How often do you guys train takedowns at your academy?

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Sorry if this has been asked before, but I'm just curious about the general level of takedown proficiency out there.

I went to a pretty large grappling tournament recently and couldn't help but notice that in bot the gi and non-gi divisions, there were a tremendous number of players who barely contested the takedowns at all. They preferred to "butt-scoot" I guess you call it and immediately pull guard. There was however a school that seemed to have a lot of guys and a few girls who were pretty athletic with pretty good single and double-legs with some throws and they did great overall in the tournament. They would get on top and dominate and submit from there.

It seems this type of aggressive BJJ is highly effective but I know my school barely trains us in good takedowns and sprawls. What are other schools like and do you wish your school trained them more?
 
We only train them when a tourney is coming up. I was wondering the same thing though, maybe training it more gives you an advantage.
 
we train them but yes, I wish we did more takedowns. much more. maybe I'm just missing it because I'm not going enough or something. either way, going takedowns is fun and makes you a more complete grappler imo.
 
Is it common for BJJ schools to not focus on them too much? The academy I just joined trains Judo for an hour and a half on Mondays before the BJJ class which is included in the tuition. Judo is primarily throws and takedowns right?
 
My old school NEVER trained takedowns, just a few standing self defense takedowns. Now I train takedowns every class. plus I have been rolling with a few Judo brown and black belts lately so my takedowns HAVE to be sharp otherwise I will get dumped. quick
 
Is it common for BJJ schools to not focus on them too much? The academy I just joined trains Judo for an hour and a half on Mondays before the BJJ class which is included in the tuition. Judo is primarily throws and takedowns right?

yes and no.

judo is a complete grappling art with subs and transitions in nearly all fathomable positions.

competition judo is a watered down version of judo that is focused primarily on throws and takedowns.... (that don't include grabbing the legs).
 
We only train them when a tourney is coming up. I was wondering the same thing though, maybe training it more gives you an advantage.

You might as well not train them then. Training them once and a while before an event won't help you retain the skill, nor will it help you defend that well. Sometimes a little knowledge is worse than none.
 
i'd say almost every other class they would incorporate some element of TD
 
We normally have BJJ class from 6-8 PM Mon-Thurs. And recently we added a takedown class from 5:30-6 PM on Mon and Wed (gi on Mon and no-gi on Wed) so we get an hour of purely takedown training per week. I'd like to do even more than that ideally, but it's a good start. My snapdown and double leg shot have improved exponentially since having a dedicated takedown class taught by a former college wrestler.
 
We work a different takedown every month. Every class, without fail, you do 25 reps of it. Sometimes it's wrestling and sometimes it's judo, but we always work on takedowns. My academy comes from a judo background (Yamasaki), so I guess they want to stay true to that.
 
Atleast once a week I would say. It varies though, our gym isn't that big so if we have a large class their literally won't be space.
 
For tournaments you have to either have REALLY good takedowns or pull guard immediately. Most BJJ schools don't understand this and SHOULD practice more takedowns but a lot don't for the BS "someone may get hurt policy." But whatever, i work with a gold medal olympic wrestler for my takedowns and TDD.
 
yes and no.

judo is a complete grappling art with subs and transitions in nearly all fathomable positions.

competition judo is a watered down version of judo that is focused primarily on throws and takedowns.... (that don't include grabbing the legs).

^^this.

As the resident Judo guy at BJJ/MMA facility I train/teach at, I've been trying to get some more takedown work going.

Trying to get people to understand that takedowns aren't just limited to tackling someone, but throws/takedowns with control can put you into great position. I personally don't like being in someones guard unless I can punch, my throws put me in side control all day.
 
Lately, we have been training them about once a week, without counting the "specifics" that start standing up and end as soon as someone scores two points. It's definitely something important. I'd like if there was such a class more often.
 
Is it common for BJJ schools to not focus on them too much? The academy I just joined trains Judo for an hour and a half on Mondays before the BJJ class which is included in the tuition. Judo is primarily throws and takedowns right?

The tendency in most Judo schools is to focus on throws, yes. The different forms of BrazilianJJ are, however, just schools of Judo whose focus are shifted to mat technique. You are doing Judo either way. The Gracies focused on mat techniques, I believe because Maeda taught them according to their strengths, and Helio Gracie wasn't a burly individual, and throws, as evidenced by his fight with Kimura, were not his forte. I think that as MMA grows, BJJ schools will move back toward a more throw oriented training, finding a better, more practical middle ground than what has been done so far.
 
we have a few guys & girls that are pretty athletic, you may have seen us at the local tournament, we were the ones doing the flying triangles.
 
We have a dedicated judo instructor who is a current international competitor. In no gi we always start from the feet. We do about a takedown per week in gi, but the matches start from the feet much more frequently when a competition is coming up.

Overall we have a few guys who prefer to pull guard, but our instructor himself isn't too keen on it, so it's not emphasized. But as always, you should play to your strengths. If you were surprised at the amount of guard pulling (fyi a guard pull and a butt scoot are totally different things), then you must be new, because it's extremely common. More people pull guard in competition than successfully execute takedows.
 
The tendency in most Judo schools is to focus on throws, yes. The different forms of BrazilianJJ are, however, just schools of Judo whose focus are shifted to mat technique. You are doing Judo either way. The Gracies focused on mat techniques, I believe because Maeda taught them according to their strengths, and Helio Gracie wasn't a burly individual, and throws, as evidenced by his fight with Kimura, were not his forte. I think that as MMA grows, BJJ schools will move back toward a more throw oriented training, finding a better, more practical middle ground than what has been done so far.

For the record, Helio never actually learned from Maeda.
 
Not often.

A lot of our guys are guard players. I'm going to start wrestling more in preparation of my next competition. I'm mostly a guard player myself, but takedowns are needed to be a complete grappler.
 
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