Single Leg Takedown
Takedown · Standing
Takes you from standing to side control by capturing one leg. The moment is when their lead leg comes close to you. Level-change and step in with your head on the inside of the leg, the side of your head tight to their chest, and hug the leg with two arms, one above the knee and one below, so the knee cannot bend and slip out. Stand up with the leg trapped between your thighs and the foot off the mat: on one leg they cannot sprawl. Finish by turning the corner about 90 degrees or running the pipe with your shoulder through their knee, and pass as soon as they land. A head outside the leg gets guillotined. If they hop, change direction or switch to the inside trip.
How to do it
- Shoot at one leg with a level change and a step in: your head goes inside, the side of your head against their chest, on the inner side of the leg you attack. Hug the leg tight to your chest.
- Put two arms on the one leg: one controls it above the knee, the other below it, so the knee cannot bend and slip out. Do not simply grab the knee.
- Stand up with the leg trapped between your thighs and their foot off the mat, keeping your head tight to their chest. On one leg they can no longer sprawl.
- Turn the corner: step around about 90° and pull the leg toward you so their standing leg ends up behind them. Or run the pipe down to the mat: drop low, pull the foot to you and drive your shoulder through their knee.
- Follow them to the mat without letting go of the leg and pass it straight away, before they can turn in and recover guard.
Key details
- Head inside, against their chest. Outside the leg the head and neck hang free and are guillotined.
- Lift the leg off the mat: on one leg they cannot sprawl and must hop to stay up.
- Two arms on one leg, above and below the knee: a grab at the knee alone lets them bend it and pull the leg out.
- Change directions if they hop: turn, pull, drive. A hopping opponent balances against one direction only, so switch the pressure when they adjust.
- Read the defense and commit to one finish: run the pipe, dump, inside trip or lift. Half of two finishes gives them time to recover.
- Before the shot, stiff-arm his shoulder with the hand on your back-leg side and walk him back: his weight goes onto his back leg and the front leg becomes light and easy to take, and he cannot sprawl on you.
- Finish fast. Holding the leg at the corner too long lets him sit down, cross his legs behind you and drop into an inside leg entanglement (honey hole).
Common mistakes
- Head outside the leg. — The neck is exposed: they wrap it for a guillotine or overhook and whizzer you down. — Put the ear on their chest or hip, inside the leg, and keep it glued there.
- Holding the leg low near the mat. — Their foot stays close to the mat, so they sprawl the leg back and hop away. — Stand up with the leg trapped between your thighs, knees pinched together, his foot off the mat; without wrestling shoes do not hoist it high, it slips.
- Pulling straight back. — They hop with you in the same line and stay balanced on the standing leg. — Turn the corner at 90° so the standing leg is behind them and they cannot hop under their weight.
If they defend
- They whizzer and push your head down. → Keep the head up and run the pipe to the other side, away from the whizzer.
How to drill it
Single leg finish chain: corner, run the pipe, trip; 5 each with a partner who hops.
Safety
Keep your head inside, pressed to his chest, with your back straight: a head outside or dropped below his hips puts your neck under his weight and in a guillotine. Lower him to the mat by turning the corner; do not lift him high and drop him.
What comes next
Where it comes from