I would like to share with you some of the Jiu-Jitsu masters who I think are some of the best jiu-jitsu instructors online. You can find my top 5 best online jiu-jitsu instructors toward the end of this article. But before you go there, I would like to share with you a little bit about my jiu-jitsu journey.

The beginning

If you are like me and you absolutely cannot get enough jiu-jitsu from just going to class, you can certainly learn new techniques and refine old ones by watching jiu-jitsu videos. Jiu-jitsu has come a long way since it first showed up on the shores of America in the 20^th century. It has even evolved a great deal since it was introduced to a wider audience by Royce Gracie and the legendary Gracie family at UFC 1 on November 12, 1993. I was still in high school in those days, and when I went away to university and began training in karate, I still didn’t hear about jiu-jitsu. Take a look at what I now think about How Often You Should Train Jiu-Jitsu.

Nowhere to train

It really wasn’t until the first season of The Ultimate Fighter television show aired in 2005 that I think I really began to take a hard look at jiu-jitsu as a truly revolutionary martial art. I was just finishing up law school at the time and looking for ways to balance all of the reading I was doing with a good physical fitness program. I had really loved everything about training karate, so I knew I would enjoy the discipline of going back to a martial arts class. There was a catch: nowhere to train anywhere close to me.

Gorillas in the midst

Finally, an MMA gym opened up and I trained a few times in there, but I was no match for those animals who looked at me like fresh meat, and treated me that way on the mats. Honestly, I didn’t last long training with those gorillas. Instead, I bought a mat for my house and started doing some stretching and some basic movement which I found out years later were actually similar to Gymastica Natural (which you can find out more about here).

Kettlebell training

Then, through the brilliance of the internet, I learned about the benefits of kettle bells and their popularity among jiu-jitsu players, especially, and probably most famously, UFC color commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan. So I added some kettle bell training to my physical fitness regimen. I did these things for years. I also lifted weights and ran a lot, finishing 5k races in 21 minutes in my thirties. Not too bad for someone who never did any organized sports other than earning my blue belt in Karate.

Grappling with Father Time

But I was still getting older, and, as they say, father time is undefeated. I had dislocated my left shoulder three or four times doing foolish things in my youth, and I had injured my right shoulder while working on a farm during college. One of the reasons why I worked out so much was to keep the shoulder pain at bay.

I found that they more active I was, the less pain I felt. But, as I mentioned, father time is undefeated, and the pain in my shoulders stayed the same and even got worse. I went to see specialists. One orthopedist told me, “Well, you’re not an athlete, so there’s really no point in operating.” His words may have stung a little at the time, but now, years later, I realize he did me an enormous favor by not recommending surgery. Don’t forget to look at How Often Should I Train Jiu-Jitsu.

Nothing to lose

I remembered feeling that the gorillas at the local MMA gym were going to tear my arms off at the shoulders. I felt like it was only a matter of time. Then, I told myself, I’d go back to the nice surgeon with no choice but to operate. As long as I was still in pain, I felt there was nothing to lose.

Older, but bigger and stronger

So I went back to the MMA gym. By this time I had put on about 20 pounds of muscle and I was in my 40s, so I like to think I was a little wiser. The fact is, the class had a little structure this time. Now there were warm ups, drilling, and the black belt instructor would not let you roll for the first few weeks until you felt like you were ready and he trusted you.

Two stripe white belt for life

I’ve been back at that gym a whole year now. I have two stripes on my white belt, and I love jiu jitsu. It is a priority for me to go to class each week (I try to go 3 times a week or more), and to stay ready off the mat so that when it’s time for class to start, at 44 years old, I don’t feel like too much of an old man, and, most importantly, I don’t get injured. To stay healthy, make sure to read our guide to How Often You Should Train Jiu-Jitsu. It’s short and has helpful information.

Tapping out

Lately, I’ve been tapping out white belts and blue belts. I have tapped out a brown belt, more than once! These days I am very happy with my progress and the level of my jiu-jitsu skills, and I am looking forward to working hard to continue to improve. I talk about ways to get better in my post How Often You Should Train Jiu-Jitsu. Please take a look.

Learning Jiu-Jitsu online

One of the greatest resources for improving my game so far has been online jiu-jitsu videos. You will see that there are a ton of people in gi’s and in rash guards making “how to” jiu-jitsu videos. I’m here to tell you, in case you didn’t know, that not everyone with a YouTube channel knows how to teach jiu-jitsu.

I would like to share my top 5 best online jiu-jitsu instructors for really adding to your game:

Top 5 Best Jiu-Jitsu Intructors

1. Ryron Gracie and Rener Gracie

Ryron and Rener Gracie – No list for white belts would be complete without these two amazing instructors. Say what you will, Ryron and Rener are no doubt two of the best Jiu-Jitsu instructors alive today. They never miss a single detail of any technique and illustrate the moves with such exquisite illustration that you will definitely learn valuable techniques and perhaps even more importantly, concepts, that will improve your game drastically. If you are just starting out, the Gracie Combatives program is an excellent place to start your Jiu-Jitsu journey. It is an amazing introduction and foundational program that really sets you up for success. I highly recommend it.

Brothers don’t always agree on the best route to get there.

2. BJJ Fanatics – Bernardo Faria with John Danaher

Bernardo Faria with John Danaher – These merit their own special mention on this list because as great as Bernardo’s BJJ Fanatics channel is – and I recommend all of it – the videos with John Danaher are especially detailed in such a way that makes it impossible not to learn something every time. As Bernardo frequently points out, John breaks down each technique systematically and can even bring awareness to details that we might be performing subconsciously. You have to watch for yourself. I promise that in addition to techniques you will also learn about fundamental concepts that will take your game to the next level. As a team, these two gentleman are easily two of the best jiu-jitsu instructors teaching today.

The details are incredible.

2. BJJ Fanatics (tie)

BJJ Fanatics, Bernardo Faria – Bernardo was a world champion Jiu-Jitsu player in his day which was just as recent as 2016. Always a very humble and gracious champion, Bernardo invites other world class Jiu Jitsu players on to his YouTube channel called BJJ Fanatics for all the most important techniques and practical advice on what really works. Again, Bernardo Faria and Lachlan Giles have to be two of the best Jiu-Jitsu instructors who are teaching today.

Bernardo with Lachlan Giles, who deserves honorable mention. Look for his videos too.

3. Karel “Silver Fox” Pravec

Karel “Silver Fox” Fox with Firas Zahabi, Tristar Gym – Legendary MMA coach Firas Zahabi has a handful of videos on his Tristar Gym YouTube channel in which he gets on the mat with Karel “Silver Fox” Prevac for some great demonstrations of arm bars and guillotines, etc. This is a great introduction to both Karel “silver Fox” Prevac and the humility of great MMA trainer Firas Zahabi. Together they explore some of the Silver Fox’s smooth finishing moves like arm bars and guillotines. Not exactly beginner stuff. And the videos are long, clocking in at around 40 minutes. Maybe too advanced to be on this list, but definitely worth a try and then a second look later on into your journey to see if you can be a fluid as the Fox. Together Firas and Karel make some of the best jiu-jitsu instructional videos online today.

The Fox has such a smooth style.

4. Stephan Kesting

Stephan Kesting – Stephan Kesting has a fairly large web presence. You can tell that he is motivated to stay relevant online. And we should probably thank him for this because he offers a lot of great instruction, but you might stumble across a little more fluff and internet savvy than with Jeremy Arel. I have stuck strictly to his YouTube channel. He has really great and useful techniques. I have used his Ezekiel Choke Counters on more than one occasion with success. Like Jeremy, Stephan covers lots of important jiu jitsu moves in short concise videos. I highly recommend his channel. Stephan has to be one of the best online jiu-jitsu instructors and he releases new videos all the time.

Stephan has tons and tons of videos. You’re sure to learn some practical techniques.

5. Great Grappling – Jeremy Arel

Great Grappling, Jeremy Arel – This channel is run by and features videos with instruction by jiu-jitsu black belt Jeremy “the Gerbil” Arel. Don’t let his nickname fool you. This channel has countless valuable instructional videos showing how to execute moves from guard passess to chokes. These videos really are great. Why? Jeremy Arel is precise and efficient in his instructional technique. They videos are short, usually about 3-5 minutes long, but will all the detail that you need to understand how to execute each move. There is absolutely no fluff, filler, or nonsense here, just the moves. Great, simple, practical, effective techniques. The Gerbil has to be one of the best jiu-jitsu instructors online today.

I recommend watching Jeremy Arel’s guard passing videos if for nothing than to learn from the pressure he uses.

Now you know

In conclusion, I recommend that you visit one or all of these amazing jiu-jitsu instructors online. If you don’t like the first video you click on for whatever reason, click on another. I’m 100% confident that you will find many great techniques.