Gordon Ryan is Making a Return!

After sustaining a complete tear to his LCL at Kasai against Joao Gabriel Rocha, Gordon Ryan has been working hard on his return to the BJJ competition circuit.

It looks like things are beginning to come together for Ryan as he has been beginning to train hard again in preparation for some upcoming matches, and of course ADCC in September. This is a welcome sign to fans of the no gi superstar, and we’re all waiting impatiently to see Ryan back in action. 

Good at setting goals? Get Swole with Gordon Ryan! Click Learn More!!

LEARN MORE

Along with some upcoming competitions endeavors, Ryan is also set to release a closed guard instructional series with BJJ Fanatics. This is also an exciting prospect, as Ryan has proved to possess one of the most dangerous guards in BJJ. In this video, we can get a bit of an introduction to what we might be exposed to in the instructional series. Ryan covers some important flagship concepts of his closed guard game, and gives us some things to think about leading up to the release. Have a look. 

Ryan’s instruction never disappoints. He is a young innovator in the sport, and has a fresh take on many of the classic themes of BJJ. Let’s look at some earlier instruction from Ryan to get us pumped for the upcoming release. 

If you’re a fan of getting tight in the half guard and launching your passes from there, then you’ll love this first technique. The under hook is a threat to the top player in any half guard passing scenario and here, Ryan shows us how he prefers to address the under hook and continue moving forward to pass the half guard. Have a look at this!

Beginning in half guard, Ryan’s partner sits up and acquires an under hook. Ryan matches this play with an under hook of his own on the near side. He then cups his partners back and pulls her underneath his body to make sure he doesn’t trap his own hand as begins to apply pressure with his body. Next, Ryan locks a wrist to wrist grip, ten finger grip, or a palm to palm style grip, with the wrist to wrist grip being the tightest of the three. Ryan gives us the option of turning the top hand palm up or palm down, but palm down is definitely preferable in this scenario.

Ryan then proceeds to transition his head to his partners far shoulder and plants it on the mat for a base. As his partner begins to respond to the position, he frees his trapped leg using his opposite instep and then positions two butterfly style hooks on the inside of the thighs, controlling his partners legs. As he releases the trapped leg, he pommels his opposite leg across his partner belt line, creating a block, and shutting down his partners hips. It’s important here that we leave the right leg as a post to help us keep our balance through the completion of the pass, as our hands are occupied controlling the upper body. As Ryan transitions to the side control and begins to settle in. Because of the position of his under hook, he can move directly in to a scenario where he has acquired a cross face and traditional side control position. 

Next, let’s take a look at Ryan’s’ answer to a more exotic form of the guard. The rubber guard. In this video Ryan shows us how to open this incredibly frustrating guard variation made famous by 10th Planet jiu-jitsu. If you’ve ever been caught up in the rubber guard, you know what a bear it can be to pass. Check this out!

Learn the right way to add strength to your Jiu Jitsu arsenal.

LEARN MORE

As Ryan explains here, the rubber guard does an incredible job of restricting forward and backward movement, as well as controlling posture, something that we need to have plenty of when trying to pass. To begin dismantling the guard, Ryan places both hands on the floor and hops to his feet, placing his head directly over his partner’s head. From this position, Ryan turns his thumbs down to the floor and tucks his arms behind his partner back. He then begins to stand and shake himself free of the position. 

I’ve seen some pretty elaborate answers to this position, and I have to say this one seems the most applicable. Great stuff!

This last video is one of my absolute favorites. Ryan used this exact guillotine to submit Kennan Cornelius in the finals of ADCC 2017, and here, he shows us how he did it! Take a look!

As Ryan recounts the events of the match, he explains that Cornelius had shot in on a single leg. Ryan answered with applying an arm in style guillotine. This wasn’t the first time this had occurred in Ryan’s endeavors match, but in previous attempts Ryan had rolled the opposing party directly over his head, leaving their bodies in a straight line, and leaving Ryan out of position to snag a good finish. 

As a modification, Ryan then executes the move by placing a block in front of the far foot and traveling through the roll to more of a “T” style position, which lands Ryan much closer. Ryan then posts his head and travels around to step over his partners body and in to the mounted position. Here, he applies guillotine pressure for the finish. Check the guillotine techniques in Guillotine The World by Alexandre Nogueira.

This is a great answer to an incredibly common scenario. Amazing details!

Excited for Ryan’s new instructional yet? Ryan has a great way of explaining his game, and the material is incredibly innovative. You can see the connection to John Danaher as well, as Ryan teaches with many of the Danaher concepts in the forefront. I’m looking forward to seeing what this new release has in store for us!

If you like Gordon Ryan, check out his instructional from BJJ Fanatics, "Getting Swole As a Grappler". It gives you his exact program, tips, diet advice and more on how to achieved jackedness and be a complete bad ass on the mats.  

BUY NOW