Key Takeaways
- Samurai Submissions Kenta Iwamoto DVD is a tight, get-to-the-point submission system built around controlling turtle and punishing the moment someone thinks they’re safe.
- The biggest strength is the sequence: control and mat returns first, then fast front headlock finishes, then multiple entries into the front headlock from standing/top/bottom.
- Volume 2 is the engine room—short chokes, high-ground control, and strong finishing options that reward clean positioning more than brute force.
- It’s compact and usable, but it’s also pretty No-Gi flavored, and a couple of options can be ruleset-dependent if you compete.
- Rating: 8.5/10
SAMURAI SUBMISSIONS KENTA IWAMOTO DVD AVAILBLE HERE
Turtle is one of those positions that looks defensive on paper, but feels like a coin flip in real rounds. Sometimes it’s a safe shell. Sometimes it’s just “I’m about to give up my neck because I’m tired.” That’s the space Samurai Submissions Kenta Iwamoto DVD lives in: the moment your opponent turns in, clamps up, and tries to stall the chaos into a reset.
Kenta Iwamoto’s approach isn’t about showing you 40 flashy ways to attack turtle. It’s more like a short, sharp blueprint: control the turtle reliably, shut down the common escape, and funnel everything into finishes that come on fast. The course structure reflects that mindset—first, you learn how to hold the position and return people to the mat. Then you get the front headlock submissions (and the high ground layer). Finally, you get practical ways to arrive at the front headlock from different scenarios, not just after a scramble.
If you’re tired of opponents winning by curling up and surviving, this instructional is basically a permission slip to treat turtle as an attacking position again—without turning every exchange into a messy back-take lottery.
Beating Turtles
A lot of gyms teach turtle in two extremes: either never turtle (because back exposure), or turtle is fine (because you can granby, sit-out, wrestle up, and keep scrambling). The truth is turtle is a transition hub—and whether it’s safe depends on who’s better at controlling the space around the hips and shoulders.
From the top player’s side, turtle attacks usually fall into a few families:
- Riding and returning: breaking posture, forcing the hands to post, and repeatedly dragging the opponent back down when they try to stand.
- Go-behinds and seatbelt control: taking the angle so you’re not directly behind their spine, and using that angle to stop rolls and sit-outs.
- Front headlock funnels: creating a connection to the head/arm that leads into guillotines, D’arces, kata gatame variations, and back exposure when they defend.
- “High ground” control: staying above the shoulders and using your weight and grips to make their turtle feel like quicksand.
What makes Samurai Submissions Kenta Iwamoto DVD interesting is that it doesn’t treat turtle as its own isolated universe. It treats turtle as the front end of a submission chain—where the real payoff is the front headlock and the control layers that prevent the classic “I’ll just roll out” escape pattern.
The New Generation: Kenta Iwamoto
Kenta Iwamoto is one of the more unusual new generation grapplers because his base is not traditional Jiu-Jitsu—it’s judo. He was already a judo black belt before he fully committed to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and his background shows up in how he thinks: tight body control, efficient returns, and a preference for making your opponent carry weight instead of “winning positions” with frantic movement.
Competition-wise, he’s best known for consistently qualifying through the ADCC pathway, including multiple wins at the ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials (2019, 2022, 2023), and he’s also posted notable results in No-Gi at the elite level. Over time, he’s trained and prepared with high-level rooms, including time with the B-Team training environment, which helps explain why his instructional blends wrestling-style front headlock mechanics with the kind of positional suffocation you’d expect from a top submission grappler.
He’s also spoken publicly about the intensity of his early martial arts experience in Japan, including harsh treatment during his youth judo training. You don’t need that context to use the material—but it does add a layer of understanding to why his style is so focused on pressure, control, and no wasted motion.
Detailed Samurai Submissions Kenta Iwamoto DVD Review
A quick structural note: this is a three-volume course that’s surprisingly compact. It’s not trying to be an encyclopedia. Samurai Submissions Kenta Iwamoto DVD is closer to a system install you can actually finish in a week, then revisit in targeted spots.
Volume 1 – Turtle Control
The opening volume is all about earning the right to attack. Instead of jumping straight into chokes, Kenta builds the base: controlling turtle using a go-behind approach, breaking down the position with a gut-wrench style of pressure, and dealing with one of the most common get out of jail buttons—the granby roll.
What I like here is that the control is presented as a sequence, not as isolated tips. You see how the initial angle and hip control leads into stable holds—like the double under bodylock and seatbelt control—so you’re not constantly chasing. The efficient mat returns section is also a big deal for anyone who rolls with athletic opponents.
Plenty of turtle systems look great until the other person stands up and turns it into a wrestling scramble. Mat returns are what separate I almost had it from you’re stuck here now. If you already have good back takes but struggle to keep people grounded during turtle transitions, Volume 1 is the glue that makes the rest of the system work.
Volume 2 – Darces & High Ground Attacks
Volume 2 is the money volume, and it’s where Samurai Submissions Kenta Iwamoto DVD becomes what it claims to be: a finish-first system. The focus shifts to front headlock submissions, starting with a seated kata gatame setup and moving into an arm-in guillotine and a guillotine dilemma that forces reactions. From there, Kenta goes into a short D’arce sequence—covering arm configuration, positioning details, and finishing.
Then you get the high ground layer, which is basically the control hub for the volume. He breaks down guidelines and grip choices (locked hands vs open hands), and then uses that control to create back-take and submission threats. Notably, the content includes a back take leading into a twister option, plus a full nelson using the legs, and a hammerlock solution for opponents who keep their elbows welded tight.
The volume finishes with back triangle requirements/benefits and a back triangle entry that uses Kimura pressure and posting. That’s a smart choice, because it keeps the system consistent: you’re not just hunting a single choke. You’re building a small web of threats where defending one line exposes the next.
The only caveat: a couple of these tools are ruleset-sensitive (twister especially), and some require good judgment in training. But as a conceptual package—front headlock to high ground to back exposure—this volume is excellent.
Volume 3 – Standing
The final part of the Samurai Submissions Kenta Iwamoto DVD answers the practical question most instructionals skip: “Cool… but how do I get there against someone who doesn’t just turtle on command?”
Instead of staying stuck in turtle-only scenarios, Kenta shows multiple ways to arrive at the front headlock from standing exchanges and from live grappling positions. On the standing side, he covers close-range entries off over-under and underhook situations, then troubleshoots the front headlock with a kosoto-style angle.
He also includes a far-range overtie snap, a detail on snapping hands using your head, and an arm-drag route into the same attacking hub. From the ground, you get a front headlock connection from top via a knee cut scenario, and from bottom via heisting—again reinforcing that this is meant to be used in real rounds, not just in idealized turtle positions.
Looking Beyond Back Takes
If you want this system to show up in sparring quickly, don’t try to “learn the whole thing” at once. Use a simple progression to get the most out of this Turtle Kenta Iwamoto DVD:
Turtle control rounds only. Start every round in turtle with you on top. Your only goal is to keep them grounded and prevent the granby roll escape. Think Volume 1: go-behind angle, gut-wrench pressure, seatbelt/double under stability.
Front headlock finishing reps under fatigue. Start from front headlock and rotate through the arm-in guillotine, short D’arce, and the kata gatame entry. Keep the reps short, then finish with positional sparring from the same spot.
Add the high ground layer. This is where the system becomes “sticky.” Work the high ground controls and use them to force a reaction—then choose the appropriate finish (or back exposure).
Integrate entries. Use Volume 3: start from standing ties, then start from a knee cut exchange, then start from bottom heisting. Your goal isn’t to hit everything—it’s to find two reliable pathways into your best front headlock.
Done this way, Samurai Submissions Kenta Iwamoto DVD becomes a real module in your game: a repeatable response when someone turtles, plus a way to manufacture the front headlock when they don’t.
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Who Is This For?
This Kenta Iwamoto instructional is best for solid white belts through advanced players, with the sweet spot being blue to brown—people who already understand basic control, and now want a sharper finishing toolkit.
It’s a particularly good fit for gapplers who like front headlock attacks and want a clearer chain from control → submission, anyone who constantly deals with opponents who stall in turtle instead of engaging and competitors who value fast finishes and hate long, coin-flip scrambles.
Brand-new white belts who don’t yet have the control sensitivity to keep turtle stable and pure Gi specialists looking for Gi-grip-specific turtle attacks (this material is presented with a very No-Gi grip logic) might not love it, though.
If your current turtle plan is basically hope they give me hooks, Samurai Submissions Kenta Iwamoto DVD gives you a more reliable alternative: win the control first, then take what they expose.
Pros & Potential Drawbacks
Pros
- Clear system order: control first, then submissions, then entries—so it’s easy to build into training blocks.
- High-percentage focus: arm-in guillotine, short D’arce, and kata gatame-style attacks are proven tools, not gimmicks.
- Practical entries beyond turtle: standing and ground-based pathways make the material usable in real rounds.
- Mat returns and granby counter included: huge for keeping athletic scramblers from turning turtle into a reset.
- Compact runtime: short enough to finish, rewatch, and actually drill instead of collecting dust in your library.
Potential Drawbacks
- Some tools are ruleset-dependent: twister-style options won’t fit every competition format, and you’ll need discretion in training.
- Finishing bias over position collecting: if you prefer slow back control and methodical point-scoring, this course leans the other way.
Break the Shell!
If you’ve ever felt like turtle is the opponent’s time-out button, this is a strong antidote. The Samurai Submissions Kenta Iwamoto DVD does a good job of reframing turtle as an attacking opportunity—as long as you’re willing to prioritize control and angle before you chase the neck.
The course is compact, but the content is high utility: Volume 1 makes you better at keeping people pinned in turtle, Volume 2 gives you the submission chains and high ground control that create real finishing pressure, and Volume 3 provides realistic ways to access the front headlock hub from multiple contexts.


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