At it’s core BJJ is an incredibly effective way of fighting on the ground.
But the sad truth is that grapplerts who haven’t trained in Judo or wrestling can often have a lot of problems getting the fight to the ground.
In fact the only plan many BJJ practitioners have for getting a match to the ground is to pull guard, end of story.
While I believe that pulling guard can sometimes be the right thing to do in certain circumstances, it’s certainly not the be-all and end-all.
First of all, in a match you might need to score a couple of quick points; maybe the best way to do that is with a takedown. And against someone with wicked guard passing skills you might want to make sure you end up on top, which is made a lot easier with takedowns.
And finally there aren’t too many self defines situations where pulling guard is a good idea…
Now you don’t neccesarily need to spend years training Judo or wrestling, but everyone should have at least a couple of takedown options in their back pocket.
Here’s a Youtube video I shot with my friend Elliott Bayev in which he breaks down a couple of simple and highly effective takedowns you might want add to your repertoire.
In the video Elliott talks about how this is an extremely efficient technique to use against someone bigger than you.
But I’ve got a confession to make: even though I’m not a small guy, the first technique is also one of my go to techniques. The bottom line is that what works well for smaller people usually works even better for bigger people!
Anyway, it’s a great starting point with a couple of techniques you can start using right away and then rely on for the rest of your grappling career.
Click here for other articles on this website related to throws and takedowns.