Gordon Ryan Upper Body Takedowns Course for No-Gi Standing Scrimmages
Our buying assessment
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Check current price at BJJ FanaticsBased on the seller’s curriculum and cited product sources, checked 2026-10-19. This is a researched guide, not a firsthand review. Study recommendations are our editorial assessment.
In this guide
What it teaches
This course teaches upper-body takedowns from the standing position, with the product page describing an 8-volume series that “dives deep into upper-body takedowns.” The listed curriculum starts with stance, motion, inside position, hand-position dilemmas, and then moves through collar ties, overties, underhooks, overhooks, over-under, double unders, double overs, 2-on-1s, arm drags, rear bodylock attacks, and rolling commentary.
Our assessment is that the core value is not one isolated throw, but learning how upper-body ties connect to snaps, trips, throws, body locks, drags, and back exposure. The source emphasizes that the course goes “beyond just the mechanics” and includes “connections and concepts,” while the lesson list repeatedly pairs entries with follow-ups such as collar tie to Russian, underhook to body lock, and uchi mata to tight waist.
Curriculum overview
Standing position foundations
Covers stance, motion, inside position, asymmetrical hands, and shoulder/hip plus centerline/back dilemmas that frame later upper-body attacks.
Study this if: You reach ties but lose position before any throw develops.
Collar tie attacks and snaps
Builds from getting to the head and keeping collar ties into snapping, slide-bys, circling, wrist-to-head, Russian 2-on-1 to head, and leg-feint returns.
Study this if: Your collar tie stalls instead of forcing motion or front-head access.
Foot sweeps, snaps, and overties
Connects de ashi, kouchi and ouchi snaps, snap downs, sumi gaeshi, foot slide, elbow-pass entries, and overtie transitions to collar tie, Russian, uchi mata, or underhook.
Study this if: You need takedown options when head control or overties create movement.
Underhook offense
Covers head position, collar-tie and wrist-roll entries to underhook, safe disengagement, lead-leg jousting, trips, uchi mata, tai otoshi, harai ogoshi, headlock, throw-bys, duck under, body lock, and combinations.
Study this if: You win an underhook but lack a layered attack sequence.
Overhooks, over-under, and double unders
Addresses safe disengagement, head position, preventing locked hands, pummeling battles, sasae, ouchi, double-under locking, angle creation, uki goshi, kosoto, knee drop, and shuck-by.
Study this if: You get tied up chest-to-chest and need attacks without giving up control.
Double overs, two-on-ones, and arm drags
Develops attacks from double overs, Russian-style 2-on-1s, movement, de ashi, tight-waist climbs, half tai otoshi, uchi mata to tight waist, figure-four snap downs, and multiple drag types.
Study this if: You need attacks when one arm is isolated or drag opportunities appear.
Rear bodylock finishes
Covers rear bodylock reactions and finishes such as suck back, de ashi, knee block, reverse kosoto, ashi otoshi, tani otoshi, reverse tai otoshi, hip block, lift, and following a granby.
Study this if: You reach the back standing but fail to finish against movement and rolls.
Rolling and commentary
The final volume lists rolling rounds and separate rolling commentary, giving context for how the standing material appears in training exchanges.
Study this if: You want to connect the lesson map to less scripted scrimmage situations.
Who it is for
Consider this if you train no-gi and want a broad upper-body standing system built around the ties that happen in hand fighting: collar ties, underhooks, overhooks, over-under, double unders, 2-on-1s, arm drags, and rear bodylocks. The source frames the course as standing-position upper-body takedowns for BJJ, and the verified format is no-gi.
It may fit grapplers who already spend time in the standing clinch but need better decision-making once they establish contact. The course topics include keeping and intercepting collar ties, safely disengaging, preventing locked hands, pummeling battles, constant movement, and opponent reactions from rear bodylock.
Prerequisites
The product page says the material is for BJJ practitioners “at any level,” but the curriculum uses many standing grappling terms without simplification in the chapter titles, including 2-on-1 Russian, uchi mata, tai otoshi, harai ogoshi, sasae, kosoto, and tani otoshi.
Our suggested prerequisite is comfort with basic no-gi stance, pummeling, collar ties, and safe breakfalls before treating this as a primary standing curriculum. That inference comes from the course’s emphasis on live upper-body ties, throws, trips, and rear bodylock finishes rather than only static introductory drills.
Format and ruleset fit
The supplied brief verifies the format as no-gi. The product source also presents Gordon Ryan in a no-gi context and emphasizes standing BJJ takedowns, but it does not give a ruleset-specific breakdown such as ADCC, IBJJF no-gi, or gym self-defense applications.
Consider it primarily for no-gi grappling exchanges where upper-body ties are common. Gi applicability is unverified from the supplied source, and the curriculum titles do not reference lapel, sleeve, or jacket gripping.
Strengths
A major strength is the tie-by-tie structure. Instead of listing only throws, the course separates attacks from collar ties, overties, underhooks, overhooks, over-under, double unders, double overs, 2-on-1s, arm drags, and rear bodylock, which helps a student organize standing offense by the contact they actually have.
Another useful feature is the attention to transitions and reactions. The listed chapters include failed armdrag to collar tie, failed underhook to collar tie, overtie to underhook, double-under switch to pinch headlock, two-on-one to tight waist, arm drag versus an opponent’s shot, and following a granby from rear bodylock.
The inclusion of rolling commentary may help students see how the standing themes appear in less scripted exchanges. The source lists rolling rounds with multiple partners and separate rolling commentary sections.
Limitations
The most important limitation is scope. This is an upper-body takedown course; the source does not present it as a complete standing program covering leg-attack entries, down-blocking, sprawling, whizzer defense, or a full defensive framework.
The source includes marketing claims about level and effectiveness, but our research is limited to the product page and supplied comparison excerpts. We have not independently verified instruction quality, production details beyond streaming/download availability, or how much gi transfer exists.
Buy less urgently if your immediate need is a beginner defensive standing curriculum or a leg-based takedown system. The lesson list is weighted toward offensive upper-body ties, while defensive chapters such as down blocks and sprawls appear in a supplied alternative rather than this course.
Suggested study order
Our suggested order is to start with Volume 1’s stance, motion, inside position, and shoulder/hip and centerline/back dilemmas before jumping into finishes. Those chapters supply the positional vocabulary used later in collar tie, underhook, and rear bodylock sections.
Next, consider studying collar ties and underhooks as the first offensive hubs, because they receive large dedicated sections and connect to many recurring finishes: snap downs, de ashi, ouchi, kouchi, uchi mata, tai otoshi, body lock, sasae, throw-bys, and duck unders.
After that, use overhooks, over-under, double unders, double overs, 2-on-1s, and arm drags as expansion modules, then finish with rear bodylock and the rolling commentary to connect successful entries to finishing and live reactions.
Alternatives to consider
John Danaher’s The Fastest Way: To Becoming Effective In Standing Position is the broader alternative if you want a more complete standing framework built around initial contact, high single legs, double-leg finishes, positional attacks, and defensive skills. Compared with Gordon Ryan’s course, it explicitly lists single-leg mechanics, double-leg finishes, down blocking, sprawling, and whizzer defense.
Ivan Vasylchuk’s Tactics of Struggle In The Stance may be the better comparison if you want a tactics-and-movement course around stance, control in four directions, grip acquisition, grip breaking, feints, footwork, off-balancing, and selecting throws. Gordon Ryan’s course is more specifically organized around no-gi upper-body tie positions and their takedown branches.
Purchase guidance
Consider buying if your standing problem is what to do after hand fighting creates upper-body contact: collar tie, underhook, overhook, body lock, 2-on-1, arm drag, or rear bodylock. The curriculum is unusually dense in those exact positions and includes both entries and finishing options.
Hold off or choose an alternative if you need a first standing course centered on leg attacks, defensive reactions, or general stance-to-shot development. The supplied Danaher alternative explicitly lists high single leg, double-leg finishes, and defensive skills; this Gordon Ryan course is identified as upper-body takedowns.
Bundle or individual?
This product is supplied as an individual course, not a bundle, and no component courses were provided in the brief. Bundle-versus-individual purchasing is therefore not applicable here.