Turtle & Back Attacks Bundle by Gordon Ryan: No-Gi Back-Take and Strangle System

What it teaches

This bundle combines two Gordon Ryan series: one on attacking turtle to reach the back, and one on back control and back attacks. The product page describes the package as including “Systematically Attacking The Turtle Position” and “Systematically Attacking The Back,” with the goal to “break down an opponent’s turtle position and sink in hooks” before hand fighting “into high percentage rear strangles.”

The turtle half emphasizes upper-body grips, diagonal control, closed and open turtle, cross body ride, reverse tight waist, power half, crucifix, and counters to rolls or standups. The back half emphasizes underhook-side and overhook-side control, hook recovery, high ball ride, claw-grip counters, elbow pummeling, grip breaking, hand trapping, and strangle mechanics.

Curriculum overview

Who it is for

This bundle is aimed at no-gi grapplers who want to connect mat-return style turtle pressure, back takes, control maintenance, and rear strangle finishing into one study project. The product page specifically frames the bundle as a way to “get to the back and hand fight” into strangles against no-gi opposition.

Consider it if your rounds often stall after an opponent turtles, or if you get to the back but lose hooks, head position, or hand-fighting exchanges before the finish. Those exact problems appear repeatedly in the component curricula, including hook insertion, standup counters, hip-escape counters, elbow pummeling, and secondary-hand interference.

Prerequisites

The source does not list belt-level prerequisites. The lesson topics assume familiarity with common positional language such as turtle, side control, seated head-and-arm, hooks, rear mount, underhook, overhook, wrist grips, claw grip, kimura, juji gatame, triangle variations, and strangles.

Our assessment is that newer students may still use the bundle, but they should be ready to pause and drill vocabulary-heavy control positions before chasing every branch. Intermediate no-gi players with existing back-control basics may find the decision trees easier to absorb.

Format and access

Verified format: no-gi digital video. The product page also says the material can be streamed or downloaded through the BJJ Fanatics app, and the component excerpts mention flow charts and visual notes for the individual courses.

Research limitation: the supplied snapshot verifies no-gi positioning and digital access, but it does not provide independent production details beyond the seller text. It also includes pricing and guarantee language, which BJJ University does not reproduce in buying guidance because current purchase terms can change.

Strengths

The main strength is continuity. The bundle covers the transition from turtle exposure to established back control and then into finishing mechanics, rather than treating turtle attacks and rear strangles as unrelated topics.

Another useful feature is troubleshooting. The turtle course includes responses to rolls, standups, open-versus-closed turtle, and defensive reactions; the back course includes hip escapes, hook clearing, two-on-one escapes, elbow pummels, and hand-defense counters.

For students who learn well from application examples, both component curricula include rolling footage and commentary or breakdown chapters. That can help connect the static technique menu to positional rounds, while still requiring the buyer to do their own drilling and coaching-room validation.

Limitations

The bundle is narrow by design: it concentrates on turtle-to-back connections and back attacks. It is not presented as a full guard, passing, wrestling, pin-escape, or general competition curriculum.

Buy less if you only need one side of the system. A student who already has reliable turtle breakdowns may only need the back-attacking component, while a student who finishes well from the back but struggles to get there may only need the turtle component.

The curriculum appears detail-dense and terminology-heavy. If you prefer a short list of beginner back attacks, this may feel like more system than you need because the chapters repeatedly branch into control mechanisms, grip classifications, dilemmas, counters, and recounters.

Suggested study order

Our suggested order is to start with turtle fundamentals: upper-body grip classification, closed turtle breakdowns, diagonal control, and first-hook insertion. These topics create the bridge from a defensive turtle to usable back exposure.

Next, consider the turtle course’s cross body ride, reverse tight waist, power half, and crucifix branches as situational modules. They address common moments where the opponent opens, posts, rolls, stands, or changes hip height.

After that, move to back retention before finishing: underhook-side versus overhook-side control, hook recovery, head position, and escape counters. Finally, layer in hand trapping, grip breaking, getting under the chin, and the strangle finishes.

Bundle or individual courses

Choose the bundle if you want both the entry and the finish: the seller frames the combined curriculum as breaking turtle, sinking hooks, and then hand fighting into rear strangles. That is the clearest reason to own both components together.

Consider the turtle course alone if your priority is turning an opponent’s turtle into back control. Its supplied excerpt centers on closed turtle, open turtle, cross body ride, reverse tight waist, crucifix, power half, hook insertion, and standup or roll counters.

Consider the back course alone if you already get to the back often and need retention, hand fighting, and finishing structure. Its excerpt focuses on control sides, hook recovery, escape counters, elbow pummeling, grip breaking, hand traps, garrote, and mandible strangle topics.

Alternatives to consider

Systematically Attacking the Turtle Position by Gordon Ryan is the focused alternative for students whose main problem is creating back exposure from turtle. Compared with the bundle, it stops at the turtle-to-back problem rather than also covering the broader back-control and strangle hand-fighting curriculum.

Systematically Attacking The Back by Gordon Ryan is the focused alternative for students who already reach back control and want more finishing and retention detail. Compared with the bundle, it does not provide the same dedicated turtle breakdown path supplied by the turtle component.

• Systematically Attacking the Turtle Position by Gordon Ryan — check current price · Read our guide
• Systematically Attacking The Back by Gordon Ryan — check current price

Purchase guidance

Consider buying the bundle if your training plan for the next block is specifically no-gi turtle pressure into back control and rear-strangle finishing. The supplied product page positions the bundle as a combined route to “attack the turtle position, get back control, and sink” the submission.

Consider waiting or choosing a component if you are not ready to devote study time to both halves. The evidence shows substantial topic coverage across turtle entries, rides, defensive reactions, back retention, grip fighting, and strangle mechanics; that breadth is valuable only if you will drill it in stages.