Who is Brian Glick and why do practitioners seek him out?
Brian Glick is widely recognized for a methodical, systems-based approach to Brazilian jiu-jitsu that emphasizes connection, posture, and mechanical advantage. Rather than memorizing isolated moves, his students learn how to build reliable sequences and decision points that work against informed resistance. Practitioners who come across Brian Glick are often looking for calm structure amid the chaos of rolling—an instructor who explains why positions succeed and how to link them without depending on attributes.
What stands out about Brian Glick is not a list of accolades but a consistent reputation for clarity. He focuses on principles like weight distribution, frames and levers, inside position, and layered defenses. The goal is transferable skill: if you understand the mechanics, you can adapt whether you’re in the gi or training no-gi, facing a pressure passer or a guard player. This pragmatic orientation attracts hobbyists and competitors alike who want to progress without getting lost in trendy technique churn.
Brian Glick Videos on BJJ University (Top 20 Videos, Top 10 Courses)
Under Pressure Bundle by Brian Glick
$597.00 • BJJ Fanatics
The 'Under Pressure Bundle' video by Brian Glick, a Danaher black belt, is designed to help BJJ practitioners enhance their guard game. This instructional video covers competitive guard techniques that require minimal athleticism and effort, making it ideal for a wide range of participants. Brian imparts a detailed and systematic methodology for improving one's BJJ. As a student of John Danaher, Brian emulates his teacher's excellent instruction style and helps viewers effectively attack from the bottom position.
Simplify the System Bundle by Brian Glick
$497.00 • BJJ Fanatics
Simplify the System Bundle is an instructional video series by Brian Glick. Over the course of 5+ hours, Glick breaks down complex Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu moves and concepts into simple, effective systems that are useful on the mat. His approach is practical and no-nonsense. This bundle is beneficial for beginners seeking clarity and advanced students aiming to refine their fundamentals.
Only Way Out bundle by Brian Glick
$497.00 • BJJ Fanatics
This video is part of Brian Glick's 'Only Way Out' bundle. Glick, a black belt under John Danaher and a top instructor at BJJ Fanatics, offers over 5 hours of elite instruction dedicated to turning defensive positions into opportunities for control, recovery, and counterattack. This comprehensive bundle is designed to help practitioners maintain composure under pressure and escape with purpose, even against high-level opponents. The bundle includes access to three full-length instructional videos from the "Only Way Out" series.
Simplify The System: Sumi Gaeshi (The Butterfly Sweep) by Brian Glick
$197.00 • BJJ Fanatics
This instructional video features black belt Brian Glick, who has trained under John Danaher and is known to be one of Gordon Ryan's best training partners, teaching the Sumi Gaeshi from the butterfly guard position. It explores various aspects of this sweeping technique including grip variations, setups, and complimentary techniques aimed at maintaining inside position, applying constant off balancing techniques and powerful sweeping options. The video also discusses how to transform your sumi gaeshi from a singular attack into a complete system that improves your offensive potential from the bottom. It highlights strategies to counteract multi-directional attacks and enter leg entanglement entries.
Simplify the System: Side Scissor by Brian Glick
$197.00 • BJJ Fanatics
The video is a five-part instructional course by BJJ black belt Brian Glick which revolves around mastering the side scissor from the closed guard position. The side scissor is a unique closed guard variation that helps you to outflank opponents, avoid pressure, and generates diverse offense. It presents a system of attack whereby forcing the opponent into predictable defensive reactions. This position allows the user to take their opponent's back or create opportunities for sweeps and submissions. The course semantics include techniques like the knee pull, 2 on 1 grip, and utilizing head height. It also navigates through integrating other closed guard variations like the top lock and clamp position with the side scissor.
Simplify The System: Half Guard Mastery by Brian Glick
$197.00 • BJJ Fanatics
Brian Glick, a black belt under John Danaher, presents a comprehensive system to master the Half Guard in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In the video, Brian exceptionally breaks down fundamental to advanced techniques, making it easy for anyone to understand and apply. His method emphasizes simplicity and includes world-class details to improve one's half guard game. This instructional video ranks as one of BJJ Fanatics' best-sellers and offers one of the most inclusive half guard systems in the world.
Only Way Out: Dynamic Pin Escapes by Brian Glick
$197.00 • BJJ Fanatics
This video is an instructional guide by Brian Glick on the art of escaping pins, a crucial aspect of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Brian Glick, a Danaher black belt, emphasises the significance of the ability to escape pins, highlighting it as a core fundamental of their training system. The guide offers the chance to elevate one's game and acquire the confidence to escape any position.
Only Way Out: Front Headlock and Turtle Escapes by Brian Glick
$197.00 • BJJ Fanatics
In this instructional video, Brian Glick teaches effective escapes from two dominant positions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: front headlock and turtle. Known for his cogent teaching style, Brian breaks down each escape into simple, digestible steps. This video provides a thorough understanding of the conceptual principles underpinning these escapes and is useful for practitioners of all levels. Through these lessons, learners can enhance their defensive skills and build a solid foundation for responding to these frequently encountered positions.
Only Way Out: Dynamic Back Escapes by Brian Glick
$197.00 • BJJ Fanatics
The instructional video by Brian Glick, a black belt student of John Danaher, teaches comprehensive ways to escape back control in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). He takes a systematic approach, providing step-by-step breakdowns of various dynamic back escapes that are practically effective. The video aims to help practitioners, regardless of their level, to stay calm under pressure, develop instinctive responses, and reclaim control with confidence. Accompanied by Brian’s comprehensive and methodical teaching method, the viewer can develop a deep understanding of escaping back control.
Pressure Drop Dynamic Guard Passing: Outside Position by Brian Glick
$197.00 • BJJ Fanatics
The video features Instructor Brian Glick teaching the Pressure Drop Dynamic Guard Passing technique in an outside position. The instructional video breaks down complex concepts into easy-to-follow sequences and emphasizes on pressure, timing, and control. It assures that with these key elements one can confidently dismantle the opponent’s guard and dominate the mat. The video further enriches viewers with detailed breakdowns, strategic insights and practical drills to apply the advanced concepts learned.
Teaching style: precise language, live alignment, and stepwise problem-solving
Brian Glick’s teaching style is organized around making the invisible parts of jiu-jitsu visible. He highlights the details you feel more than you see—how hips track the opponent, how elbows and knees close space, and how micro-adjustments reshape leverage. Expect structured lessons that move from essential alignment to positional goals, then into reactions and counters.
A typical sequence might begin with a stable platform (posture, base, and frames), progress to a small set of high-percentage entries, and then add branches that address the opponent’s common responses. Instead of five unrelated armbar finishes, you’ll get one or two finishes tied to specific control conditions and a checklist to re-establish control if something slips. Students often remark that this approach reduces hesitation: knowing what to do first, second, and third clears the mental fog during live rounds.
Crucially, Brian Glick teaches connection—how to keep meaningful contact that transmits force efficiently and limits the opponent’s freedom. This connection-first mindset underpins everything from guard retention to top pressure. It’s not about moving faster; it’s about arranging your body so small movements have big effects. If you’ve struggled to make techniques work against heavier or more athletic partners, this emphasis on leverage and sequencing tends to be a breakthrough.
Brian Glick Armbar (2 Videos)
Core systems and themes students associate with Brian Glick
Students often associate Brian Glick with fundamentals that scale upward: posture and inside ties from the feet, guard retention and re-guarding pathways, pressure-based passing that converts inches into control, back attacks that prioritize wedges over speed, and submission chains that arise from secure pins rather than rushed entries.
Within guard, you’ll see recurring themes like layered frames, hip rotation to recover inside position, and disciplined grip fighting. From top, his passing typically connects stable stops—knee cut to hip switch to crossface-and-underhook—so that when one barrier fails, the next is already in place. The same logic applies to pins: establish containment first, then isolate the limb; submissions are the result of accurate control rather than the start of the sequence.
You’ll also find consistent attention to defensive structure. Escapes are taught as posture recoveries and pathfinding out of danger rather than desperate scrambles. That means a bridge or hip escape is measured and linked to winning the frames you need next, not just raw motion. The net effect is a game that feels calmer, more repeatable, and kinder on your body over the long term.
Brian Glick Escapes (12 Videos, 4 Courses)
Only Way Out bundle by Brian Glick
$497.00 • BJJ Fanatics
This video is part of Brian Glick's 'Only Way Out' bundle. Glick, a black belt under John Danaher and a top instructor at BJJ Fanatics, offers over 5 hours of elite instruction dedicated to turning defensive positions into opportunities for control, recovery, and counterattack. This comprehensive bundle is designed to help practitioners maintain composure under pressure and escape with purpose, even against high-level opponents. The bundle includes access to three full-length instructional videos from the "Only Way Out" series.
Only Way Out: Dynamic Pin Escapes by Brian Glick
$197.00 • BJJ Fanatics
This video is an instructional guide by Brian Glick on the art of escaping pins, a crucial aspect of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Brian Glick, a Danaher black belt, emphasises the significance of the ability to escape pins, highlighting it as a core fundamental of their training system. The guide offers the chance to elevate one's game and acquire the confidence to escape any position.
Only Way Out: Front Headlock and Turtle Escapes by Brian Glick
$197.00 • BJJ Fanatics
In this instructional video, Brian Glick teaches effective escapes from two dominant positions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: front headlock and turtle. Known for his cogent teaching style, Brian breaks down each escape into simple, digestible steps. This video provides a thorough understanding of the conceptual principles underpinning these escapes and is useful for practitioners of all levels. Through these lessons, learners can enhance their defensive skills and build a solid foundation for responding to these frequently encountered positions.
Only Way Out: Dynamic Back Escapes by Brian Glick
$197.00 • BJJ Fanatics
The instructional video by Brian Glick, a black belt student of John Danaher, teaches comprehensive ways to escape back control in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). He takes a systematic approach, providing step-by-step breakdowns of various dynamic back escapes that are practically effective. The video aims to help practitioners, regardless of their level, to stay calm under pressure, develop instinctive responses, and reclaim control with confidence. Accompanied by Brian’s comprehensive and methodical teaching method, the viewer can develop a deep understanding of escaping back control.
What to study first if you’re new to Brian Glick
Start with connection and control fundamentals. If you’re a guard player struggling to keep opponents from passing, begin with material on guard retention: how to keep your knees and elbows disciplined, regain inside position, and rotate your hips to face the threat. Focus on small rules like “don’t let your top knee drift past your shoulder line” and “reconnect a frame before you move your hips.” These principles translate to every guard you play.
If you spend more time on top, study his pressure-passing structure. Learn to land in a stable checkpoint—crossface and underhook, knee shield smashed, hips pointed—and then progress in inches, not leaps. Drill the transitions between checkpoints so that when a partner turns a corner, your body automatically re-establishes wedges and head position. This is how you turn scrambles into steady progress.
For finishing sequences, prioritize back control mechanics and arm-isolation from dominant pins. The idea is to win the chest-to-back connection or shoulder line first, then layer hooks or wedges that stop rotations before you think about the choke or armbar. If your submissions feel loose, it’s likely a control problem, and his material helps you repair that in a stepwise way.
Finally, adopt his practice habit: build a short, repeatable training loop. Choose one start position (e.g., knee cut entry), one opponent reaction (e.g., shin shield), and one follow-up (e.g., hip switch to body lock). Rep that loop, then add a branch. This mirrors the way his instruction stacks complexity and will make your rolling feel more organized within a few sessions.
Brian Glick Submissions (12 Videos)
How Brian Glick explains gi vs. no-gi decisions
Brian Glick’s concepts are broadly transferable, but they acknowledge grip realities. In the gi, he’ll emphasize how cloth grips can extend control windows—collar and sleeve can add time to set wedges and angles. In no-gi, he leans on head position, underhooks, and wrist or elbow ties to replace fabric. The throughline is identical: use connection to win alignment, then progress by inches. If you train both, start by mapping each concept to its equivalent tie—collar becomes head position, sleeve becomes wrist control, lapel becomes elbow-knee connection. This allows you to keep one mental model across rule sets.
Brian Glick Transitions (9 Videos)
Use BJJ University to explore Brian Glick’s material for free
BJJ University is a curated, free learning hub that organizes videos, clips, breakdowns, and instructional resources so you can study intentionally. Use the site’s navigation menu to browse by instructor, technique, position, category, or training topic. If you want to dive right into Brian Glick’s content, start with the Brian Glick video library to see his systems and themes grouped in one place.
As you explore, open a couple of related categories side by side—guard retention with passing counters, or back control with back escapes—to understand the offense-defense conversation. Save the pages you return to often, and consider bookmarking the site so you can build a consistent study habit. If you have teammates or friends who want more high-quality, free BJJ resources, share BJJ University with them so you can learn the same language and progress faster together.
FAQs
Is Brian Glick more fundamentals-focused or specialized in one position?
He is broadly fundamentals-focused, but his material is organized into clear systems for core positions—guard retention, pressure passing, back attacks, and escapes—so you can specialize by following a sequence without losing the larger principles.
What level of student benefits most from Brian Glick’s teaching?
Any level can benefit, but white and blue belts often experience big jumps because his instruction clarifies alignment and connection early. Higher belts appreciate the precision and decision trees that tighten up already-familiar positions.
How should I take notes when studying his material?
Write short checklists tied to control conditions: “If crossface and underhook, then knee position here; if opponent frames at the hip, switch head position and re-pummel.” Keep notes limited to a few triggers you can recall mid-round.
Can I apply his approach in both gi and no-gi?
Yes. The concepts of posture, frames, inside ties, and connection translate across rule sets. Substitute fabric grips with head position and underhooks in no-gi, and use collars and sleeves to extend control windows in the gi.
What should I practice first if I only have 15 minutes?
Pick one micro-loop: guard retention frame to hip escape to re-guard, or knee cut entry to hip switch to crossface. Do three to five minutes of focused reps on each step, then run light positional rounds from that start point.