Tag Archives: Takedowns
Sumo Wrestling: Practical Techniques for the Martial Artist
Written by: Andrew Zerling
Originally published in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts – Volume 21 Number 1 – 2012
All photos courtesy of Aikido Centers of New Jersey – Manasquan Dojo, except where noted. (more…)
A Surprising Way to Pull Guard...
Should you pull guard in competition? And if you decide to pull guard, then how do you do it correctly?
In a certain sense, I am uniquely unqualified to answer these questions…
You see, much of my BJJ comes from 8th degree black belt Marcus Soares, and Marcus is very much from the old-school Carlson Gracie way of doing things. (more…)
How to Counter the Armlock from the Underhook
If you have any exposure to standup grappling then you know the power of a standing underhook. It allows you to dominate your opponent, move him around, and set up lots of throws, takedowns and other moves. (more…)
A reader writes: Hi Stephan, I’ve been doing BJJ for about 6 months and am wondering if you have any advice about what to do when you’re starting on the knees?
I find that most wrestling-style takedowns are very difficult to do from the knees, especially because my opponents are really good at sprawling. (more…)
Best Takedown vs. Larger Opponents?
Every grappler needs to have a basic understanding of takedowns. You don’t want to be so uni-dimensional that you have no idea how to take somebody down.
But the problem is that not every takedown you learn from Judo or wrestling will work on someone a lot bigger and stronger than you. (more…)
Judo and BJJ Cross-training
Judo has a lot to offer to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners. And vice versa. Judo places more emphasis on throwing, of course, and BJJ is more ground-oriented, but Judo groundwork (known as ‘newaza‘) isn’t entirely dissimilar to BJJ groundwork. (more…)
5 Ways You Can Best use Open Mat in BJJ
A Guest Article by Mark Mullen
The majority of most BJJ’ers training time is spent attending structured classes at their academy. And most academies divide their structured classes into 3 portions: (more…)
The Sakuraba-Style Standing Kimura
The first time someone showed me the standing Kimura attack I was pretty skeptical…
I was like, “yeah, that would never work, not in a million years!” (more…)
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… (more…)
Counter vs. Opponent Catching your Kick
In MMA a sharp striker can sometimes counter a determined grappler. But to do this they have to know how to mix their striking with standup wrestling, like in this technique! (more…)
Takedown and Neck Crank vs. Thai Kick
Photos and explanation that show the transition from Blocked Thai Kick to a takedown and neck crank.
Clinch to Inside Trip to Heel Hook vs. Punching
Closing the gap in MMA can be the most dangerous part of the fight. Sometimes throwing fake strikes allows you to get in close enough to take your opponent down… (more…)
Sprawl Counter vs. Double Leg Tackle
If you try a sloppy takedown in MMA you could end up paying a hefty price. Here’s how your takedown gone wrong might go down… (more…)
Double Leg Shoot vs. Right Cross
A lot of MMA fights have been won by someone shooting a double leg takedown just as their opponent throws a big right cross… (more…)
BJJ Self Defense: After the Takedown, Now What?
An Article by Brad Parker
Brad Parker runs Defend University (www.defendu.com), a research and development group dedicated to the exploration of leading edge techniques and strategies for self-defense, security and defensive tactics. (more…)
Judo and BJJ: How They Help Each Other
An Interview with Daniel McCormick,
2008 US National Judo Championship Winner, 2009 Judo Olympian
Stephan’s note: This is the transcript of an audio interview I did with Daniel McCormick. You can either read the interview below or listen/download the audio by doing one of the following: (more…)
Judo for BJJ, An Olympian's Perspective
One of the most neglected areas of BJJ training is takedowns. Which is a shame, for a couple of reasons… (more…)
Marc Laimon's Takedown on Ryron Gracie
In these photos Marc Laimon shows some of the techniques he used to defeat Ryron Gracie at Grappler’s Quest in Las Vegas, November 6th, 2004.
(more…)
Countering the Double Leg with a Sitout & Switch
I respect most grappling arts, not just BJJ. Freestyle and collegiate wrestling, in particular, have a lot to offer to submission grapplers and BJJ practitioners. Obviously we can get a lot of good throws and takedowns from wrestling, but we can also ‘steal’ some very powerful moves on the ground as well. (more…)
The Double Leg Takedown in MMA
I recently had the opportunity to meet up with my friend and professional fighter Denis Kang. I wanted to pick his brain about some MMA techniques. He shared a lot of stuff, and because I had a video camera with me I can now pass that information on to you. (more…)
Submission Grappling Leglock
Leglocks have been around for a long time, but modern grapplers use them in slightly different contexts than classical grapplers. Here’s how a submission grappler might link a takedown and a match-ending ankle-lock…
(This technique is from the Submission Grappling vs. Classical Ju-Jutsu article on Grapplearts.com)
(more…)
Combining the Thai Clinch With The Double Leg Takedown
Today’s goodie is a report written by my online friend John Will, discussing how to combine the deadly Muay Thai clinch position with the double leg takedown (arguably the highest percentage takedown in MMA). (more…)
Combining Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Wrestling and Striking in MMA Training
A few days ago I foolishly did a strength and conditioning workout late at night. I ALWAYS find it impossible to get to sleep right after strenuous training, so to relax I sat down on a treadmill and talked to a video camera. (more…)
Denis Kang: Double Leg Tackle Counter to Neck Lock
This may seem like a flashy technique, but it definitely works. It can be used standing or on the knees to get to a match-ending neck lock submission. (more…)
Functional Training Gone Bad
Today I’m going to tell you about one of the sillier ideas I’ve ever had…
About 10 years ago I got interested in functional training and sports specific exercises. I wanted to get away from the Pec Deck and do exercises that more closely mimicked the movements I was using on a daily basis in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo and wrestling. (more…)
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