How Not to Break Your Neck Doing Takedowns

There’s no getting around it, all contact sports are inherently dangerous.  And it’s hard to have more contact in a sport than in MMA.

Now it’s true that MMA might not be the most dangerous contact sport – that dubious title could arguably go to boxing or pro football – but in the past few years there have still been been some very, very serious injuries in MMA related to takedowns…

Like several broken necks. Paralysis. Quadriplegia.

Which is awful.

One of the most dangerous moments is when you’re shooting in and get your head caught in someone’s guillotine choke.

At this point, if you turn the correct way, then the guillotine will be largely powerless (and you’ll be out of danger) when you hit the ground.  If you turn the wrong way, however, then you can still take him down BUT the chances of damaging your neck rise exponentially.

All this this is laid out super well in a 5 minute Youtube video I recently found online. I’ve never met these guys (they’re in Australia) but everything they say rings true.

Even if you mainly do submission grappling and BJJ you should still know this stuff!

Here’s how NOT to break your neck doing double leg and single leg takedowns:

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