Gordon Ryan Back Escapes: No-Gi Back Defense Course

By BJJ University Editorial · Published 2026-11-02

8 listed volumesNo-gi curriculum

Our buying assessment

Best for: No-gi grapplers needing a full back-escape map.
Buy less if: Less ideal for EBI-only or gi-specific study.
Main tradeoff: Broad and detailed, but narrowly focused on back control.

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Based on the seller’s curriculum and cited product sources, checked 2026-10-26. This is a researched guide, not a firsthand review. Study recommendations are our editorial assessment.

In this guide

What it teaches

This course teaches a no-gi back-control escape system centered on preventing strangles, managing hand fighting, freeing trapped arms, escaping overhook- and underhook-side controls, and addressing body triangles and ride variations.

A practical way to read the curriculum is as a defensive decision tree: first stop the choking threat, then choose escapes based on which side and lower-body control the attacker has. That assessment is based on the course moving from defensive goals and hand fighting into upper-body, lower-body, body-triangle, high-ball-ride, and cross-body escape sections.

Curriculum overview

Hand fighting and strangle survival

Defensive goals, sticky grips, secondary hand interception, garrote counters, thumb posting, locked-strangle counters, and trapped-arm recovery.

Study this if: Keeps the choke threat managed long enough to escape.

Overhook-side upper-body escapes

Double-over conversion, headlock escape, entering the legs, avoiding mount, two-on-one passing, and half-claw recovery counters.

Study this if: Builds exits when the attacker’s overhook-side control shapes the escape path.

Overhook-side hooks and body triangles

Clearing long, deep, and butterfly hooks, stepping over the bottom hook, pass-offs, elbow wedge, top-side and bottom-side triangle escapes.

Study this if: Addresses lower-body control that stops the back escape even after hand fighting improves.

Underhook-side escapes

Different hand-fighting problems, cross-wrist grip counters, elbow cuts, double-over and double-under conversions, lower-body clears, and underhook-side body-triangle escapes.

Study this if: Prevents applying overhook-side answers to the wrong side of back control.

High ball, cross body, and double-hook controls

Escapes for high ball ride, cross body ride, double overhooks, double underhooks, side picking, two-on-one conversion, and turning escapes.

Study this if: Covers nonstandard or late-stage controls that can stall basic back escapes.

Rolling and commentary

Live back-control rounds are followed by commentary segments that identify how the system appears in motion.

Study this if: Helps connect isolated escape mechanics to timing and opponent reactions.

Who it is for

This is most directly aimed at no-gi grapplers who are repeatedly losing from back control and want a broad defensive map: stopping strangles, escaping hooks and body triangles, and understanding what changes between overhook and underhook sides.

It may also suit competitors who want to study live examples, because the product includes rolling footage and separate rolling commentary rather than only isolated technical chapters.

Prerequisites

The source markets the course to grapplers of all levels, but the curriculum uses positional language such as overhook side, underhook side, double overhooks, double underhooks, body triangle, high ball ride, and cross body ride.

Our assessment: beginners can still consider it if they have coaching support, but most students will get more from it after they can identify the strangling arm, support arm, hooks, body triangle orientation, and whether they are escaping to the overhook or underhook side.

Format and ruleset

The supplied brief verifies the format as no-gi. The product page describes it as a digital video course with optional flow chart and visual notes, and lists streaming or download through the BJJ Fanatics app.

Gi-specific grip fighting is not verified in the supplied source. Consider this primarily for no-gi back defense; gi players may need to translate the hand-fighting ideas around collar and lapel threats with their coach.

Strengths

The strongest feature is breadth within one position. The course separates hand fighting, trapped-arm problems, locked strangles, overhook-side upper and lower body escapes, underhook-side escapes, body-triangle escapes, high ball ride, cross body ride, and double-overhook/double-underhook configurations.

Another useful element is the inclusion of rolling and commentary, which may help students connect static mechanics to the timing problems that occur when an attacker is actively recovering hooks, grips, or strangles.

Limitations

The course appears highly specialized: it is about escaping back control, not building a general defensive game across mount, side control, turtle, guard retention, or stand-up scrambles.

Buy less quickly if you want an EBI-overtime-specific course, standing back escapes, crucifix escapes, or a shorter executive-summary format; those emphases are not clearly listed in this product’s main curriculum, while they are listed in some alternatives.

Suggested study order

Our suggested first pass is to start with the defensive goals and hand-fighting chapters, especially sticky grips, secondary hand interception, thumb posting, trapped-arm recovery, and locked-strangle counters. Those are the safety layers before any large escape movement.

After that, consider studying one side at a time: overhook-side upper-body escapes, overhook-side lower-body and body-triangle escapes, then the underhook-side equivalents. Finish by reviewing high ball ride, cross body ride, double overhooks, double underhooks, and the rolling commentary.

Alternatives to compare

Brian Glick’s Only Way Out: Dynamic Back Escapes is the closest broad alternative. It covers rear mount understanding, defensive hand fighting, trapped arms, elbow cut, barrel roll, overhook- and underhook-side escapes, body-triangle escapes, special cases, strangle defenses, and an executive summary. Compared with Gordon Ryan’s course, it appears more condensed and explicitly includes an executive-summary volume, while Ryan’s listing emphasizes an eight-volume system with rolling and rolling commentary.

Nick Rodriguez’s Get Off Me Son! EBI Back Escapes is the more ruleset-specific comparison. It is centered on EBI overtime, body-triangle prevention and defense, high ball ride, and a rolling breakdown, so consider it if your main problem is EBI-style back starts rather than a full overhook/underhook-side escape taxonomy.

Purchase guidance

Consider buying this if back control is a recurring failure point in your no-gi rounds and you want a single course that breaks the position into hand fighting, hook clearing, body-triangle answers, side-specific escapes, special rides, and live commentary.

Hold off if you are looking for a broad beginner curriculum, a gi-specific back-defense course, or a narrow EBI-overtime study. The supplied source supports a deep no-gi back-escape focus, not those other buying goals.