Answered from 89,207 customer reviews

Are BJJ Fanatics instructionals good for beginners and white belts?

Usually yes, but it depends entirely on the title. 2,557 reviews raise beginners or white belts, rating 4.94. 639 recommend their purchase for beginners; 10 say it was over their head, and those reviews name which titles. A further 498 single out step-by-step teaching as the reason it worked for them.

Computed from the BJJ Fanatics review archive at build time. Last review in the archive: 2026-11-09. How this is built.

What the evidence shows

BJJ Fanatics sells thousands of separate instructionals, so difficulty is a per-title property, not a store one. 363 of these reviews describe what they bought as fundamental or foundational.

498 single out the teaching itself: step-by-step structure, breaking a position down, following along without rewinding. That is the quality beginners consistently name, at 4.94 average.

The counterweight is small but worth reading before buying: reviews reporting the material was too advanced average 4.30, well below the 4.94 of this set. They are reproduced below unedited.

How the matching reviews are rated

The 2,557 matching reviews sit at 4.94 on average, against 4.95 for the archive as a whole. 4 of them carry one or two stars.

Evidence table

Each row counts, among the 2,557 matching reviews, how many contain a phrase pattern for that theme. One review can satisfy several patterns and then appears under each of them, which is why the column does not add up. Rows are ordered by count.

What positive reviewers wrote

Reproduced in full, exactly as submitted. These come from the 2,537 matching reviews rated four or five stars, 99% of the set.

• Grappling For Gringos - Chris Thompson

  Grappling For Gringos by Chris Thompson

  An excellent masterclass in No Gi grappling from Chris Thompson, teaching techniques that can be applied to anyone's grappling game, from beginner to advanced practitioners. Easy to follow coaching on every technique, every move broken down step by step by Chris; a must have instructional for everyone!

  Carl F.November 6, 2026United KingdomVerified buyerBlack belt16 yrs training

• Under Pressure: Retention, Recovery and Attacking From Guard by Brian Glick

  One of the best instructionals I have ever seen. It is comprehensive and detailed, yet digestible. It works great for both beginners and more advanced players. The 4-part (short summary/"reference book" of the previous parts) is something I would make mandatory for all instructionals.

  andrashorvath1987November 5, 2026HungaryVerified buyerPurple belt10-12 yrs training

• Over Under for the win

  Jiu Jitsu for Old Guys: Over / Under Pressure Passing System by Bernardo Faria

  Great details about the pass I use since white belt. This instructional also includes problem solving to maon counters and defenses. Must have for all who use this passing style or wish to learn it

  EdoOctober 31, 2026CzechiaBrown belt10-12 yrs training

• Leg Lock Starter Pack

  Leg Lock Starter Pack by Drew Weatherhead

  This is the best beginner leg lock instructional I've seen. All of the basics are explained with what you should do and not do. In particular, Chapter 3 is exceptional for getting into the basic positions. It has been effective for me.

  Charles M.October 31, 2026United StatesVerified buyerBrown belt10-12 yrs training

• The butter way

  Butterfly Guard Rediscovered 3.0 by Adam Wardzinski

  So far it has been great I’ve started implementing the butterfly guard in live rolling, as a white belt who is pretty new to the game it has given me a brand new perspective and an aim to bring to live rolling. Adam’s teaching is amazing super clear and easy to follow along I can 1000% recommend this course you will not be disappointed

  Andrew D.October 29, 2026IrelandVerified buyerWhite belt1-3 yrs training

• The second learning curve

  The Hidden Engine: The Power of Knee Work in Jiu-Jitsu by Jay Zeballos

  The first learning curve of jiujitsu for me was learning how to use my hips. Then there came a point where certain positions render the hip useless, and I've come to rely on a lot of niche techniques to get out of those positions. I thought this was part of growth, that these were necessary parts of jiujitsu. But through this instructional I came to see that the knee actually is the glue that makes all the fundamental concepts of jiujitsu bind together. The hip is important but it's only as important as how much the rest of your body gives it weight, and so much of that "engine" is provided by the knees. Putting this into practice was really, really hard. I've had weeks of bodyaches putting my core to work but as a result I'm able to see a much more foundationally solid game in myself. These concepts will make sense, but your body will have to learn again like a white belt. I hope it's going to be worth it for you because it certainly is for me!

  Hyun J.October 29, 2026United StatesVerified buyerBlue belt7-9 yrs training

What critical reviewers wrote

The same question, taken from the 20 matches at three stars or under. Published unedited and at the same length as the positive ones, because an archive that quotes only praise is not worth reading.

• The No Gi Deep Half Guard 2.0 by Jeff Glover

  The No Gi Deep Half Guard 2.0 by Jeff Glover

  The No Gi Deep Half Guard 2.0 by Jeff Glover is a nice, short instructional. It covers a small number of techniques, so it is probably best suited for beginners who want a simple introduction to no-gi deep half guard. The material is easy to follow and can be a good starting point before exploring more advanced options.

  Wojciech S.September 10, 2026PolandVerified buyerBlack belt10-12 yrs training

• Ok video but there are better ones

  IBJJF Legal Footlocks by Jose Varella

  Ok for the basics, but the video and sound quality is decent at best. I'd recommend it to total beginners

  Kay A.September 6, 2024United StatesVerified buyerBlue belt1-3 yrs training

• VERY beginner based but not enough useful content

  Building Workouts For BJJ by Charles Allan Price

  I might be a white belt in BJJ but I’ve been lifting weights for many years. I thought this instructional would help me “build” my workouts “for BJJ” as is in the title. There is basically no talk about programming or progression. It’s a list of exercise demonstrations and maybe something like, you could do this for 3 sets of 5. Oh and try to keep the RPE between 7-10. That’s as close as it gets to programming/progression. The exercise demonstrations were fine but only a beginner would need that. A beginner would also need a template to work off of. Someone more intermediate to advanced lifting wise won’t need the basic demonstrations and will not learn anything of value for programming workouts for jiu jitsu. Really disappointed in this one.

  Luke S.August 26, 2024United StatesVerified buyerWhite belt1-3 yrs training

• Good, not Great

  Closed Guard Prison by Janine Mocaiber

  Good, basic instruction for beginners. Mostly easy to understand. Minus 2 stars because the filming angles were sometimes painful to see what is happening (the camera was only 1 foot or so off the ground in many cases and the technique detail was happening on the other side of their bodies, hence unable to see what she was doing). Omaplata to Choi Bar (even the 2nd angle take - cameraman circled around them and lost the action - what the heck? It's like they had the camera attached to a cat that was just randomly circling around, j/k Audio dropouts: Kimura Octopus sweep: audio dropout on 1st take, then cameraman gets distracted by kid and points camera away from action and everyone's like OMG what's happening on the 2nd take. Come on, couldn't you do a little editing at least? Finer details of some submissions omitted (i.e. tight shoulder pressure detail for kimura usually necessary). But overall good, basic instructions for beginners to get an idea of what's available.

  Corey Z.August 3, 2024United StatesVerified buyerPurple belt7-9 yrs training

• a bit disappointed

  Core Striking Combinations and Tricky Attacks by Firas Zahabi

  I'm a big fan of Firas Zahabi, so I was excited to see what he'd be showing from his bag of tricks. i was hoping for more high level stuff. this was a pretty beginner level tutorial and I can't honestly say I picked up anything new out of it. everything was technical and FZ explains things wonderfully, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you don't have access to a good striking Coach. (fyi while I'm only a purple belt in bjj, I've been striking for about 30 years, I just got it on bjj fanatics instead of dynamic striking so I can consolidate my videos and rewards)

  Greg K.January 31, 2024USVerified buyer

• It was pretty good. Not

  Nubjitsu by Rustin Hughes

  It was pretty good. Not much that I didn’t know as an amputee white belt.

  joe c.January 2, 2024USVerified buyer

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