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Garry Tonon built a reputation on refusing to accept neutral positions, and few competitors have converted both the underhook and the overhook into offense more consistently than he has. Quick Concepts: Underhook vs Overhook is a four-part No-Gi instructional listed at $97 on BJJ Fanatics, and it does something most tie-focused material avoids: it sets the two most common upper-body grips side by side as matched attacking options, then walks each one through four recurring situations \u2014 standing side-on exchanges, the dog fight, half guard, and chest-to-chest contact.<\/p>\n
The underhook and the overhook are the default vocabulary of the upper-body clinch, and the underhook vs overhook BJJ split usually gets framed as a one-sided debate: the underhook is the attacking grip, the overhook is the defensive reply. Tonon\u2019s premise is that both are attacking ties, and that the real skill is reading which one you have \u2014 or which one your opponent gives you \u2014 and turning it into the next action.<\/p>\n
That premise is why the course has value beyond a single-position series. Most instructionals isolate one tie in one place: the half guard underhook in a dedicated half-guard system, or the whizzer in a single-position overhook course like Adele Fornarino\u2019s Overhook From Everywhere. Tonon instead cross-cuts the same two grips through four different positions, which is closer to how the ties actually show up in a No-Gi scramble \u2014 you chase an underhook in half guard, get a whizzer over the top in the dog fight, and land chest-to-chest all inside a single exchange.<\/p>\n
The trade-off is inherent to the format. By spreading the underhook and overhook across so much territory, the course can show a lot of destinations but cannot linger on any of them. Grapplers who want a deep, systematic breakdown of a single tie will find more depth in something like Underhooks With Uncle Jeff Glover, which stays on one side of the equation for its entire run time.<\/p>\n
Garry Tonon is a Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Tom deBlass and Ricardo Almeida, promoted in 2013, who came up through the Renzo Gracie Academy network in New Jersey. He is widely catalogued as a No-Gi specialist whose competitive record runs through the sport\u2019s submission-only boom: multiple Eddie Bravo Invitational titles across three weight divisions, IBJJF Pan and World No-Gi medals, and a bronze at the 2019 ADCC World Championship.<\/p>\n
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He is also closely tied to the modern leg-lock movement. Tonon trained extensively under John Danaher in New York, and the Danaher Death Squad label first circulated in large part because of the success he and Eddie Cummings had on the submission-only circuit before Tonon shifted his focus to mixed martial arts in ONE Championship in 2018.<\/p>\n
None of that is incidental to this product. Tonon\u2019s game has always been built on exactly these ties \u2014 underhooks that climb to the back, whizzers that become submissions \u2014 so the instructional is drawn from material he has actually relied on in competition, not repackaged fundamentals.<\/p>\n
The course is split into four parts, and each one pairs a tie with two positions rather than treating a single position in isolation. Across the set, the No-Gi underhook and the No-Gi overhook are treated as two halves of the same decision: both attack, but they attack differently, and the course is at its best when it makes that difference explicit.<\/p>\n
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The opening volume works the overhook as an attacking grip from standing side-on contact and from the dog fight. The material runs from the Double Trouble Roll through momentum-based Harai Goshi and Uchi Mata throws, then into the lat scoop juji and triangles, before closing with the whizzer toss. The through-line is that a whizzer is not a stall: it is an overhook that can throw, trip, or roll an opponent the moment they commit their weight.<\/p>\n
This volume flips to the underhook in half guard and the dog fight. The chapters move from the nearside scoop through leg engagement into back takes and the V-Grip, mapping the route most half-guard players already want \u2014 underhook, climb, back exposure \u2014 while adding the leg-entry option that makes Tonon\u2019s version of the position feel distinct. The dog fight underhook is treated as a launching point, not a resting point.<\/p>\n
The third part covers the overhook from bottom half guard \u2014 the knee shield whizzer and the knee lever \u2014 before switching to the standing side-on underhook, where the trip entries, snapdowns, and back takes give a grappler a reason to want the underhook on the feet rather than settling for a clinch. This is the volume that most directly answers the \u201cwhich tie do I want where\u201d question, because it presents the overhook as the bottom-half answer and the underhook as the standing answer.<\/p>\n
The final volume addresses chest-to-chest contact \u2014 the stalemate position that stalls most scrambles \u2014 and adds leg entanglements plus a section on quick underhook counters. The counter material is the closest the course comes to defensive troubleshooting, and it is useful, but it is framed as a finish to the earlier offense rather than a standalone defensive syllabus.<\/p>\n
The realistic way to use this course is one position at a time, not all four at once. A grappler who already plays the dog fight can watch the first two parts in an evening and have a short, drillable chain \u2014 underhook to the back, whizzer to the toss \u2014 ready for the next open mat. The material is compact enough to be absorbed that way, which is the point of the Quick Concepts format.<\/p>\n
What it will not do is replace a dedicated positional study. The leg entanglements are entries rather than a full leg-lock system, the half-guard chapters assume you already have a functional half guard, and the standing throws reward someone who has drilled basic grip fighting. Treat it as a tie-reading layer you can bolt onto an existing No-Gi game, and it holds up; treat it as a complete system, and it will feel thin.<\/p>\n
This course fits blue-to-purple No-Gi grapplers, and experienced wrestlers or judo-adjacent athletes who are comfortable in the clinch, best. It rewards a grappler who already recognizes the dog fight, half guard, and standing ties and simply wants a clearer set of attacks from each one. Submission-grappling competitors who play a scramble-heavy, upper-body-tie game will get the most direct return.<\/p>\n
It is not for white belts. The material assumes grip and positional literacy, and the named throws and leg entries will read as disconnected techniques without that base. It is also a poor pick for anyone who wants a deep single-position system, and it will feel redundant to anyone who already owns Tonon\u2019s broader instructionals \u2014 Unifying The Systems or Shoot To Kill cover much of this ground in greater volume. Readers who already worked through Front Headlock Highlights, the previous Quick Concepts entry, will recognise the format and should weigh whether a second compact course adds enough to justify it.<\/p>\n
Quick Concepts: Underhook vs Overhook Garry Tonon DVD succeeds at the specific thing it promises: it turns the two most common upper-body ties into a clear set of next actions across four recurring positions, and it does so in a format short enough to watch and drill quickly. The underhook vs overhook comparison is the reason to buy, and Tonon\u2019s No-Gi overhook and half guard underhook material is genuinely useful for grapplers who already live in the dog fight and the clinch.<\/p>\n