Key Takeaways
- Dan Hart’s three-volume system for kesa gatame — the scarf hold — taught as a pressure and submission position in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
- Rooted in the “Hidden Jiu-Jitsu” pressure philosophy of the Henry Akins and Rickson Gracie lineage.
- Covers control mechanics, entries from top and bottom, and a wide arsenal of wrist locks, arm locks, kimuras, and arm triangles.
- A genuinely under-served niche: kesa gatame is almost never taught as a complete system in Jiu-Jitsu.
- The position carries real back-exposure and competition trade-offs that the course addresses but cannot eliminate.
- Rating: 7.5/10
The Misery Machine Dan Hart DVD Full Download Here
Kesa gatame — the scarf hold — is one of judo’s classic pins, and for most of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world it is a position that happens by accident, gets held for a few seconds, and is abandoned. Dan Hart wants to change that. The Misery Machine treats the scarf hold not as a transitional stall but as a finishing position: a place to apply crushing pressure, punish escape attempts, and attack submissions until the opponent gives up the fight.
The course is built on a specific philosophy. Hart’s gym runs on the “Hidden Jiu-Jitsu” principles of Henry Akins, a Rickson Gracie black belt whose teaching emphasises invisible weight distribution and pressure over athleticism. That philosophy is the entire spine of this instructional — the goal, stated bluntly in the first volume, is to “make it miserable”. If that framing appeals to you, this is one of the few courses on the market that commits to it fully.
Who Is Dan Hart?
Dan Hart is a second-degree black belt under Henry Akins, placing him directly in the Rickson Gracie lineage, and the owner and head instructor of Dan Hart Jiu Jitsu in Woodstock, Illinois. His teaching centres on pressure-based fundamentals rooted in self-defence, with a stated emphasis on technique and leverage over athleticism — an approach his gym describes as working for anyone regardless of size or strength.
He is also a former amateur MMA fighter with a 3-0 record in the XFO promotion, and he continues to compete in Jiu-Jitsu while teaching seminars across the United States and running international training camps each year. For this subject he is a credible, if less famous, voice: kesa gatame is a pressure-first position, and Hart’s entire coaching identity is built on exactly that skill.
Kesa Gatame Misery Machine Dan Hart DVD Review
The honest limits are the position itself: it is niche, it carries back-exposure risk, and it does not translate cleanly to every competitive ruleset. For the pressure player who already loves the scarf hold, or wants to learn it from a legitimate Rickson Gracie lineage, this is a solid, affordable specialist course. For everyone else, it is a curiosity rather than a priority.
Volume 1: Control
The first volume is where the philosophy becomes technique. Hart opens with understanding the position and a pre-flight checklist — the structural details that keep the scarf hold stable — before the marquee instruction of the whole series: make it miserable. The surfing drill teaches you to ride their movement without losing the pin, and the chapters on keeping the opponent flat and managing legs and weight distribution are the practical core.
Two ideas stand out: the sandbag defence (soft and hard connection) for nullifying bridge attempts, and the hip ratchet, a way to access the opponent’s hidden elbow for attack. It is genuinely useful, pressure-specific material that you will not find in most Jiu-Jitsu instruction.
Volume 2: Scarf Entry
Getting to the position is the part most kesa gatame teaching skips, and this volume covers it properly. There are entries from the opponent going for an underhook, the “around the world” entry, and a handful of bottom and reversal entries — the Hart roll from bottom, the Hart roll off a reverse hook sweep, and sitting up from bottom when the opponent plants their hips.
The dismount entry from head and arm isolation and the top half entry round out the picture. The bottom entries are a pleasant surprise: they show kesa gatame as a position you can arrive at defensively, not just impose from top.
Volume 3: Submissions
The final volume is the largest and delivers the “punishment” in the title. The submission list is broad: a scarf wrist lock, an Americana, arm locks with the front and rear leg, a step over arm lock, a leg kimura, and multiple arm locks from the scarf hold itself.
Hart then works the choke and strangle game — arm triangles from framing, the punch choke and arm triangle combination, and a sprawl arm triangle against the roll-through escape. The grip-breaking details (using the arm as a lever, breaking finger grips) and the baseball bat break and pillow choke off the escape show a mature, complete finishing system rather than a couple of highlight submissions.
Pressure And Submissions From Kesa Gatame
This course requires a specific kind of student to get the most from it: someone willing to commit to an unpopular position and drill the “surfing” and weight distribution until it is automatic. The realistic time investment is moderate — the control volume is the one to repeat, because every submission downstream depends on the pin being miserable first.
The biggest practical caveat is that kesa gatame trades position security for pressure: if your weight placement drifts, a good opponent takes your back. Hart teaches the controls that mitigate this, but no instructional can remove the risk entirely, and that trade-off is the cost of playing the position at all.
Get it Here: Kesa Gatame Misery Machine Dan Hart DVD
Who Is This For?
This is for pressure players, self-defence-oriented grapplers, and judo or wrestling crossovers who already like the scarf hold and want to make it a weapon. It fits heavier grapplers and anyone who enjoys a smothering top game, and it works in both Gi and No-Gi.
It is not for guard players, for competitors whose rule set penalises holding position, or for anyone who prioritises back-take avoidance above all else — the position’s inherent risk is real, and if you are not comfortable managing it, the course will not change that. It is also a single-position course, so treat it as a specialist module rather than a foundation.
Pros & Potential Drawbacks
Pros;
- A genuinely under-served subject. Kesa gatame is rarely given a full instructional, let alone a three-volume system.
- Coherent pressure philosophy. The “make it miserable” framework ties control, entries, and submissions into one logic rather than a grab-bag.
- Bottom and reversal entries. The Hart roll and related entries show the position is reachable from more than just a dominant top exchange.
- Broad finishing arsenal. Wrist locks, arm locks, kimuras, and arm triangles give options against a wide range of defences.
- Strong value. At $79 it is the most affordable course of this batch, and appropriately priced for a specialist module.
Potential Drawbacks:
- A niche position with real risk. Kesa gatame exposes the back if the weight drifts, and that risk is inherent to the position.
- Competition trade-offs. The scarf hold can stall in sport contexts and scores poorly in some rulesets, which limits its competitive ceiling.
- Pressure style is not for everyone. Grapplers who prefer mobility and back-takes over smothering top control will not gel with the material.
Punishing Pressure
The Misery Machine is a focused, well-organised treatment of a position that almost no one else teaches properly. Dan Hart’s pressure-first philosophy gives the course a clear identity; the control volume is genuinely strong, and the submission volume is deeper than the kesa gatame material most practitioners have ever seen.
