Deconstructing the Single Leg Takedown (diary entry)

A single leg takedown attempt. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

19.04.12

This was my third time teaching at Telford’s excellent Kyushinkai Martial Arts Centre. In the lead-up to Vagabond Warriors 2.2 I took a one hour MMA class. Vagabond Warriors adopts a ground-up model for teaching. This means that I allow the experiences; problems and general input of those who I coach determine the direction of the lesson. In this instance several of the participants had recently competed in the cage and were going over their mistakes. The main issues being raised here was a lack of takedown defence and wrestling, and fitness.

I used the VW concept to cover the single leg takedown. This followed a shadow boxing warm-up and going up through the gears of grappling sparring. The gears are defined by understanding levels of intensity in sparring – going from fluid and compliant to heavy sparring. This is very important when it comes to specific training – training one technique or tactic under pressure. There is little point in going full on immediately when you are trying to train a single concept. This has to be built up. It can be done very quickly, but it still has to be done at progressively.

We began by separating the two stages of the single leg takedown attack and defence. First we looked at the entry and jamming it early. Then we took it from the stage when the grip on the leg was on. Both were drilled progressively to full resistance. Then the same thing was done with specific sparring – one person attacking to get the single leg and the other defending. Finally we went into Strategy One vs. Strategy Two sparring – striking versus grappling – to bring the MMA feel back into things.

After this I brought everything into some pad drills. One person wore a single focus mitt so that he could grapple his student with the free hand. This gives the student a feel for striking when when being grappled and adds to their takedown defence training. These rounds were interchanged with tyre flips, which target the muscle groups and the action needed for low line takedowns, like the single leg. Finally everyone warmed-down drilling the takedown motion and also did it with a resistance band.

The session was completed with a debriefing on how you approach fitness training. Training should be relevant in all areas. This means doing the right exercises and having the right attitude when you step onto the mat.

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