---
title: "Only Way Out: Front Headlock and Turtle Escapes"
description: Brian Glick, black belt under John Danaher. Six volumes on escaping front headlock and turtle.
section: body
tags: [bjj, instructional, brian-glick, danaher-system, front-headlock, turtle]
genre: index
lastUpdated: 2026-04-26
url: https://fardiniqbal.com/docs/body/mat/sources/only-way-out
---




**Instructor:** Brian Glick, black belt under John Danaher.
**Lineage:** Danaher system.
**Volumes:** 6.
**Why I'm studying this:** I keep getting caught in front headlock and turtle. I want a framework for escaping them, not a bag of scrambles.

The series is dedicated to Mr. Danaher. Volume 01 is conceptual — three overarching principles and four foundational skills that sit underneath every specific technique in Volumes 02 through 06. Volumes 02–05 are the technique library proper; Volume 06 is an executive summary of the whole course.

## Volumes [#volumes]

* [**Volume 01** — Conceptual Foundations & Core Skills](/docs/body/mat/sources/only-way-out/volume-01)
  Dedication. Position overviews (front headlock, turtle). Three core principles. Four foundational skills. How to use the video.
* [**Volume 02** — Front Headlock: Technique Series](/docs/body/mat/sources/only-way-out/volume-02)
  Sit-through to half guard. Knee lever (locked hands). Trilemma (scoop sweep, take the back, knee slide). Two-on-one method. Arm drag series (back take, Sumi Gaeshi, Hiza Guruma). Snap-down reversal. Thumb-post drag and sucker drag (locked hands that won't open).
* **Volume 03** — Early-Stage Strangle Defenses *(not yet transcribed)*
  Guillotines (High Elbow, Seated Kata Gatame, Arm In). Anaconda (Elbow Kip, Sucker Drag). D'Arce / Inverted Katagatame (Power Half, Locked On).
* **Volume 04** — Go-Behind Defenses From Front Headlock *(not yet transcribed)*
  No Connection (Far Hip Drop, Shoulder Roll). Single Leg Control (Half Guard Trilemma, Double Leg, Ashi Garami). Tight Waist. Knee Block Counters (Outside, Cross, Armdrag).
* **Volume 05** — Escaping Turtle Position *(not yet transcribed)*
  2-on-1 wrist entries, pass-off methods. Near-side and far-side shoulder rolls against open hands, chest lock, body lock, seatbelt. Standing-up escapes hip-first and head-first. Special cases.
* **Volume 06** — Executive Summary *(not yet transcribed)*
  Condensed review of every technique across Volumes 02–05.

## The spine of the whole course [#the-spine-of-the-whole-course]

Volume 01 sets the conceptual spine. Every technique in the later volumes is the same three principles and four skills, recombined under different conditions. The principles: [back to the floor](/docs/body/mat/principles/back-to-floor), [inside position](/docs/body/mat/principles/inside-position), [retract](/docs/body/mat/principles/retract). The skills: [grip fighting](/docs/body/mat/skills/grip-fighting), [the elbow cut](/docs/body/mat/skills/elbow-cut), [the shoulder roll](/docs/body/mat/skills/shoulder-roll), [standing up](/docs/body/mat/skills/standing-up). Reading Volume 01 first is the prerequisite for making sense of anything else.

## Watching along [#watching-along]

Every timestamp button on this site opens the <BilibiliTimestamp at="00:00:00" label="Bilibili upload of Volume 01" /> at the exact second referenced. You can click any `[00:32:07]` inside a transcript, any timestamp button on a principle or skill page, and land at the moment of the source video that the note was taken from.