Key Takeaways
- A three-volume roadmap for the intermediate grappler, from Atos black belt and top rooster-weight competitor Kristian Woodmansee.
- Three pillars: stand-up and takedowns, guard passing, and dominant control and finishing.
- Built around high-percentage fundamentals and “the logic of fundamentals” — clear, repeatable transitions rather than exotic moves.
- Strongest for blue and purple belts who want a well-rounded game and a clear path from neutral to submission.
- Broad rather than deep: each pillar gets a focused, curated set of techniques rather than an exhaustive system.
- Rating: 7.5/10
DOWNLOAD: Purple Belt Blueprint Kristian Woodmansee DVD
Kristian Woodmansee built a career on beating bigger ideas with cleaner fundamentals, and Purple Belt Blueprint is that approach packaged as a curriculum. Where most instructionals pick one position and drill it to exhaustion, this three-volume series is deliberately wider: it walks a grappler from the feet, through the guard, and into dominant control, with a single through-line — do the simple, high-percentage thing well, and the rest of the game assembles around it.
The “purple belt” in the title is not a target rank so much as a benchmark — the point in a grappler’s development where the game stops being a collection of isolated moves and starts being a coherent, connected whole. That is exactly the gap the series aims to close, and it is a refreshingly honest pitch in a market full of “secret systems” promises.
Woodmansee’s authority for that pitch is real. He is a black belt under André Galvão, a former head instructor at Drysdale Jiu Jitsu, and one of the most accomplished rooster-weight competitors of his generation. Fighting at under 127 pounds, he could not out-muscle anyone — everything he teaches had to work against bigger, stronger opposition or it did not survive his own career.
The “Dream Killer” and the Logic of Fundamentals
Woodmansee earned the nickname “Dream Killer” the hard way, through a competitive run built on dissecting positions and punishing opponents’ errors rather than athletic dominance. His main-achievement list leans No-Gi — he won the IBJJF Pan No-Gi Championship in 2018 and took bronze at the No-Gi Worlds the same year — but his coloured-belt résumé spans the Gi and No-Gi across IBJJF, EBI and ADCC rulesets, including a World No-Gi title at brown belt in 2013.
His teaching reputation mirrors that competitive record. After nearly four years at Atos, he returned to the East Coast to found Logic HQ in Philadelphia, where he serves as head instructor, and now leads the Logic affiliation — a network of more than 20 academies worldwide. His instructional brand, “the logic of fundamentals,” is built around clarity, precision, and high-percentage concepts, which is exactly what this series delivers. For smaller grapplers especially, Woodmansee’s insistence that technique must work without strength is the whole point of the product.
Full Purple Belt Blueprint Kristian Woodmansee DVD Review
The three volumes map to three stages of a fight: put them down, get past their legs, and finish from a dominant position. It is a complete arc, which is unusual for an instructional this size.
Volume 1: Stand-Up and Tilting From Guard
The first volume opens on the feet, which is where most Jiu-Jitsu instructionals are weakest. Woodmansee covers a compact takedown menu — single leg to double leg, single leg to body lock, a basic foot sweep, uchi mata to ankle pick, and a yoko tomoe nage — each taught as a chain rather than an isolated throw.
From there he moves to guard, introducing his “tilting” concept from De La Riva, with front-side and back-side tilts that feed a single leg, a technical stand-up, berimbolo entries and the saddle. It is a lot of ground in one volume, but the tilting framework ties it together and keeps the entries coherent.
Volume 2: Neutralising the Guard to the Knee Cut
The passing volume is the heart of the set and the strongest demonstration of Woodmansee’s philosophy. Instead of teaching five different passes, he teaches one — the knee cut — and shows how to neutralise each guard in turn to get there: De La Riva, closed guard, spider guard, half guard and reverse De La Riva.
He also covers passing those same guards without the head-and-arm (HQ) position. This is fundamentals done properly: one reliable pass, adapted to every common guard, so the student develops actual passing instincts instead of a grab-bag of moves.
Volume 3: Dominant Control and Finishing
The closing volume is short and sharp. From side control, Woodmansee teaches the hip check into a kimura, chains the kimura into a tarikoplata, adds a north-south choke, and finishes by taking the back from the hip check. It is a tight, connected finishing sequence built on pressure and control rather than speed — the natural endpoint of everything that came before.
The Purple Belt Arc: More Than Just Microadjustments
Because the series is structured as a complete arc, it lends itself to a specific training plan: work Volume 1’s takedowns and tilts for a few weeks, then add the passing volume, then layer on the finishing sequences. The knee cut is a pass you can start landing the same week you drill it, and the tilting entries give guard players an immediate new layer. The realistic time investment is moderate — this is not a 20-volume deep-dive, and it is priced to match. The payoff is a more connected game rather than a single new weapon.
Purple Belt Blueprint Kristian Woodmansee DVD AVAILABLE HERE
Who Is This For?
The ideal student is a blue belt or early purple belt whose game feels fragmented — good individual moves, no clear path from start to finish. It also suits smaller grapplers, who will get the most from a curriculum built by a rooster-weight competitor. Because the passing and control concepts translate cleanly, it works for both Gi and No-Gi training, with a slight No-Gi lean in the competitive references. Who won’t benefit: advanced black belts looking for depth, and anyone who wants a specialist deep-dive on a single position — this is a blueprint, not an encyclopedia.
Pros & Potential Drawbacks
Pros:
- Coherent, complete arc. Takedown to pass to finish is a genuinely useful structure that most instructionals never attempt.
- One-pass philosophy. The neutralise-to-knee-cut framework builds real passing skill instead of move collection.
- Credible instructor. Atos black belt, former head instructor, decorated rooster-weight competitor — authority that matches the content.
- Small-grappler proof. Every technique is filtered through the reality of fighting bigger opponents.
- Affordable and digestible. Three volumes at a fair price, with nothing padded or filler-heavy.
- Clear teaching. Woodmansee’s logic-of-fundamentals style is precise and beginner-accessible without being shallow.
Potential drawbacks:
- Broad, not deep. Each pillar is curated rather than exhaustive, so a specialist will want more on any single area.
- Light on submission depth. The finishing volume is excellent but compact; guard attacks and submissions are not the focus.
- Takedown volume moves fast. Beginners may need to revisit Volume 1’s throws more than the rest.
The Verdict: Is the Purple Belt Blueprint Worth It?
Purple Belt Blueprint is a smart, well-organised intermediate curriculum from an instructor who has clearly thought hard about how a grappler’s game becomes whole. It is not a revolution, and it does not pretend to be one; its value is in the connection between the pieces — one pass, one finishing path, one coherent route from the feet to the back.
