Importance of Penetration Step For Better Takedowns in BJJ

There are a number of techniques in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that you can learn to improve your game. Besides the techniques, there is also an option of takedowns. The practitioners in BJJ focus very lightly on these takedowns, and that is where they make mistakes. This mistake takes them behind their opponents, who have learnt and practiced the takedowns. With takedowns, you can lead the game against the opponent from the start of the match and get yourself dominant over them. But for effective takedowns, one thing that you all must learn is the penetration step. What is it, why is it so important for the execution of takedown, and how can you do it? Let's discuss in detail.

The penetration step, as the name indicates, involves entering into your opponent's space to get yourself into a position so that you can take your opponent down. The step involves just a forward motion. This is how the technique looks when it is seen without close-up. But once you observe it closely and dive into its small details, you come to know about the technique.

The penetration step is a wrestling technique, and wrestlers commonly use it when attempting the takedown against their opponent. With this technique, they move in a forward direction closer to their opponent. They set their position in such a way that they are able to attack under the centre of gravity of their opponent. This forward and inward movement helps you to generate a force to execute the takedown attempt.

The penetration step helps you to execute the takedown effectively and safely. It serves as a starting point for takedown execution and a source of force that you will utilize for takedown.

Previously, it was a concept practiced and discussed widely in the art of wrestling. But now it is spreading into other martial arts as well. It is mostly used for the takedowns related to the leg, such as the double leg and single leg takedowns.

Despite being a very crucial component of the takedowns, most BJJ practitioners don't give it any importance. It can be a difference between a grappler executing the perfect takedowns and the one getting failed again and again.

The following explains the step by step approach to perform a penetration step for the successful execution of a takedown:

The first step you need to take is to set your stance. This is a very important step because the stance you will set up initially in the first step impacts a lot. The stance you need is to keep yourself low compared to your opponent. You must keep your knees in a bent position. Also, the other thing you must do is to keep your back straight. This is often ignored by the BJJ practitioners, and they keep their back in a slightly bent stance. Keep your back straight, and this will strengthen your stance.

The second step is to move yourself toward the legs of your opponent. You must move while keeping the same stance as discussed in the above step. The mistake most BJJ practitioners make here in this step is that they focus on moving directly towards their opponent. Remember, you need to focus just on their legs. Move towards their legs in such a way that you are trying to get yourself in between their feet.

The third step you need to take is to lower your body even more. For this, lower your hips and move them towards the mat. Now, while doing this, you must keep your back straight and flat just like in the previous step. Also, keep your chest in an upright position. Lowering yourself even more in this step serves several benefits. For example, it will help you to keep yourself or your stance safe from your opponent’s attacks. Also, you will feel more power and force loaded in your body to generate against your opponent for a successful takedown attempt, particularly the leg takedowns.

The fourth step is not something to do. You just need to make sure of one thing here. Your front leg or leading leg is not placed on the mat with the leading knee. At the same time, your rear leg must also be very close to the mat in such a way that your rear knee is almost touching the mat.

• Now, the last step you need to take is driving through your opponent for a takedown attempt. In this step, you should focus on moving your chest forward and keeping your head upright. Now, push off and bring your back foot up.

• The above are all the steps you need to take to ensure you are doing the penetration step correctly for the takedown attempt. You also need to make sure to follow all the steps in the given sequence and not to alter them. This sequence of penetration steps will load and generate the explosive power and force required to generate the takedown attempt.

The following are some of the common mistakes that BJJ practitioners make, which you should avoid:

The first mistake most BJJ practitioners make is that they don't bend their knees. Instead, they bend themselves at their waists. These mistakes fail the penetration step, and by failure, we mean that you cannot have enough power and force generated for the takedown attempt. No power means no takedown, and in the worst scenario, it may even lead you to become vulnerable to various attacks by your opponent. So while moving forward towards your opponent’s legs, always bend yourself at your knees and not your waist.

The second mistake commonly observed during the execution of the penetration step is stepping your leg too far in the forward direction toward your opponent’s legs. Don't do this because this will create a lot of difficulty for you to drive yourself through your opponent and attempt the takedown. Also, if you need to recover yourself or your position, you might be able to do this because of driving yourself too far forward.

Ideally, what a practitioner should do is focus on driving both legs at the same time. When moving the lead leg forward, your rear leg must also move backward. The mistake commonly made by BJJ practitioners during the execution of the penetration step is that they don’t drive their rear leg as they move their leading leg. So keep both your legs in the same flow.

The fourth mistake commonly made by BJJ practitioners is that they keep their head down while doing the penetration step. Everyone knows that in BJJ, the head is the most vulnerable part of your body. If you are keeping your head lower, then your opponent can make several attacks on you using your head. They can start this by trapping your head. Then they can make guillotine chokes and many other chokes. Once your head gets trapped, it becomes very difficult for you to get it free from your opponent. So avoid it at all costs. Keep your head higher and don't let your opponent grab your head.

The BJJ is often considered a gentle art, and practitioners of Jiu-Jitsu don’t always focus on the takedowns. They focus more on the grappling and different techniques to dominate their opponents. But takedowns can also be utilized in BJJ, and the reason is that no matter which martial art you are practicing, you always have to start fighting while in the standing position. Just imagine you take your opponent down and take the lead on your opponent straight from the start of the match.

Moreover, even if you are not considering the takedowns in BJJ, you need to practice the penetration step for the stand-up grappling. So it does not matter whether you are attempting a takedown in BJJ or not; you must learn it due to its significance.

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you can utilize the penetration step in leg setups, such as single leg or double leg setups. This becomes even more significant when you are grappling in any match following the IBJJF rules.

The penetration step is more like the precision over power. This is also the main objective of BJJ, and that is to make the grapplers dominant over their opponents on the basis of skill, technique, and precision. Following this, you will experience that your movements have become smoother and controlled, and this will have an impact on your game.

Also, the third point is that even if you do not want to attempt a takedown on your opponent, you can still bait them. You can just show them that you are going to have the takedown on them by doing the penetration step. They will react and try to be in a defensive mode or an offensive stance. In both cases, they will become vulnerable in a way that you can attack them using the guard techniques.

• The penetration step also makes its space in the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). MMA is more like a striking game, just like BJJ is more like a grappling game. In MMA, you can implement the penetration step for connecting your opponent to the ground. It serves as a connection point between grappling and striking. The reason is that after the implementation of the penetration step, you are taking your opponent to the ground, and then all you have to rely on is the ground fighting or grappling. So it acts as a transition point from striking to grappling or from standing to lying. 

• If you are doing it correctly and following all the steps, then you don't have to worry about your head becoming vulnerable, and it also protects your neck. Your opponent will not be able to use their knees or uppercuts to make any attack on you, particularly involving the head. 

The takedowns are a very important concept in all martial arts. Previously, it was linked only to a few arts like wrestling. But now the concept is getting its widespread recognition. Now, even grappling martial arts like BJJ, which focus much more on ground fighting, are incorporating takedowns. For learning and implementing the takedowns, you must learn the penetration steps, which will allow you to improve your game in many other aspects as well. You can bait your opponent and make them vulnerable to numerous attacks. So it is always worth it to learn and practice penetration steps and implement them in your game.