BJJ Fanatics is a fantastic website dedicated to helping students of Jiu Jitsu. Their platform has a vast library of instructional videos featuring the best BJJ athletes and coaches in the world.
The videos in the BJJ Fanatics library cover literally every aspect of Jiu Jitsu, and I mean every aspect. On top of technique videos, they also provide videos on conditioning and mindset for training BJJ.
I’m going to give you a full breakdown of BJJ Fanatics: we’ll start with a little bit about the website founders, and then go over my picks for the best videos on BJJ Fanatics.
Who are the BJJ Fanatics?
There were two black belts that came up with the idea for BJJ Fanatics: Michael Zenga and Bernardo “Huge Honor For Me” Faria. They both are black belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and they teamed up with their partner Michael Reardon to start BJJ Fanatics.
After Zenga brought Bernardo to his home academy to do a seminar, they started sharing ideas about Jiu Jitsu. They wanted to create a place where people could learn from the best grapplers on the planet.
Soon after they started the company, it started to explode as many in the Jiu Jitsu community got behind them. Now some of the world’s best practitioners like Gordon Ryan, Travis Stevens, Bruno Malfacine record techniques and videos for them.
You can hear Bernardo and Michael Zenga talk about the creation of BJJ Fanatics in this video:
The Best Jiu Jitsu Videos on BJJ Fanatics
It’s hard to narrow down a shortlist of the best Jiu Jitsu videos from BJJ Fanatics, given they have so many great courses from a variety of instructors. That said, these are some of my favorites. Any small details in one of these videos can take your Jiu Jitsu game to the next level.
- Butterfly Guard Re-Discovered by Adam Wardzinski
- How To Beat Bigger Guys by Bruno Malfacine
- High Level Takedowns and Mat Control for Grapplers by Henry Cejudo
- Foundations of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by Bernardo Faria
- Power Switch/Guard Retention Mikey Musumeci
- Down Under Leg Attacks by Craig Jones
- Half Domination by Tom DeBlass
- High Percentage Chokes: No Gi by Lachlan Giles
Butterfly Guard Re-Discovered by Adam Wardzinski
Adam Wardzinski is without a doubt the best butterfly guard player in all of Jiu Jitsu. He has beat multiple world champions using his patented style of butterfly guard.
The butterfly guard is nothing new in Jiu Jitsu, but the way Adam does it is on another level. By having a great butterfly guard, you make your guard game exponentially more dangerous, especially if you’re smaller. This guard is the go to guard, when you’re going against bigger guys.
Wardzinski explains everything you need to know about butterfly guard, which is simple and effective. A great instructional to consider buying.
How To Beat Bigger Guys by Bruno Malfacine
Bruno Malfacine is a 10x world champion and arguably one of the p4p best of this generation. He has beaten a who’s who of world champions including Cobrinha Charles and competitors outweighing him by over 100+ pounds.
There is nobody better at showing you how to beat biggers guys than Bruno. At 127lbs, he has dismantled world class black belts that are double his size.
In this video, Malfacine shares the secrets to his game that made him a 10x world champion. Including sweeps and submissions he used on competitors much larger than him. If you’re smaller and have problems with bigger guys, then you should check out this video.
High Level Takedowns and Mat Control for Grapplers by Henry Cejudo
The triple champ himself Henry Cejudo has a phenomenal instructional video available on BJJ Fanatics. Who better to learn takedowns for grappling than an Olympic gold medalist wrestler and 2 division UFC champ? Short answer is nobody.
This video is broken down into 4 parts, where Cejudo shows everything you need to know about takedowns and control. First he goes over the basics of stance, hand fighting, and penetration steps, then goes into finishing takedowns.
After that, Henry goes into keeping your opponent on the ground. If you need to sharpen your takedowns and top control, then this is definitely a video you need to see.
Foundations of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by Bernardo Faria
We can’t have a top 10 BJJ Fanatic video list without showing some love to the original BJJ Fanatic. Bernardo Faria is a 5x world champion that is known for having some of the best fundamentals in all of Jiu Jitsu.
Faria went all out with this instructional video he put out. This video has six parts explaining nearly every facet you need to have a solid foundation in Jiu Jitsu.
What makes this video so good is the way Bernardo explains and shows techniques. He has a way of explaining detail in a way that you’re a better grappler from listening to him. A great instructional presented by a fantastic grappler and coach.
Power Switch/Guard Retention Mikey Musumeci
Mikey Musumeci is a current world champion of his division and student of Caio Terra. This young phenom has shut down the games of world champion grapplers with the techniques he shares in this video.
If you don’t know what he means by power switch, Mikey is talking about countering pressure passers. He shows you how to counter powerful pressure passing opponents, while also going over the principles of guard retention. The ability to control your opponent in your guard.
Musumeci used these principles to win a world championship and now he’s sharing them with us. A very good instructional well worth the price.
Down Under Leg Attacks by Craig Jones
People talk a lot about Danaher’s leg lock system, but Craig Jones has a deadly leg lock system himself. Since exploding onto the pro grappling scene with his 2017 ADCC performance, Jones has put the grappling world on notice.
Since then he has used his highly effective leg lock system to beat some of the world’s best. Including most recently beating Vinny Magalhaes with a heel hook after Vinny claimed they don’t work.
This instructional is stacked with 4 DVDs worth of techniques. Jones shows you every detail on his leg lock system. From how to set up foot locks to how he connects other submissions off of going for leg attacks.
With the grappling game ever evolving, you need to know about leg attacks. Craig Jones is the perfect guy to introduce you to the world of leg locks.
Half Domination by Tom DeBlass
If you don’t know Tom DeBlass, he is an awesome competitor, coach, and former MMA fighter. DeBlass has helped develop the games of top grapplers like Garry Tonon and Gordon Ryan. One thing he is fantastic at is half guard and he shares with us his secrets to having an effective half guard.
In traditional half guard, there aren’t many attacks from it, but not how Tom teaches it. His style of half is super effective and allows for multiple sweeps and submission variations.
But while it is offensive his half guard also provides great defense being able to hold back the most powerful grapplers. The best part is DeBlass simplifies the half guard for you, while greatly expanding your guard game. A great instructional for people that like playing the half guard game.
High Percentage Chokes: No Gi by Lachlan Giles
Craig Jones’ coach and phenomenal grappler in his own right, Lachlan Giles has multiple instructionals on BJJ Fanatic. But this one could make you a wizard at front headlock chokes.
In 4 discs, Lachlan goes over how to make your chokes like guillotines, anacondas, and darce choke attempts nearly 100%. Giles has a way of showing technique that makes the techniques look super easy. A while adding little details to make them even more effective.
If you are looking to make your guillotines and anaconda chokes even more effective Giles will help you improve them.
The Bottom Line
BJJ Fanatics is an excellent Jiu Jitsu resource, which is why I ranked it as one of my top choices for online BJJ training sites. What are your choices for the best videos on BJJ Fanatics? Anything I missed?