Key Takeaways
- Two-volume series focused on top pressure, control, and efficient submissions from Side Control, Mount, and North-South.
- Clear progressions: isolation in Side Control → transitions to Mount → layered submission chains (armbars, head-and-arm, kimura family, triangles).
- Strong emphasis on weight distribution, micro-adjustments, and “no-space” control that travels well from Gi to No-Gi.
- Cohesive blueprint that helps newer players systemize top dominance and gives experienced athletes refinements for finishing reliably.
- Best for grapplers who want a repeatable top pathway without relying on speed or explosiveness.
- Rating: 8.0/10
PRECISION TOP STUFF SHAWN MELANSON DVD GET HERE
The Precision Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD sets out a practical blueprint for building a suffocating, efficient top game. Across two volumes, Shaw organizes Side Control and Mount attacks into clean progressions that connect position, pressure, and finishes.
If you’ve seen his “Air Jail” clips, this instructional explains how he arrives at that kind of stuck-to-you control—and how to reproduce it without being bigger or faster. It’s all about mount and side control, with plenty of options you likely haven’t seen before.
Be on Top, Stay on Top
Top pressure is more than leaning; it’s about angles, frames, and denying escapes before they start. The Precision Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD leans into that reality with an approach that prioritizes pin stability and positional awareness first, then adds submissions that appear naturally once the opponent’s hips and shoulders are immobilized.
This is the kind of top game that translates across rulesets, making sense in both Gi and No-Gi. As a Shawn Melanson DVD review target, the big win is structure: you’re not learning one-off techniques—you’re getting a hierarchy of control that anticipates common reactions and routes you toward high-percentage finishes.
Chris Hauterers said it best: be the guy on top and once you’re there, stay on top for as long as possible! It’s a cardinal rule/principle of Jiu-Jitsu that transcends rulesets, whether you’re rolling Gi or No-Gi or competing locally or as a pro.
Shawn Melanson: From BJJ to MMA and Back
Shawn Melanson is the head coach at Precision Jiu-Jitsu in Hudson, New Hampshire. His path into Jiu-Jitsu started young—weekend family gatherings with older cousins who trained meant early exposure to the art. In 2011, he committed to MMA full time, compiling a 3–1 record and earning a #2 regional Featherweight ranking in New England before pivoting to pure Jiu-Jitsu in 2014.
Since then, he’s collected super fights and local titles, establishing himself as one of the region’s respected black belts and an educator with a clear, pressure-first voice. As a coach, Shawn’s emphasis is simple and demanding: deny space, collapse frames, and make top control feel inevitable.
That approach underpins the No-Gi program at Precision Jiu-Jitsu, where he’s focused on building a competition-minded room and passing along lessons from years spent refining “heavy without hurry” mechanics. Away from the mats, he’s a family-first instructor—something his students regularly cite when describing the gym’s tone and culture.
Shawn’s public presence mirrors his teaching priorities. Through a steady stream of short-form videos, he popularized the “Air Jail” concept—clips that highlight micro-adjustments in weight placement and head positioning to neutralize movement.
Complete Precision Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD
Before diving into specifics, here’s the roadmap: Volume 1 of the Precision Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD establishes Side Control fundamentals and the core pressure cues that collapse frames and open clean lanes to Mount or immediate finishes.
Volume 2 builds on that foundation from Mount, layering head-and-arm mechanics, triangle and ude-gatame pivots, and kimura-family dilemmas to create a reliable checkmate cycle.
Across both volumes, the same grips, head placement, and weight shifts repeat by design—so the movements you drill in part 1 pay off instantly when you transition to the sequences in the second part.
Volume 1 – Side Control Action
Volume 1 builds the Side Control foundation and shows how thoughtful pressure creates submission opportunities without frantic movement. It opens with positional essentials—hand/hip orientation and shoulder control—then moves directly into an armbar sequence.
From there, Shawn layers an armbar to bicep-slicer option when the initial finish stalls, followed by details for closing the armbar efficiently. The middle section introduces ude-gatame (top-side arm lock) in multiple entries: from standard Side Control, via a turn on the near-side arm, and again with a top-side emphasis that keeps your base steady while you isolate the limb.
A key moment in this portion of the Precision Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD is the lowdown on pushing the top frame across the body, which collapses defensive frames and exposes the head-and-arm lane or the near-side arm. There’s also a smart no-arm Side Control triangle that punishes elbows-in framing without needing to step around the head.
The chapter closes by linking same-side armbars and a clean transition to Mount—teaching you to treat Side Control as a holding pattern that feeds your Mount attacks rather than a resting point. If you’re implementing the Precision Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD step by step, this first volume is your map for getting sticky, killing frames, and funnelling to finishes or Mount without giving escape space.
Volume 2 – The Mount of Doom
Volume 2 capitalizes on the Mount you earned in Volume 1. It starts with the head-and-arm route—how to pin the near-side shoulder, connect your head position, and build pressure patiently until the submission is ready.
From there, the mounted triangle offers a powerful answer to elbow-in defense; the series even covers flowing to ude-gatame when the triangle becomes a control position rather than a finish. A standout chapter is the kimura / straight armlock / Americana dilemma, which lays out a three-way fork that forces the bottom player to concede something.
The S-Mount armbar segment refines knee placement, hips, and angle so you don’t need to dive recklessly. Less common, but very welcome, are the smother choke and a guillotine entry that make sense when opponents turn or reach; these give you immediate punishment for panicked movement.
The back half of the Precision Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD addresses transitions: North-South to back exposure, a one-handed kimura that keeps your base under you, and a North-South kimura finish that feels like a natural endpoint after heavy chest-to-chest control.
The volume closes with a tidy summary, leaving you with a connected chain: Mount pressure → dilemmas → finish or back exposure. Practically speaking, this is where the Precision Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD turns from “good pressure” into a consistent checkmate machine.
Surfing the Top With Pressure
Implementation is straightforward: dedicate specific rounds to Side Control isolation, then to Mount isolation, and only later blend the two. A useful drill block is three minutes of Side Control where your goal is to pass the elbow line and set ude-gatame or same-side armbar without chasing speed; then reset.
Next, run Mount rounds where you alternate head-and-arm entries with the kimura/straight-arm/Americana fork every thirty seconds. Keep a notebook for cues like “top frame across body,” “hip line higher than their diaphragm,” and “no-space transitions.”
The Precision Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD benefits from slow-to-fast layering: learn to hold with micro-adjustments first, then add the submissions. If you teach, the chapter order doubles as a class plan—Side Control controls on day one, follow-ups on day two, then Mount dilemmas and submissions across the week.
DOWNLOAD PRECISION TOP STUFF SHAWN MELANSON DVD
Who Is This For?
White and blue belts will appreciate how the system reduces decision fatigue: establish control, break frames, and progress to Mount before hunting finishes.
Purple and brown belts will get the most from the sequencing—especially the triangle-to-ude-gatame pivots and the North-South links to the back. Black belts will find small gems in weight distribution, head placement, and grip choices that tighten already-good fundamentals.
Competitors who prefer methodical control, as well as coaches who want predictable curricula, will likely get the best return. If your game leans on timing more than explosiveness, the Shawn Melanson Top Stuff DVD fits neatly into your toolkit.
Pros & Potential Drawbacks
Pros:
- Clear two-volume progression from Side Control to Mount that you can adopt as a weekly class plan.
- Emphasis on weight distribution and frame denial helps smaller athletes impose control.
- Multiple finishes from the same setups (e.g., armbar → bicep slicer; triangle → ude-gatame) teach real-world branching.
- Practical transitions (North-South to back, S-Mount entries) that maintain pressure rather than gamble on speed.
- Good mix of classic fundamentals with a few modern touches (smother choke, one-handed kimura) to keep opponents honest.
- Terminology and sequencing translate well between Gi and No-Gi.
Potential Drawbacks:
- The focus is mostly on established top-control staples; guard-passing entries are discussed implicitly through pressure rather than as a separate passing system.
- If you’re hunting a deep dive on back-take trees or leg entanglements, those are secondary to Side Control/Mount priorities here.
- Some chapters assume familiarity with basic Mount maintenance; true beginners may need extra reps before the dilemmas click.
- (One more strategic Pro for searchers: the Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD structures your study time efficiently—less hunting, more drilling.)
Slice & Smother
This is a cohesive, pressure-first blueprint for turning Side Control and Mount into reliable finishing hubs. The two-volume structure teaches you to break frames methodically, use head-and-arm mechanics to suffocate movement, and branch into armbars, kimuras, triangles, and guillotines without sacrificing control.
It’s not a grand tour of every top option; it’s the core lanes that work across Gi and No-Gi, laid out in an order you can train tomorrow. For grapplers who want to feel inevitable on top—and coaches who need a repeatable plan—the Precision Top Stuff Shawn Melanson DVD delivers. Final word: targeted, efficient, and worth the mat time it will inspire.
