Takedowns Most Commonly Used in BJJ Competition

[Stephan Kesting]

I just wrote a new article called The Top 10 Takedowns for BJJ http://www.grapplearts.com/top-throws-takedowns-for-bjj

I'm not aware of anyone who has done a statistical breakdown of this topic, so the list based on what I see in competition

1, Double Leg
2, Single Leg
3, Low Single
4, Ankle Pick
5, Tomoe Nage
6, Inside Trip
7, Foot Sweep
8, Uchi Mata
9, Drop Seio Nage
10, Yoko Sumi Gaeshi
Bonus: 11: Pulling guard directly into a sweep

Some of my rationales (and lots of instructional videos) in the blog posts.

Whaddya think? Did I leave any out?

 

[Uchi Mata]

That's a pretty good list. It's interesting to see how the distribution changes over weight classes though. At lower weights to the extent you see any TDs they're almost all kouchi gari, ankle picks, and single legs. Higher weights you start seeing more Judo, I think mostly because the stances get much more upright.

 

[loyalyolayal]

o goshi?

 

[pesadissimo]

Body locks?

 

[Zankou]

You don't see o goshi or body locks much in the gi. It is too hard to get that deep penetration and control unless your opponent really sucks.

The one I might add is morote seoi nage, based solely on Rodolfo's prolific use of it. In many ways it is superior for gi BJJ competition to drop seoi -- it is safer and works better with combinations.

Totally agree with Uchi mata on the weight class thing, it tends to determine which takedowns work best.

 

[Uchi Mata]

You don't see o goshi or body locks much in the gi. It is too hard to get that deep penetration and control unless your opponent really sucks.

The one I might add is morote seoi nage, based solely on Rodolfo's prolific use of it. In many ways it is superior for gi BJJ competition to drop seoi -- it is safer and works better with combinations.

Totally agree with Uchi mata on the weight class thing, it tends to determine which takedowns work best.

Rodolfo almost always drops for his seio nage. Dropping is not ippon or morote specific.

 

[Zankou]

That's true, my bad. Actually Kesting posts an awesome Travis Stephens vid on drop morote. He really shows perfect kuzushi too, it took me two years to realize you are not really pulling the guy in so much as you are creating a 'hole' to turn through. Excessive pulling makes it impossible to turn or get under the guy because you are locked too tight to him.

[YT]h2XVUAiv2mU#t=138[/YT]

I really think somebody needs to make a basic tsurikomi vid that explains this all better. The Difficult Way is the best explanation I've seen, but it's still not there.

 

[Stephan Kesting]

Word! Kuzushi is the key to almost every Judo throw, and it's so poorly understood by the vast majority of recreational players trying to work on their Judo. I'll have to look up the video you cited - haven't heard of it before

 

[Uchi Mata]

That's true, my bad. Actually Kesting posts an awesome Travis Stephens vid on drop morote. He really shows perfect kuzushi too, it took me two years to realize you are not really pulling the guy in so much as you are creating a 'hole' to turn through. Excessive pulling makes it impossible to turn or get under the guy because you are locked too tight to him.

[YT]h2XVUAiv2mU#t=138[/YT]

I really think somebody needs to make a basic tsurikomi vid that explains this all better. The Difficult Way is the best explanation I've seen, but it's still not there.

It's true. People worry about getting this huge pull as if the throwing motion is just you beasting the guy off his feet. That never works in randori, because it's fundamentally stupid. If I want to move you off your feet and to the ground, I'm going to use my rear deltoids? Come on. What you're doing with the pull is creating an opening to enter with a hip, leg, etc, while getting uke just enough off balance to prevent him from resetting his feet to hip out and block the throw (or otherwise avoid it). The pull doesn't need to be huge, but you need minimal time between starting the pull and entering. The pull just creates an instant where you can enter and uke can't reset his posture. The throwing action is typically a hip action (o goshi, standing seio nage), a leg action (uchi mata, harai goshi), or a blocking motion that results in uke's upper body being led to where his feet can't follow (sasae, tai otoshi, drop seio nage).

Incidentally, you can really feel this when you get thrown by excellent judoka. The throws don't feel like you got dragged forward and then turned over, they generally feel like you got turned on an axis in space. For example, when a really skilled seio nage specialist hits you with a drop seio, you really don't move much forward. Your back hits the mat only a few inches in front of where your feet were planted prior to the throw, because what he did was open you up and drop in between your legs and then pull you forward while blocking your legs with his body, essentially turning you head over heels rather than forcing you to do a front roll, which is what it feels like when a strong but unskilled person hits you with drop seio. Many throws actually feel like this: a clean uchi mata you get turned on a horizontal axis but you end up pretty much where you started, a good tomoe nage same thing as seio but with a prop rather than a block. Good hip throws feel like you got popped up and dropped in pretty much the same area of space, which you did since the hip lift is what threw you and not some huge pull forward. Generally the more you move across the mat from a throw the less cleanly it was applied.

 

[Dirty Holt]

You are leaving out #3 and #4 most common takedowns in BJJ which are defensive go behinds and snap down/front headlock.

 

[Stephan Kesting]

You are leaving out #3 and #4 most common takedowns in BJJ which are defensive go behinds and snap down/front headlock.

Do you mean in gi BJJ or no-gi submission wrestling. I completely agree that those frequently occur without the gi, but you rarely see duckunders and snap downs with the gi IMO

 

[JudokaUK]

I really think somebody needs to make a basic tsurikomi vid that explains this all better. The Difficult Way is the best explanation I've seen, but it's still not there.

The reason I didn't make a video is that everyone would then be able to see how crap at Judo I really am.

 

[Dirty Holt]

Do you mean in gi BJJ or no-gi submission wrestling. I completely agree that those frequently occur without the gi, but you rarely see duckunders and snap downs with the gi IMO

I never said anything about a duck under. Im talking about when guy goes for a shot and is immediately countered by a go behind, or is snapped off of his shot into a front headlock and forced to pull guard giving up a takedown.

Watch this video from Mundials last month. I count at least 6 times in the black belt finals alone where this happens. Thats just one tournament at one belt last month in the gi. Bad shots are far more frequent at lower levels where go behinds and snapdown/front headlocks are even more prevalent.

[YT]TOmdut8SGcU[/YT]

 

[Kozbot]

I just wrote a new article called The Top 10 Takedowns for BJJ http://www.grapplearts.com/top-throws-takedowns-for-bjj

I'm not aware of anyone who has done a statistical breakdown of this topic, so the list based on what I see in competition

1, Double Leg
2, Single Leg
3, Low Single
4, Ankle Pick
5, Tomoe Nage
6, Inside Trip
7, Foot Sweep
8, Uchi Mata
9, Drop Seio Nage
10, Yoko Sumi Gaeshi
Bonus: 11: Pulling guard directly into a sweep

Some of my rationales (and lots of instructional videos) in the blog posts.

Whaddya think? Did I leave any out?

Shitty outside trips

 

[AgonyandIrony]

I can't be the only one hitting ouchi gari.

 

[seatea]

I can't be the only one hitting ouchi gari.

#6: inside trip.

 

[nodferatu]

Uki Waza is my favorite throw and I'm seeing it more now - Most don't know this is actually a throw though.

[YT]L1W2f_Gehbk[/YT]

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

Rodolfo almost always drops for his seio nage. Dropping is not ippon or morote specific.

And it's not just Rodolfo. A lot of the GFT guys prefer the same style of seio nage.

 

[Thai Otoshi]

Rodolfo almost always drops for his seio nage. Dropping is not ippon or morote specific.

Shit, it even works with the Korean morote. It's the only seoi nage variation that I'll drop for.

 

[Stephan Kesting]

Uki Waza is my favorite throw and I'm seeing it more now - Most don't know this is actually a throw though.

[YT]L1W2f_Gehbk[/YT]

I've actually seen that throw a few times in BJJ competition now. I'm not sure that it's top 10, but it certainly does seem to be effective!