Top Takedown Strategies To Learn From Wrestling For BJJ Practitioners

There are more than 150 martial arts in the world. Each martial art is different and teaches you a set of unique techniques, all with a basic purpose of learning and making you able to defend yourself. BJJ is a gentle martial art. It means that it lacks brutal and explosive techniques. You should borrow the explosive takedowns from wrestling and implement them in your game. This will make your game a hundred times better. But which technique should you add to your game? Let’s explore the best takedown strategies from wrestling for adding to your game.

• There are many martial arts that are practiced worldwide. Some of these arts are very effective, while others are not that effective. But you cannot name any single martial art that is considered perfect all over the world. Some think that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a very effective and true martial art, while others think that Muay Thai and boxing are superior. So there is a lot of difference in opinions, and so is the case between the martial arts. The reason for this opinion difference is that no martial art is perfect, and this is not a myth.

• This is a fact. So if you are in any martial art, you cannot rely fully on that one to make you perfect. Someone with a different martial arts technique can overthrow you in seconds. So you need to learn and equip some of the moves and techniques from other martial arts into your art to improve your techniques overall. This will make you a better martial artist.

• You will be in an advantageous position when you fight against an opponent of the same martial art. Moreover, the more techniques you learn, the more skills you keep in your bucket, and the more you will be able to achieve the numerous benefits of training in martial arts. So make it crucial for you to learn and adopt the techniques, movements, skills, and tactics from other martial arts into yours.

• The same concept goes with your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which is becoming the most popular martial art with each passing year. The increase in the number of learners demonstrates its effectiveness. No matter how effective BJJ is, there is always room for some improvement that you can make in the art, which is very helpful for you. This is also true for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It is a very wonderful art, but still, you can improve it by borrowing techniques from other martial arts; after all, the benefit is yours. You will be at an advantage against your opponent.

• Moreover, there are martial arts that focus on a single niche and make their learners the master of that particular niche or skill. For example, Muay Thai teaches you effective striking. Boxing teaches you how to throw effective punches, and in the same way, in wrestling, you can learn how to take your opponent down effectively. You can learn a lot of effective strategies that will help you in the takedowns, and you can apply them in the BJJ. So you should learn the top takedown strategies from wrestling and implement and execute the same in your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu matches, keeping in mind to execute only the legal techniques and not the illegal ones.

Following are the top takedown strategies that you can adopt from wrestling into your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu game:

• The first takedown you should learn from wrestling is the double leg takedown. It is very effective against your opponent, and they will find it very difficult to defend themselves against you. The only thing you need to make sure of is that you do the takedown correctly. The technique consists of five different steps. The following are given in the right order, so you need to make sure you are following all the steps in the same order as given below:

• The first step in the double leg takedown is the drop step. In this step, you are moving yourself downward toward the ground. You will act like you are squatting. Your upper body will move downward, and you will keep all your weight on your legs as if you are sitting on a chair. So, for doing this step, you need to bend your legs.

• The second step of the double leg takedown is the penetration. It means to enter into your opponent’s space. So in this step, you will move yourself toward your opponent’s legs to grab them. Make sure you are doing this step while keeping yourself in a bending position. This is the main step, as you are grabbing your opponent’s legs for a takedown attempt. Grab them with both your hands. You should have a strong grip so that your opponent cannot escape from you. One way to have a strong grip is by locking your arms or hands across your opponent once you have grabbed them.

• The third step of the double leg takedown is the stepping up. Once you have grabbed the legs of your opponent tightly, the next step is to move yourself upwards. While moving yourself up, make sure your opponent’s legs are in your trap. Don’t let them free. Get your legs straightened up so that you can move up.

• The last step is to drive yourself forward. It means that you have to move forward after moving up. Driving forward after you have moved up while you have your opponent’s legs in your arms will make sure that you are successful in your takedown attempt. Drive and then move downward. It will make you and your opponent fall to the ground. You will become dominant, and your opponent will become submissive instantly.

• While performing the double leg takedown, you just have to make sure that you are following all the steps given above and in the right order, as discussed above. The next thing is that you should not perform the takedown slowly. Instead, do it quickly so your opponent doesn’t have the time to react to your takedown.

• The sprawl is the second wrestling technique that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners should learn and adopt into their game. It is more like a defensive technique that you can execute or implement when your opponent is trying to make a takedown attempt on you. It is considered the perfect counter or defense move against the single or double leg takedown technique.

• So whenever your opponent tries the takedown attempt on you, execute the sprawl technique, and whether you are defending against the single leg or double leg, you can defend very effectively and efficiently against both techniques. In the sprawl technique, the main focus is on moving the legs away from your opponent so that they cannot grab your legs. Moving away from the legs will prevent your opponent from using their takedown technique.

• You should follow all the steps given below for executing, defending, and countering yourself against your opponent’s single or double leg takedown attempt. The first step is to get ready. You should always get ready both physically and mentally to protect yourself or counter the single or double leg takedown attempt. Your opponent can execute the technique at any time during the match, particularly when you are starting the match. So get yourself ready to counter the takedown.

• The second step involves the movement of your legs. When you notice that your opponent is penetrating you, you should know that they are trying for a leg takedown attempt. They will show various other signs before actually trying to grab your legs. These signs might include stepping down, then stepping up, getting closer to you, and other signs like these. So whenever you notice your opponent doing any of these things, get ready to move your legs. When they get close to your legs, quickly move your legs away from your opponent’s hands. This does not end here. You have saved your legs, but you can convert their takedown attempt into making them submissive. So as you move your legs, extend their body as it will be easy for you because they will be at the bottom. They will be driving forward towards you. You just have to continue their momentum with your hands while saving your legs.

• The next step is the head control of your opponent. As you know, the head is the most critical part of your body while you are grappling. So control their head with your hands. You should do this with your hips because it will be very easy for you, but if you cannot do it with your hips, you can control it with your hands. It will produce the same effect.

• While doing the above step, make sure you are keeping your chest and head up and not moving them downwards.

• Now is the time for an attack on your opponent. You should not let them go. You should use their momentum against them. So after doing everything mentioned above, you should transition to other submissions. For example, you already have their head, so go for the front headlock lock, or you can also try the guillotine choke on them. So there are a number of options to do from here.

The third technique from wrestling you should learn is the single leg takedown. It is exactly like the double leg takedown, with only one difference. In a double leg takedown, you only target one leg of your opponent, whereas in a single leg takedown, you grab only one leg of your opponent, and that leg is preferably the one that is closer to you, so that it is easier to grab the leg.

The following are the steps given to execute the single leg takedown against your opponent:

• In the first step, drop your body down just like you did in the double leg takedown. Position yourself as if you are doing the squat.

• In the next step, you have to enter your opponent’s space.

• Once you have entered the space, which means that you are now in the region much closer to your opponent’s legs, grab your opponent’s leg. Prioritize yourself, grabbing the leg that is closer to you. It will help you grab and then do the further steps.

• Now, after grabbing your opponent’s one leg only, make your grip stronger. Move both your arms across your opponent’s leg and lock your hands around their leg.

• Now move yourself up while keeping your opponent’s leg in your arms.

• Drive yourself forward and then fall on the ground.

• As you drop yourself on the ground, you will be on top, and your opponent will be on the bottom.

• The blast double is the fourth technique you should learn from wrestling. It is similar in many steps to the single leg takedown. The blast double is composed of the two words. The word blast means that you have to run fast toward your opponent. You have to make a move very quickly and speedily. You cannot let them know your move. Be so explosive that they don’t know what just happened. The word double means here that you are holding or lifting both their legs, not a single one. You will attack both their legs.
• So, for doing the blast double, move yourself slightly down and at the same time drive yourself forward towards your opponent’s legs. Hold their legs. You don’t need to grab their legs strongly here in this takedown technique because here you are just using their legs as a support base for a takedown attempt. So after attacking their legs, drive forward, lift them slightly, and then drop them on the ground. You are on top, being dominant and successfully completed the takedown attempt.

The last technique among the best takedown strategies in wrestling is the body lock takedown technique. The body lock takedown is the technique in which you lock your opponent’s body and then take them to the ground. This technique is best performed in the clinched position. When you are in such a position, establish the double underhooks by getting your arms underneath. Now lock your arms across your opponent’s back. Lock strongly and then lift them off the ground. You don’t need to lift much higher. Just lift them slightly above the ground and then drop them on the mat. This is the best technique to perform when you are clinched by your opponent.

Wrestling is a martial art that is full of explosive techniques. At the same time, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is often considered a gentle martial art. So you can compensate for that by taking some explosive takedown techniques from the BJJ and implementing them in your BJJ match. Start with these takedowns and learn them one by one. Use them in your drilling, sparring, and positional training, and then continue training them until you become a master at them, and then move to the next technique.