mats at the University of Nebraska, but quickly succumbed to college life and was cut from the team with a suggestion to try his luck in MMA.

In Iowa, he managed to conquer the NJCAA title undefeated in 2015, ending up on the Cycones’ team the following year. His time on the mats was always followed by controversies, such as derogatory comments to Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling, as well as a 5-year IBJJF ban (which came in 2024) after he provoked a brawl after one of his matches.

All that said, Pat remains a great grappler, with one of the most no-nonsense styles you’ll see these days. Not causing at all and always going for a fast win, his grappling experience makes him perfect to deliver information such as Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu.

Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey DVD Review

The three-part Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey DVD is a great resource for figuring out what to do on the feet in modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It won’t get you far in wrestling, but in BJJ, the hour and a half of material is more than enough to make you super-difficult to take down.

Part 1 – Countering Ties

This DVD is a strange one. First of all, it is not an overly long one, especially the first volume. However, it contains everything it should, and more, in terms of delivering on the promise of its title – Pat Downey’s Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu DVD.

First up are longer distance counters, as Downey addresses ties, demonstrating how to deal with them as an opponent is setting them up, and even when they’re fully attached. The Russian tie is the main area of focus, given how common it is in BJJ. Underhooks and slideys also get a mention.

Part 2 – Repelling Leg Attacks 

Part two of the Pat Downey Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu DVD covers what most people probably expected it to – dealing with leg attacks. Downey goes into some very interesting territory here, basing his defense on some wrestling classics rarely seen in BJJ, such as the Baltimore Butcher.

The head movement counters presented in this part are priceless. Pat goes over several head outside defenses to single leg takedown attacks, as well as explaining how the slide off works, which is another thing sorely missed in standing BJJ exchanges.

Part 3 – Front Headlock Solutions and Mat Returns

The final part of the Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey DVD is both the longest one and the one BJJ athletes will benefit from the most. Here, Pat covers a couple of wrestling-related situations we see in Jiu-Jitsu, more than leg takedowns and ties.

The front headlock is up fist, and Downey covers it as part of chain wrestling, addressing body locks, passbys, and circling along with the counters and defenses he provides. Conversely, all these defenses come in real useful when dealing with front headlock chokes, even though they’re not directly covered in the DVD.

The second half of the final volume is the most valuable, according to me, with Pat doing mat returns the justice they never got from anyone else in Jiu-Jitsu. Here, he covers how to deal with the body lock and different trips not just when standing, but also when your butt is on the mats, allowing to finally make the elusive ‘jsut stand up’ strategy work.

Start With Defense

This is great advice for anything in BJJ, which I rarely see people employ. Those who adopt the idea of becoming annoying before they become dangerous tend to have much better success at grappling, including attacks, but not before going through a fairly long and very rough period of getting beaten up on the mats.

In the realm of standing exchanges, reverting to defense is a lost easier than during ground work. Namely, if you can stop the opponent from taking the match to the mats on their terms, you achieve two major goals.

First, you will be able to stop the opponent from taking you down – understandably a major accomplishment, depending on the opponent. Secondly, you’ll be able to get in their head, because their plan A (and B, etc.) is not working.

This puts you in the perfect position to pull off a takedown of your own or pull guard. There is another option, which is to counter the attack and go straight into your own, just like Pat Downey shows in his Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu DVD.

Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey DVD Sample
WATCH A FREE SAMPLE: Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey

DOWNLOAD HERE: DEFENSIVE WRESTLING FOR JIU-JITSU DVD

Downey’s Dilemmas

It’s easy – pick up defensive wrestling, and you might not ever need to really get too deep into offensive wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu. It’s a shortcut, and I’d recommend learning both defense and attacks, but if you need a starting spot, then the Defensive Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu Pat Downey DVD is your best bet. Figure out how to defend and counter first, so that you can cause plenty of dilemmas for your opponent on the feet later on.

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What Is The Tye Ruotolo Knee Injury That Nearly Ended His Career?

By
Ognen Dzabirski
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What Is The Tye Ruotolo Knee Injury That Nearly Ended His Career?
  • Tye Ruotolo, the reigning ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion, faced a significant hurdle when he suffered a severe knee injury during a match at the Craig Jones Invitational.
  • The Tye Ruotolo knee injury, which involved multiple torn ligaments, marked the most substantial setback in his jiu-jitsu career.

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 “It was the biggest injury I’ve had in jiu-jitsu. I’ve had some torn ligaments before in my knee, but nothing quite to the extent and the amount of damage I did this last time.”

– Tye Ruotolo

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A Shredded Knee That Could Have Ended It All

Tye Ruotolo has never been known for sitting still. A world champion by his early 20s, he became synonymous with relentless pace and creative submission attacks. But everything stopped cold during a match at the Craig Jones Invitational, where a freak scramble resulted in a devastating knee injury.

Ligaments torn. Pain immediate. Return date unknown.

There was a real chance the trajectory he’d been riding—one of the most exciting careers in submission grappling—was about to be derailed indefinitely.

Tye Ruotolo Knee Injury Comeback

Tye Ruotolo Knee Injury Recovery: ‘No’ to Surgery, ‘Yes’ to Discipline

The immediate reaction from most fighters would be surgery. Ruotolo went another route. He chose rest, rehab, and rebuild. No knife. No shortcuts. He poured months into strengthening the joint, correcting imbalances, and dialing in the kind of recovery protocol most athletes ignore until it’s too late.

That meant time off the mats—longer than he had ever taken in his life. The result wasn’t just physical repair, but mental re-centering. The champion who had burst onto the international stage as a teenager had never hit pause like this before.

The injury forced Ruotolo to evaluate more than just his knee. It made him reassess his lifestyle. His diet. His recovery habits. And above all, his mindset about rest.

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“I was never super strict on my diet. But when you have an injury like that, you realize how much inflammation plays into everything. What you eat really affects your recovery.”

– Tye Ruotolo

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Ruotolo also spoke candidly about taking competition for granted. Years of high-profile matches, media attention, and dominance had blurred the stakes. The layoff reminded him just how fragile everything is—even when you’re on top.

ONE Fight Night 31: The Stakes Are Real

On May 2, Ruotolo returns to defend his ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Title at ONE Fight Night 31, set to take place at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. His opponent? Canadian standout Dante Leon—a gritty, seasoned black belt with wins over world-class names.

The bout marks Ruotolo’s first since the injury and his first test of whether his new body, and new outlook, hold up under elite pressure.

He’s not easing in, either. Leon is known for power, pace, and positional grinding—exactly the kind of game that will push Ruotolo’s rebuilt knee to its limit. It’s a fight that matters not just for rankings, but for redemption.

What fans will see in Bangkok isn’t the same version of Tye Ruotolo who tore through competitors at ADCC or dominated in his early ONE appearances. This Ruotolo is slower in the buildup, sharper in detail, and far more appreciative of the road he’s taken.

________________________________________________________________________

“I’m just grateful to have another opportunity to be on the mat. I definitely took it for granted, just competing—even the small stuff.”

– Tye Ruotolo

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That shift matters. In a sport where burnout and breakdowns often go hand in hand with greatness, Ruotolo’s pause may have extended his reign—not interrupted it.

Tye Ruotolo Knee Injury That Nearly Ended

Tye’s Recovery Sets a New Tone in BJJ

Injuries are part of grappling. Everyone taps to them eventually. But few elite athletes talk openly about the aftermath—about eating cleaner, training smarter, and knowing when to step back. Ruotolo just made it part of the conversation.

More importantly, he made it public. No fake toughness. No hiding from setbacks. His story is one every competitor at any level can learn from.

It’s not just about his knee anymore. It’s about how he fought to stay Tye Ruotolo—even when the mats were gone.

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Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD Review [2025]

By
Ognen Dzabirski
-
Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD Review

Key Takeaways

  • A BJJ DVD that offers a sales framework for the business aspects of running a BJJ Academy. 
  • Includes tactics and procedures for lead generation, customer relations, metrics, and sales methods, divided into sections. 
  • Features a full intro class at Marshall’s academy and covers the role of such a class in attracting students. 
  • BJJ World Expert Rating: 7 out of 10. 

MASTERING YOUR SALES ELIOT MARSHALL DVD GET HERE

Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD Cover
Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD

Robert Drysdale once declared that teaching BJJ is a crappy job, and that people are ungrateful. Back then, I thought he was crazy or just fed up. Fast forward about 10 years or so since that statement, and I understand him completely.

However, I don’t think that it’s the fault of the people who train. In my opinion, it is the business plans behind academies whose owners are also the head coaches, and are crazy about BJJ, that fail. But, in this day and age, there’s an insturctional for everything in BJJ. Even business. Check out the Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD.

The Business Side of Jiu-Jitsu

For the majority of people out there, BJJ is the fun thing they do after school or work. For the people who run the academies where that fun happens, though, the work is the class you enjoy taking. So, if you’re an academy owner, you already know the headaches of running an academy.

So, let’s look at how you can alleviate some of those headaches. The Eliot Marshall Sales DVD offers a great way to help the business side of things, which I find is lacking in all the best academies that don’t employ business professionals to run this portion.

I can be confident of this because I’ve done it myself – tried to run classes, administration, sales, marketing, all on my own. It is not easy, and it is not meant to be done by just one person. And yet, it is the one thing that is beyond crucial to keep the doors of the academy open.

Eliot’s DVD has some strong pointers on how to make sure you, or whoever you trust to run the sales and marketing, can secure the best return for the time they put into generating leads and talking to potential clients. It seems like a framework that will work, and Marahsall’s success with his own academy backs that notion up even further.

Eliot ‘The Fire’ Marshall

Eliot Marshall is a very interesting character. I’d seen him fight in the UFC, but never had an idea that he was so good at grappling. It turns out he is not just a solid grappler but a very legit black belt under Amal Easton.

I figured all this out when I saw his Fundamentals DVD not long ago, and was quite impressed with the contents. So, when another one of his instructionals appeared, I was immediately drawn to the name, but this time, it was an instructional like I have never seen before. And, coming from me, that’s something,

Marshall has been actively training and competing in combat sports for the better part of 25 years. He is also a coach and co-owner of the Easton Training Center, which positions him perfectly to deliver the information he covers in the Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD.

Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD Review

This one-of-a-kind BJJ instructional offers a roadmap on how to run the business side of a BJJ academy. Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD contains sales tactics, methods, role-playing ideas, and full sample intro classes in a DVD that lasts over two hours:

Part 1 – Understanding the Sales Process

Part one of the Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD is like business school, but for combat sports academy owners. I’ve never seen anything like it, nor have I tested it out, but I will make my conclusions based on the content and the fact that I’ve been running my own academy for 15 years.

Eliot begins with an overview of the entire sales process, starting from creating a price for all the services (programs) you offer, before talking about appointment setting. His idea is to keep people coming back, as opposed to just having a trial class and leaving.

All kinds of marketing avenues appear here, from online communications (the most useful one, according to me) through lead acquisition calls, all the way to the power of word of mouth. The goal of this part of the sales process is to gather data.

Appointment setting comes next, with Marshall offering a several-step process that includes building rapport depending on the background of the potential new client. He even covers how to approach and talk to parents as the main client behind a kid looking to train.

Part 2 – Intro Classes

This second volume of the Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD is the one that sold me on the effectiveness of his instructional. I never thought I’d watch an instructional on running a BJJ academy as a business, but this is one that I would even go as far as recommending to academy owners.

A big reason for this is that Eliot covers the importance of intro classes as a means of retaining people who walk through the doors. He goes beyond just mentioning them, offering a full class taught in his academy, divided into two strategic portions, each with a specific sales goal.

Part 3 – Customer Relations

The final piece of the puzzle that the Mastering Your Sales DVD explains in detail is how to close the actual sale. Role-playing is a huge aspect of this portion of the process, and yes, it is absolutely necessary for you, or whoever you trust to run your sales, to master it.

On top of the role-playing sales closing tactics delivered in useful sections, which provide an easy framework to remember, Eliot also covers metrics and how to track how successful you are with the entire process. He wraps up with the most important thing that keeps people walking back – customer relationships.

There’s More Than One Gameplan

If you are a BJJ gym owner or co-owner, you need to make space in whatever means you use to make your BJJ game plan. Why? Because you will need to include another game plan alongside it, and this one is going to be all business and no fun.

That is the price of being a BJJ academy owner. It is also one of the reasons why many people decide to switch back to coaching full-time at someone else’s place, rather than running their own. It takes time, effort, and lots of financial ups and downs to make ends meet by running a Jiu-Jitsu school.

For those without a business background, things tend to get as complicated as they are when you ask a white belt to shrimp – you get lost. Instead of trying to learn business using shortcuts, the Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD actually offers everything you need to put together a strong game plan for the sales part of your BJJ business. It’s worth a look.

Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall Free DVD Sample
WATCH A FREE SAMPLE: Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD

DOWNLOAD HERE: MASTERING YOUR SALES ELIOT MARSHALL DVD

Start Here! 

There’s no point in pondering whether the Mastering Your Sales Eliot Marshall DVD is going to help. It is one of the most secure returns on investment you’ll ever have. Of course, just watching it won’t suffice, and you’ll have to go through some trial and error, just like in BJJ, However, once you figure out role playing, lead management, and the importance of intro classes, you’ll get to be the head of an academy that thrives on the mats, and in the accounting books.

Coaching is a s*it Job and Students are Ungrateful – Robert Drysdale

Complete Fundamentals Curriculum Eliot Marshall DVD Review [2025]

Academy Kings: Best Practices To Grow Your BJJ Academy Business

BJJ Purple Belt Sirena Allen-De Guzman Reveals Grooming by Coach at 15

By
BJJ World
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BJJ Purple Belt Sirena Allen-De Guzman Reveals Grooming by Coach at 15
  • Sirena Allen-De Guzman began her Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey at 15, seeking physical activity and community.
  • What started as a supportive environment quickly turned into a nightmare when her BJJ coach, a man in his 40s, began grooming her.
  • By 17, she was in a relationship with him, a situation she now recognizes as a clear abuse of power.​

________________________________________________________________________

“By the time that I was 17, I was dating my 40-something-year-old Jiu-Jitsu coach.”

– Sirena Allen-De Guzman

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A Trusted Mentor Turns Predator

When the inappropriate relationship came to light, the gym’s response was to expel the coach. However, instead of supporting the teen grappler, the gym effectively punished her as well.

The coach told her, “I’m not allowed to train, so you’re not allowed to train,” leading to her departure from the sport she loved.​ This reaction highlights a troubling tendency within some martial arts communities to prioritize reputation over the well-being of victims.​

A Pattern of Control and Isolation

The relationship was marked by increasing control. Allen-De Guzman described being cut off from friends and family, with the coach dictating her interactions and finances.

The breaking point came when he forbade her from attending a work event, leading to a realization of the unhealthy dynamics at play.​

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“It made me realize that I was in this relationship where I couldn’t make a decision like going to a work function without having to deal with the fallout,” 

– Sirena Allen-De Guzman

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Returning to the Mat

After nearly five years away from BJJ, Allen-De Guzman found the courage to return. With the support of a new coach who told her, “Don’t sell yourself short. We’ll develop your skills until you feel like you have earned that blue belt again,” she began rebuilding her confidence and skills.

________________________________________________________________________

“We don’t talk about gym etiquette in that way in any gym that I’ve ever been in. There’s never been a conversation about ‘hey guys, if somebody says no, that means no.’”

– Sirena Allen-De Guzman

________________________________________________________________________

Not an Isolated Incident: Other Cases in BJJ​

Allen-De Guzman’s unwanted BJJ grooming experience, which she shared on the Partizan Grappling podcast, is unfortinately not unique. Several high-profile cases have highlighted a troubling pattern within the BJJ community:​

Claudia do Val and Ricardo De La Riva

In 2020, three-time IBJJF World Champion Claudia do Val accused her former coach, Ricardo De La Riva, of sexual misconduct during her early training years. She detailed the experience in an interview, shedding light on the abuse of power by a respected figure in the BJJ world.​

The Fight Sports​ Controversy

In 2020, a BJJ black belt under Abreu and instructor at Fight Sports Naples, Marcel Goncalves, was accused of sexual assault by a 16-year-old student. Abreu faced criticism for his handling of the claims and was later named in a civil suit alleging failure to oversee trainers and protect minors.

In 2023, a second lawsuit implicated Abreu and Fight Sports LLC in another sexual assault case involving a minor.

Lloyd Irvin and Team Lloyd Irvin​

In 2013, two students from Team Lloyd Irvin were charged with the violent rape of a female teammate. Subsequent revelations about Irvin’s own past, including involvement in a 1989 gang rape case (for which he was acquitted), led to an exodus of top athletes from his team and the eventual disbanding of his affiliate program.

________________________________________________________________________

“Something that I would really love to see as the sport continues to develop is women who are kind of strong athletic role models for young girls in this sport,”

– Sirena Allen-De Guzman

________________________________________________________________________

Purple Belt Sirena Allen-De Guzman Groomed by BJJ Coach at 15

A Call for Change

Allen-De Guzman’s story serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities within martial arts communities. It emphasizes the urgent need for gyms to implement strict policies, provide education on power dynamics, and create safe spaces for all practitioners. By confronting these issues head-on, the BJJ community can begin to heal and ensure that the mat remains a place of respect and growth for everyone.

Rafael ‘Barata’ Freitas Acused Of Sexual Assault On A Student He ‘Drugged And Raped’

MMA Coach Arrested For Sexual Abuse Of A Minor

Jackson Sousa Not Guilty OF Sexual Aassault

Modernized Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD Review [2025]

By
Ognen Dzabirski
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Modernized Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD Review

Key Takeaways

  • A No-Gi BJJ DVD with three volumes, delivering key details on how to modernize a classic passing staple – the headquarters. 
  • Features headquarters instructions, integrated passing combos using different methods, and contains plenty of drills.   
  • Provides a full volume of rolling breakdowns focused on headquarters passing. 
  • BJJ World Expert Rating: 8 out of 10. 

HEADQUARTERS PASSING SHAWN MELANSON DVD GET HERE:

Modernized Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD Preview
WATCH THE TRAILER: Modernized Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD

All your passing troubles are not going to get solved by getting a BJJ DVD that covers the subject. However, some instructionals out there, such as the Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD, will provide you with more than just bits and pieces that you’re left trying to put together on your own.

Shawn has a very solid DVD here, offering not just a new perspective on a classic passing system that we know works, but also different ways of achieving your goal from there. When passing, he combines several super-effective techniques and constantly changes between them. Interested in learning more? Read on.

The Key Condition for Successful Passing

What does it take to pass the guard? A pin. I can already hear most people screaming that pins come after passing and that I’ve got things backward. But I’m right, and in a minute, you’ll know exactly why.

Pinning is an essential component of passing that happens the moment you decide to get past the bottom player’s legs. If you can’t keep your opponent down, and they can just stand up, then how can you hope to pass their guard?

Therefore, you need to think about pinning people before you begin to battle their legs and conquer the space that leads past their hips. Pinning in this instance is active and dynamic, as opposed to holding someone in side control or mount.

IN fact, you’re already doing it, but probably have no idea when or why. Every time you force a seated guard player to a supine position, you’re effectively pinning them to the mats so you can pass. The Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD will give you the ultimate pinning position to launch a myriad of different highly effective passes.

Shawn Melanson – The New School

I figured out who Shawn is the first time I looked at a DVD of his, which happened to be his first. He caught my eye, so I kept following his crazy good Instagram content since then, and never regretted it for a minute. Naturally, I couldn’t wait to see what his second DVD was all about.

Before I get into that, a few words on Shawn Melanson for those who don’t know who this rising star is. Shawn has been training and competing for a long while now, with 30 high-profile wins already to his name, more than half of which he finished.

He has a knack for efficiency, which is very evident in the Shawn Melanson Passing DVD we’ll be covering today. As a competitor, Melanson has a great idea of what works, and why, and with his sights also set on pro MMA, there’s hardly a better source these days for grappling efficiency.

Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD Review

The Modernized Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD is a three-volume BJJ instructional presented in No-Gi, delivering a very interesting, effectiveness-oriented approach to a classic passing system we already know works:

Part 1 – Drills, Drags & HQ Introduction

The first part of the Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD, which is also the longest, is divided into two main sections. One covers a set of super useful drills to develop effective guard passing, and the other contains details on the Headquarters and related passing.

In the drills section, Shawn delivers his go-to live training methods for developing a sense for making all the passing combinations that he follows up with. Speaking of passes, lots of dragas and knee cuts feature in this opening salvo, mixed into the drills and laying the foundation for Melanson’s system.

Headquarters info appears after the halfway mark of the first volume, starting with a short intro to the origins of the position and going straight into the integration of the above drills. Shawn covers knee cuts, stacking, and dragging from the headquarters, along with a very cool set of guidelines on how, and more importantly, when to switch between them.

Part 2 – Stacking & Shin-to-Shin Passing

After the strong opening of the first part, volume two of the Shawn Melanson Headquarters DVD does not diminish in quality of the material. Although somewhat shorter than the first part, the focus here is on completing the pass that started in the headquarters, without getting tunnel vision about the direction.

Stacking gets a lot of attention in this part, along with reaction passing, which is the one thing in this DVD that you must pay very close attention to – it brings everything together.

Bits and pieces to help you fill in common issues, such as being stuck in sticky half guards and dealing with shin-to-shin guards, also feature here. The proverbial cherry on top comes in the form of the smash pass, the endgame option to tame even the most defiant guard player. And it all starts with the headquarters.

Part 3 – Rolling Breakdowns

I am a very big proponent of rolling footage in BJJ DVDs, so the inclusion of such a segment automatically drives the score up for the Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD.

In this instance, Shawn provides an entire volume, just shy of 20 minutes in duration, filled with live rolling examples of everything he covered in the previous volumes. Bonus marks for the narration and breakdown of the rolls, which somehow emerges as the best way to learn Jiu-Jitsu from video material.

Camping Tactics for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Patience. If I had to describe an effective Jiu-Jitsu game in one word, I’d just say patience. Of course, something as simple as patience is also the hardest aspect of grappling to master, which in large part, is due to the nature of exchanges during live training.

The most common mistakes made in BJJ are the ones people make just before they reach the end-range of their effort. It can be a submission, a pass, a sweep, or a takedown – just before you get it is also the moment when you will lose out on most of your efforts. And it’s all got to do with timing.

And how do you explain timing? With patience. Wait more. Take your time and capitalize on the moment your opponent is trying to go for an end-range motion. The only issue here is picking a position that you can control while you’re patiently waiting, so that you don’t end up losing all that you’ve worked for.

In passing, one of the best camping positions like this is the headquarters. And, while Lovato Jr. created and refined it, the Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD takes it to a whole new level.

Modernized Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson Free DVD Sample
CHECK OUT A SAMPLE OF THE DVD: Headquarters Passing by Shawn Melanson

DOWNLOAD HERE: HEADQUARTERS PASING SHAWN MELANSON DVD

Modernize Your Passing! 

As I said at the beginning of this article, the Modernized Headquarters Passing Shawn Melanson DVD is not going to teach you how to pass. You’ll have to do that yourself.

It will, however, provide you with a framework on how passing works, where to start from, what passes you can combine, and when, and several rounds of live examples. Along with the passing drills offered in this DVD, you’re definitely going to emerge a better passer after seeing it!

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Arm Bar It All Shawn Melanson DVD Review [2025]

4 Weeks To A Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD Review [2025]

By
Ognen Dzabirski
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4 Weeks To A Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD Review

Key Takeaways

  • A Gi BJJ DVD offering a different, but very effective way to learn any Jiu-Jitsu guard.  
  • Goes over key concepts such as connection and control points, retention, attack tactics, timing, distance and mindset. 
  • Features technical details and instructions, followed by specific drills/games in each of the volumes. 
  • BJJ World Expert Rating: 9.5 out of 10. 

4 WEEKS TO A BETTER GUARD TRAVIS STEVENS DVD GET HERE:

4 Weeks To A Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD Preview
dvd trailer: 4 Weeks To A Better Guard Travis Stevens

Wondering how you can improve your guard in the fastest amount of time possible, without having to learn a completely new guard just because it is the latest “most effective’ fad? What you need is to learn guard from someone who does not want to play any more guard than aboslutely necessary.

So, ask a Judoka. Or, even better, ask THE Judoka. The 4 Weeks to a Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD has not just the framework but also all of the drills you’ll need to become a guard master at any (and all) guards faster than you’d be able to even go through the material of your run-of-the-mill guard DVD these days. Here’s why:

BJJ Guard by a Judoka? 

The one thing they teach you in Judo from day one is to keep your shoulder blades off the mats. Now, think of a BJJ guard – it does the exact opposite, right? So how can a Judoka, even an Olympian like Travis Stevens, teach you how to develop one the most effective guard game ever?

The answer is time management. Judokas don’t want to spend time with their back to the mats – we already covered that. So, when, like Travis, one of them also has a BJJ black belt, they tend to be super effective off the mats.

Stevens is a master at managing contact and executing guard transitions at the exact moment when the top person is the most vulnerable. It has a lot to do with timing, off-balancing and braking posture.

Sounds familiar? Of course it does, I just described Judo for you. That means that you have an expert at disrupting balance and throwing people to the mats, showing you how to do the same, just from a different level relative to the ground. It’s all in the 4 Weeks to a Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD.

Grappling Giant Travis Stevens

Yeah, it’s a Travis Stevens DVD, and it’s not Judo. And that, somehow, just makes it even better! Travis is a name most people have come across as one of the best coaches in grappling these days. I might even go as far as calling him the new Judo Gene LeBell of the modern grappling world.

Travis is a multiple-time Judo Olympian and a silver medalist, as well as a multiple-time world and national champion in Judo.  Stevens is also one of the rare Judokas who picked up BJJ very early in their career, which has provided him with about 15 years of super valuable BJJ experience and a black belt earned from John Danaher.

These days, Travis is known as one of the best coaching minds in BJJ and, arguably, the best one at connecting Judo and BJJ into a cohesive, effective, and fairly quick-to-learn style.

He teaches daily at the Travis Stevens Jiu-Jitsu Academy and is not shy of delivering great video content regularly. His latest effort is the 4-Week Roadmap to the Travis Stevens Guard DVD.

4 Weeks to a Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD  Review

The 4 Weeks to a Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD offers over 4 hours of material on building an effective guard game for Gi BJJ in a matter of weeks. It contains six volumes, each offering both technical portions and sections of drill examples.

Part 1 – Connections 

Travis has a very interesting system of delivering his information. Throughout the 4 Weeks to a Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD he alternates parts where he breaks moves down with drills that help develop the key skills for masterring those same moves.

In the first volume of this DVD, he talks about what purposeful connections are from the guard, and how to set them up without overcomplicating things. Travis goes over all the points of contact you may encounter, highlighting the three that are most worth pursuing.

The drills include holding the connection points against resistance, trying them out from different guards and getting to tho them against resistance.

Part 2 – Pockets and Inside Space

Second, as it should be, Stevens talks about distance management. Connections serve the purpose of maintaining distance from guard, so in this portion of the Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD you get to learn how to use the three top connections to keep your guard form getting passed.

No attacks yet, just a set of drills that aim to develop your skills in protecting your inside space, opening up the opponent’s inside space, and finding the optimal ‘pocket’ to work from using your connections.

Part 3 – Points of Control

The really surprising (positive) thing about the 4 Weeks to a Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD was that Travis does not mix connections with control. This is a point I’ve been struggling to pass on to students who like to play guard.

Holding on to someone and controlling them are two different things, and in this part of the institution, Travis is going to show you exactly what that difference is. Once again, he teaches concepts like points of connection vs. points of control and how to adjust connections for better control, followed by drills to help you put it all into live practice.

Part 4 – Attacking From Guard

At the halfway point of the 4 Weeks to a Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD, the first attacks emerge. If possible, I’d advise everyone using this DVD to first get comfortable with the content from previous volumes before moving on to the attacks – this will yield the best results.

Travis likes to keep things simple, so attack-wise, he offers concepts that define what you can do without breaking a connection or losing control. He uses the knees as the ‘sight’ that you should aim at your opponent when attacking.

Drills in this part include sweeping (knocking the partner down against resistance) and connecting the control points with attacks that you like to do, but are depended on using the ‘sight’.

Part 5 – Building a Guard Game

For me, this portion of the Travis Stevens Guard DVD was the most valuable one, both as a coach and an athlete. In it, Stevens covers tactics and how to weigh risks and rewards when deciding to go into attack from a guard.

He also goes over the push-pull dynamics that create the ultimate dilemmas from guard by leveraging posture and balance. The drills in this part are mostly focused on these two aspects, with each drill growing in complexity and resistance level.

Part 6 – Attack Combinations

Finally, traces offers the complexities of playing a full-guard game over the course of just under an hour. The final part of the 4 Weeks to a Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD once again begins with tactics, this time helping you recognize the ‘kill shot’ moment and make the most out of it without risking your guard structure.

Lots of reactive attacks appear here, with some very innovative and fun and challenging drills, such as ‘chess’, providing a great set of methods to easily put all the theory that Travis offers into practice.

This part of the DVD lets you adjust the complexity of Travis’ gaurd system to your own abilities and preferences. Travis goes as far as offering attacks on two different planes at the same time, but you can keep it as simple, or complex, as you choose to.

The Simpler – The Better

If you ask me, keeping guards simple is the best way to ensure you don’t get trapped at the bottom and suffer the consequences. This is coming from someone who spent years perfecting the Tornado guard, revelled in the Reverse De la Riva and has done more X guard variations over the years than you know exist.

What you need to know from a guard is what you are doing – retention first, attacks later. Then, you need to know how to do both, and make sure to be able to recognize when you’re entering tunnel vision, because that’s exactly when your best moves tend to fail spectacularly.

Here’s what you probably didn’t hope to read in this article – the specific guard you play doesn’t matter. You can imagine one on the spot, as long as it ticks the what and how boxes. If you want to understand this at a deeper level, the  4 Weeks to a Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD should already be in your checkout basket.

4 Weeks To A Better Guard Travis Stevens Free DVD Sample
FREE DVD SAMPLE: 4 Weeks To A Better Guard Travis Stevens

DOWNLOAD HERE: BETTER GUARD TRAVIS STEVENS DVD

It’s Only a Month!

Okay, it may take a bit longer than that. But still, even if it takes two months of drilling, as instructed in the 4 Weeks to a Better Guard Travis Stevens DVD, to become a guard specialist, is it not worth it? Let’s not forget that we’re talking about almost immediate improvements here – imagine what’s going to happen to your guard capabilities after a year of doing the drills!

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DONE! Gordon Ryan Retiring—and Danaher Might Not Be Far Behind! [2025]

By
BJJ World
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Gordon Ryan Retiring—and Danaher Might Not Be Far Behind!
  • Gordon Ryan is the most dominant no-gi grappler of his generation. ADCC absolute champ. Multiple-time superfight winner. The face of Danaher Death Squad and New Wave Jiu-Jitsu. And now—possibly, incredibly—he might be done competing.
  • In a subtle but seismic revelation, longtime coach John Danaher hinted that Gordon Ryan retiring is on the cards, this time for real.
  • The update came with little fanfare, no major announcement, and no black-and-white retirement post. Just a comment made in passing, but one with enough weight to cause a stir across the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community.

Ryan, just 29 years old, has been the undisputed king of no-gi for nearly a decade. But chronic health problems—specifically a long-standing battle with gastroparesis—have kept him in and out of training camps, off major cards, and constantly managing his body just to stay functional.

Danaher Stepping Away Too?

The rumors didn’t stop with Gordon Ryan retiring. Danaher, the architect behind the system that made Ryan, Garry Tonon, and many others, most recently Helena Crevar, household names in the BJJ world, may also be stepping back from full-time coaching.

When announcing the New Wave team for CJI 2, Danaher also hinted that he might be planning to limit his active coaching role. Given his upcoming surgery schedule, this is not surprising.

Whether that means fewer appearances at competition, a shift toward online instruction, or something more permanent is unclear. But if true, it marks the possible dissolution—or at least downsizing—of one of the most influential BJJ coaches.

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“Gordon (Ryan) is very sick at this point, so I don’t believe he’ll be competing again.”

– Danaher

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Sick Gordon Ryan Retiring

A Legacy That Might End Without a Rival

With Ryan gone, the sport becomes a lot more open—and a lot more unpredictable. Craig Jones, Nicky Rod, Mason Fowler, Kaynan Duarte, and even newer names like Nicholas Meregali (who transitioned from Gi to No-Gi under Danaher)—all stand to benefit from the shift in power.

But filling the competitive vacuum is one thing. Filling the cultural one is another. Love him or hate him, Gordon Ryan drove traffic, attention, and debate like no one else in grappling. If he’s truly gone, the BJJ world will need a new focal point. And that might be the hardest role to replace.

Ryan’s potential retirement—if confirmed—would go down as one of the most dominant exits in combat sports. He’s beaten nearly every elite grappler of his era, including Felipe Pena, André Galvão, Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida, Craig Jones… He didn’t just beat them—he often finished them.

He rewrote the way people approach No-Gi grappling. He elevated leg lock systems, positional control, and offensive pressure. He made long-form instructionals part of the sport’s economic engine.

And he did it while marketing himself like a WWE heel—complete with brash callouts, relentless social media activity, and a swagger that turned heads whether you loved him or hated him.

But if this really is the end? No retirement tour. No loss. No real rival left standing.

Just a quiet fade from the top of the mountain.

Gordon Ryan Retiring in 2025

From King of No-Gi to Kingmaker?

The silver lining for fans is this: Gordon Ryan reportedly isn’t walking away from Jiu-Jitsu entirely. According to the same reports, he’s expected to shift toward coaching, especially focusing on younger athletes under the New Wave Jiu-Jitsu banner.

If Danaher’s stepping back, it opens the door for Ryan to become the face—and possibly the brain—of the next generation of elite no-gi grapplers. With years of experience under one of the most structured systems in modern jiu-jitsu, Ryan has the knowledge base and technical language to become a coach in his own right.

The question is whether he can command the same dominance from the sidelines as he did on the mats.

Who Fills the Gap?

With Ryan gone, the sport becomes a lot more open—and a lot more unpredictable. Craig Jones, Nicky Rod, Mason Fowler, Kaynan Duarte, even newer names like Nicholas Meregali (who transitioned from gi to no-gi)—all stand to benefit from the shift in power.

But filling the competitive vacuum is one thing. Filling the cultural one is another. Love him or hate him, Gordon Ryan drove traffic, attention, and debate like no one else in grappling. If he’s truly gone, the BJJ world will need a new focal point. And that might be the hardest role to replace.

John Danaher and Gordon Ryan Retiring soon!

Gordon Ryan Retiring: Real, or Just the Latest Plot Twist?

Here’s the thing about Gordon Ryan: he’s not subtle. He thrives on bold claims and viral moments. Which is why this low-key leak from Danaher caught people off guard. It doesn’t fit the usual Ryan brand. No announcement. No big reveal. No hype video. Plus, he already retired once before.

That’s why some in the community remain skeptical. Maybe it’s a break. Maybe it’s strategic. Maybe Ryan returns in 2026 with a “comeback tour” that includes ADCC and a superfight with a new contender. But based on what Danaher said, this wasn’t part of a tease. It sounded real.

And if it is? Then the No-Gi landscape just lost its biggest star, its best technician, and its biggest villain—overnight.

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