Takedown Action Plan
During the years as a competitor and coach…
There have been students who are excellent guard players, guard passers and submission hunters…
But these same students sometimes have no idea what to do from their feet.
They’re helpless at the start of each new round – you can see the anxiety on their faces until they pull guard… or even worse…
…they get taken down.
Then they are forced to start (from a position they didn’t choose…)
I’ve always found that approach to be very inefficient and leaves you multiple steps behind when you cannot do takedowns.
Especially when you watch other students with a clear understanding of takedowns. They have so much more confidence from the opening moments.
Actually…
The reason some students love standing up and doing take downs is because they know how much their opponents hate it.
What’s funny – often times those students aren’t technically more skilled on the feet. They just have a greater knowledge of small details such as grips and grip fighting…
Off balancing (Kuzushi)…
Footwork…
And how to chain takedown techniques together.
Ironically, this knowledge and confidence is enough to help beginner students compete with more advanced sparring partners.
When your stand up game has focus, your plan of action becomes even more clear! You can begin Jiu Jitsu attacks at a supreme advantage starting point that can often leave opponents in an almost impossible path to escape. When they are taken to the ground - they land and they are trapped! They’re forced to over extend or take massive risk to escape only to find themselves in an even deeper trap.
Over the years a takedown system has been developed in the curriculum here at Bushido that could work for anyone… not all takedowns have to be dramatic self-sacrificing throws or major athletic feats. They can be controlled positional wins.
From complete beginners to advanced Judokas who are unsure how to transfer their skills to Jiu Jitsu - we aim to help all our athletes.
Come and see what we’re all about!
