What is Osoto Gari In BJJ? Ultimate Guide

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is full of techniques ranging from very easy to difficult and from less effective to the most effective techniques. The throws in BJJ are the most ignored concept. This is a common mistake made mostly by beginners. They have a focus on grappling techniques. These are also important, but throws make your game a lot more advantageous compared to the other grapplers. One of the throws that is very rarely used by the grapplers is Osoto Gari. If you are a beginner, you might be reading this word for the very first time. But you don’t need to be confused, as the following is the complete guide about BJJ Osoto Gari, its importance, and how you can do it.

The osoto gari in BJJ literally means “the large outer reap”. The technique itself does not solely belong to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but it is practiced in many other martial arts as well. One good example is Sambo, in which Osoto Gari is one of the first techniques that the practitioners learn. In this technique, you use your arms to grab and control your opponent, and then you unbalance them with your leg to force them to fall on the ground. So this is a relatively easier throw compared to the other throws, which you can use in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Let’s discuss how Osoto Gari works and what the main concept behind the technique is.

The Osoto Gari is one of the most essential takedowns that you can learn and implement in BJJ. No matter which martial art you are practicing or if you are in a street fight, the fight always starts in the standing position. With this statement, the importance of learning and practicing takedowns becomes very important. So, BJJ practitioners should try to learn some takedowns. This serves as a great starting point. You can put yourself at an advantage since the very start. But why Osoto Gari, and how it works? Let's discuss.

The Osoto Gari technique is very simple to do. Despite it being very simple, you can easily make it effective by following all the steps correctly in the mentioned order, as discussed in the next section. In the technique, you are unbalancing your opponent by controlling them with your grips. The posture is very important in a BJJ match. Losing your posture means you are losing control over yourself, and this will lead to a number of attacks by your opponent on you.

So, unbalancing your opponent means that you are making them lose their posture so that they can become vulnerable to your attacks. While gripping them with your arms, you are also moving your one leg closer to their leg. Now you have a golden opportunity to take them to the side control, mount, or even directly to the submission. To do this, you need to use the leg that you had taken closer to their leg. Use it to create a sweeping or reaping motion and move their leg backward, which will make them fall on their side.

The one thing that you must ensure during and after the technique or takedown is control. Maintain control all the time over your opponent, especially when you have successfully executed the technique. This control will help you to gain any dominant position, such as a mount, which you can lead further to the submission.

The following is the step by step approach to execute the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Osoto Gari:

The first step is to grab your opponent strongly. You can do this by establishing the grips on various parts of your opponent’s body. The best body parts of your opponent for you to have a grip depend on whether you are practicing Gi Jiu Jitsu or No Gi Jiu Jitsu. So if you are in a Gi BJJ, establish your grips on the sleeve and collar. On the other hand, if you are practicing in BJJ without wearing a Gi, then try to control their triceps and wrists. You can use a collar tie or have an overhook. This initial step ensures that you have complete control over your opponent before you can make any next move for the Osoto Gari. These grips are essential for disrupting the posture of your opponent.

The second step is to unbalance or off balance your opponent. It means to disrupt the posture of your opponent. You can do this easily by moving your opponent. You have established the grips, and now you have complete control over your opponent. So you can move them easily. Move them slightly forward and to their side. This forward and sideways movement of your opponent forces them to put all their pressure on their forward leg and stand in the same way. So their balance is disrupted, and they cannot maintain their posture. This allows you to implement your remaining moves easily.

The next step is to move closer to your opponent. You need to move your leg closer to your opponent’s leg. Get yourself closer in such a way that your chest is much closer and in the same line as the chest of your opponent. Keep yourself in an upright position and maintain your posture.

Now this is the most crucial step of the takedown technique. In this step, you need to swing your leg. Not only swing, you need to reap the leg across your opponent. For this, move your leg that is closer to your opponent’s leg in a wide circle in such a way that the leg moves across the back leg of your opponent. The one thing that is very important here is that you need to keep your leg straight while your are reaping it across your opponent. If you bend it even slightly, the takedown might not become successful, and your opponent might attack your leg.

The next step is to control your opponent while they are falling to the ground. This is the important step, and most beginners make the mistake here, that they let go of their opponent completely and don’t control them once they start falling to the ground. This will give your opponent a chance to regain their rhythm and get themselves into a dominant position. So, what you should do here ideally is that you need to follow them on their way to the ground once they start following. Control them and don’t let them go.

The last step is to get yourself into the dominant position. You are already dominant over your opponent. You just need to make sure to continue your dominance and get any dominant position after falling. You can get yourself into a side control, mount, or other positions like these. You can also go for the submissions.

The following are the reasons which explain why the Osoto Gari is very effective in BJJ:

The Osoto Gari is considered one of the most effective takedowns in Brazilian Jitsu. It has numerous reasons behind it. One of them is its simplicity. Being simple means that the technique is very easy to execute with a little bit of effort.

Another reason is that the technique takes advantage of the posture disruption. It is a very important reason. Disrupting posture leads your opponent to lose control over themselves. Another thing is the reaction of your opponent. When you are moving your opponent forward and sideways, in a common reaction, they try to move themselves backward, and this gives you a golden opportunity to reap their leg.

The takedown is very versatile in its nature. It means that you can use it with many other techniques, such as Ouchi Gari, which is another takedown technique. If you are in No Gi BJJ, you can use it from the clinch. Moreover, at the end of the technique, you will have multiple options to get yourself dominant over your opponent, such as side control and mount. The technique is not discriminative, and you can use it to implement against all types of opponents, whether they are small or large. The only thing you need to ensure is the accurate timing and all the steps as discussed above in the correct order.

Moreover, the control you maintain even after you have successfully achieved the target and made your opponent fall on the ground ensures you are dominant over your opponent.

You must avoid any mistakes in the execution of the Osoto Gari BJJ takedown. The following are the most common mistakes made by practitioners, especially by beginners, during the execution of the technique:

The first mistake BJJ practitioners make is not keeping your control of the opponent for a sufficient time. You must have them under your control strongly. Also, you must have throughout your technique execution and even after it.

The second mistake, which is very common among beginners, is that you are not following your opponent after the technique execution. Keep following them and controlling them, leading you to get the dominant position over them. This provides you with the opportunity to execute other dominant techniques. So don't lose this opportunity.

Another mistake that is very common and people often don't consider a mistake is that they use only their legs to generate force to execute the takedown. You should involve your hips and body weight in this, and this will help you a lot, and also you will be able to generate more force.

The fourth mistake is not maintaining your posture. What most practitioners do is that they lean themselves forward and into their opponent. The right posture is that you must keep yourself in an upright position, and your chest must be aligned with the chest of your opponent. Incorrect posture will make your position and technique lose, and you will be easily beaten by your opponent. So posture is very critical.

The fifth mistake is having weak grips on your opponent. Weak grips mean losing control over them, and this leads to the failure of the execution of the technique. So have strong grips to maintain good control over them.

Some practitioners reap too early when they have not sufficiently unbalanced their opponent. This also leads to the failure of the technique. So don't reap unless you have successfully unbalanced them.

The Osoto Gari is a very effective takedown technique in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It is also beginner friendly which means that it is so simple and easy to execute that even a beginner can learn and implement it in the game. Moreover, the technique is itself very versatile. You can follow it with a number of other dominant techniques. You can also combine it with many other techniques. The best thing about it is that it is effective against opponents of all sizes, so it works whether your opponent is small or large. You just need to ensure that you are following all the steps in the correct order and as they are discussed above.