6,066 Hours of BJJ Instruction: A Market Analysis
We crunched the numbers on every BJJ instructional in our database. Here's what 3,393 titles, 1,230 instructors, and 150 categories tell us about how jiu-jitsu is taught and where the market is headed.
The BJJ instructional market has exploded over the past decade. What was once a niche corner of martial arts (a few DVDs sold at seminars) has grown into a massive digital content industry. But how massive, exactly?
We queried the GrappleDB database to find out.
The Big Numbers
6,066 hours. That's 253 full days of continuous video. If you watched 2 hours per day, it would take you over 8 years to watch everything. Nobody needs to. But the sheer volume means there's an instructional for practically every technique, position, and situation in jiu-jitsu.
What Gets Taught the Most?
The category breakdown reveals what the market thinks grapplers want to learn:
| # | Category | Titles | Avg Runtime | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guard | 540 | 3h 21m | $119 |
| 2 | Submissions | 496 | 2h 47m | $105 |
| 3 | Wrestling | 357 | 1h 40m | $79 |
| 4 | Guard Passing | 343 | 3h 27m | $115 |
| 5 | Striking | 302 | 1h 44m | $90 |
| 6 | Judo | 168 | 1h 51m | $83 |
| 7 | Takedowns | 138 | 2h 52m | $110 |
| 8 | Fundamentals | 138 | 5h 37m | $166 |
| 9 | Escapes | 134 | 4h 20m | $148 |
| 10 | Back Attacks | 111 | 4h 55m | $139 |
Guard work dominates with 540 titles, which tracks given that guard is the most complex and varied position in BJJ. Submissions come in second at 496, followed by wrestling at 357.
The Depth vs. Breadth Gap
Notice the dramatic difference in average runtime across categories. Fundamentals instructionals average 5 hours 37 minutes, reflecting that these are full foundations courses for beginners. Back attacks average nearly 5 hours. But wrestling and striking content averages under 2 hours, reflecting the more technique-focused nature of those categories.
The Price Signal
Pricing roughly tracks runtime: longer fundamentals courses command $166 on average, while shorter wrestling content averages $79. But though there are exceptions: some short premium titles from big names cost more per hour than comprehensive beginner courses.
The Release Boom (and Bust)
Year-by-year release data, industry growth and then contraction:
| Year | Titles Released | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 3 | — |
| 2018 | 119 | +3,867% |
| 2019 | 149 | +25% |
| 2020 | 524 | +252% |
| 2021 | 764 | +46% |
| 2022 | 562 | -26% |
| 2023 | 343 | -39% |
| 2024 | 313 | -9% |
| 2025 | 234 | -25% |
The pattern is striking. The market was tiny in 2017–2019, then exploded in 2020. When gyms closed worldwide, grapplers turned to instructionals for study material, and platforms scrambled to meet demand.
2021 was the absolute peak at 764 new titles. Since then, the market has contracted year over year. By 2024, new releases had dropped to 313, less than half the 2021 peak.
What's Driving the Decline?
Several likely factors:
- Market saturation. With 3,393 titles already out there, it's harder for new instructionals to stand out. Do we really need a 15th half guard instructional?
- Platform competition. Submeta and JiuJitsu X have entered the market with subscription models that compete with BJJ Fanatics' individual purchase model.
- Quality over quantity. Top instructors may be releasing fewer but more comprehensive titles rather than churning out content.
- Return to in-person training. As gyms reopened post-COVID, the urgency to buy instructionals diminished.
The Long Tail of Instructors
Of the 1,230 instructors in the database, the distribution is heavily skewed. A small number produce most of the content:
- The top 10 instructors account for over 500 titles, roughly 15% of the entire market.
- The top 30 instructors account for roughly 30% of all titles.
- The majority of instructors (700+) have released just 1 or 2 titles.
This long-tail distribution means the market is dominated by a small number of prolific producers, while most instructors have a tiny footprint. If you're wondering who those prolific producers are, see our most prolific instructors analysis.
Skill Level: The Missing Data
Only 6% of instructionals in the database have a defined skill level. Of those that do:
- Advanced: 109 titles
- Intermediate: 83 titles
- Beginner: 18 titles
Only 18 instructionals are explicitly tagged as beginner-level, despite beginners being the group that arguably needs them most. Most instructionals don't label their difficulty level at all, leaving buyers to guess based on the title and instructor.
The Three Vendors
The current market is served by three main platforms:
- BJJ Fanatics: The dominant marketplace with the largest catalog. Individual purchase model with frequent sales.
- Submeta: Subscription-based platform with focused, shorter content (heavy on Lachlan Giles).
- JiuJitsu X: Newer entrant with its own roster of instructors.
What This Means for Buyers
The sheer volume of content is both a blessing and a curse. There is genuinely excellent instructional content available for every position and technique in jiu-jitsu. But finding the right instructional for your level and goals requires sifting through thousands of options.
That's exactly why we built GrappleDB. Browse the full catalog of 3,393 instructionals, filter by category, compare options side by side, and read community reviews to make informed decisions.
For deeper dives into specific aspects of the market, see our other analyses: