Gordon Ryan has just shared a free mini-class on YouTube that is dedicated solely towards countering the Octopus Guard in what is a clear reference to his long-time rival, Craig Jones. The video has been published just a matter of weeks after Jones released his second full-length instructional on the position; one that he’s been having success with in recent years. This isn’t the first time that Ryan has used teaching Jiu-Jitsu as a vehicle for criticising other competitors too, as he previously broke down failed armbar attempts by Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa in a match against Yuri Simoes in a post to social media.
Ryan has had rivalries with several major stars over the course of his career, but his rivalry with Jones has been significantly longer and more heated than any other. It has even extended beyond matches and regular trash talk at times, with both men aiming very personal attacks at each other. Most recently, Jones obtained and then publicly released the arrest footage of Ryan’s wife Nathalia Santoro. Although this might seem over the line to many people, it was just the latest shot fired in a dispute that has lasted years at this point and both men have given as good as they’ve got.
Ryan’s latest move is more focused on Jiu-Jitsu rather than Jones’ personal life though, as he’s apparently even going to release a full-length instructional on dealing with octopus guard. In this free mini-class, Ryan starts out by explaining the power of the crossface before moving on to a slick back-take counter when the opponent tries to come up. He then talks about creating a little bit of distance and using that to dig your arm back inside, driving the opponent back down to the mat with a double-leg or a bodylock. Although it’s a fairly short video, it’s a great resource for starting to deal with the position and shut down offense there.
Gordon Ryan shared his lesson on countering Octopus guard to his official YouTube channel:
