Taking your opponent down to the ground is a fantastic and useful skill and tool to have and know in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Many people think that takedowns are only effective in Wrestling and Judo. However, this is far from the truth.
This article will list 9 extremely effective takedowns you want to know about if you’re training BJJ. You’ll be able to start taking your opponents to the ground and gaining the advantage in the fight right away!
Really think about it; throwing your opponent to the ground will give you the upper hand in the fight since you’ll have all the control. You can transition to a dominant position after you successfully execute the throw or even go for a submission.
It’s also a great way to attain points in a tournament. Taking your opponent down will grant you 2 points, which is a solid way to start your fight with. However, throws are definitely not as common in BJJ as they are in Judo and Wrestling.
This tells us two things. First, they’re not the main focus of BJJ. But because they’re less popular, it’s why they might just be more effective, as fewer grapplers will expect you to go for them.
So I want you to get on the mat already and practice the takedowns and throws we’ll review. Without further ado, let’s dive into the 1st one!
#9 – Low Single
| Takedown | Effectiveness | Simplicity | Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low Single | 8 | 7 | 7 |
The first takedown we’ll review is called Low Single. It’s also very similar to the Ankle Pick, so you might be familiar with it in either the 1st or 2nd name. Anyways, you can guess what this takedown looks like. I’ve seen it many times in numerous grappling-based martial arts, such as Judo and Wrestling.
The Low Single is when you move forward and grab the opponent’s ankle. Then, you lift it up to your chest to ensure he’s off-balance. Finally, you finish the execution by transitioning into a dominant position.
Learning this move is quite intuitive. Therefore, it won’t be long before you’re able to throw your opponent to the ground using his ankle.
The first step of the Low Single is to control your opponent’s upper body. You’ll be able to do that by establishing proper grips. For instance, grabbing the collar can be a great way to do that. Your goal is to prevent the opponent from sprawling.
Then, you want to lower your body before you reach the opponent’s ankle. The best way to do that is by lowering your hips and bending your knees. You’ll then be able to maintain your balance while moving forward and grabbing his hips. Truly, a fantastic way of forcing the opponent off-balance and attaining a more dominant position!
Because it’s the first takedown we’ve covered, I want to mention something obvious, but critical. You must transition into a more dominant position after taking your opponent down, such as Full Mount or Side Control. If you don’t, the move itself might have been useful, but you didn’t get the upper hand.
#8 – Guard Pull
| Takedown | Effectiveness | Simplicity | Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guard Pull | 6 | 7 | 6 |
The Guard Pull is the least traditional throw we’ll review in this article, so if you’re currently upset over the fact that I’ve decided to list it, I promise it’ll be worth reading.
Takedowns are meant to allow you to take the opponent to the ground. Pulling Guard does the same!
You’ll start standing up and establish proper grips to control the opponent’s upper body. The grips you want to have are collar and sleeve grips. The next step is to place your foot on the side you control more (the side with the Sleeve Grip.) And finally, you lean back and sit, pulling the opponent with you.
After pulling your opponent to the ground, you have endless options. The most suitable option, however, is to attain a Guard, like the Butterfly or Spider Guard, and attack. If you want to read about the 10 best Guards you must know to call yourself a grappler, follow the link.
You can also go for many submissions, like the Armbar, Omoplata, and Triangle Choke. So as you can understand, by pulling your opponent to the ground, you transition from a neutral standing position to having an advantage on the ground, you’re starting the fight on your right leg.
This was the Pull Guard. I wrote an entire article on it, which you can read by following the link!
#7 – Single Leg Takedown
| Takedown | Effectiveness | Simplicity | Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Leg Takedown | 8 | 7 | 7 |
The Single Leg Takedown is a highly popular and effective move in BJJ. It’s also common in Wrestling and Judo, so it’s likely that you heard of it at least once in your martial arts journey. I did Muay Thai for a long time and I used to study throws for a bit, which included the Single Leg.
You perform the Single Leg Takedown by starting in a standing position and controlling the opponent’s upper body, like in the Low Single. Then, you get low and step forward with your lead leg (which is the same side of your lead hand.) Finally, you drive your head to the side of the opponent’s body, grab one of his legs with a same-side grip (right above the knee), and raise it to take him to the ground.
The best thing you can do with this leg is to move it to the side of your body. This naturally will cause the opponent to be less balanced and force him to the ground easily.
Frankly, I see it as a fairly easy move to learn in BJJ. You’ll be able to start your fight with an upper hand. And it also counts for 2 points in an official IBJJF competition, which is always good news!
Learn more about the Single Leg Takedown in BJJ and how to effectively finish from it by following this link.
#6 – Double Leg Takedown
| Takedown | Effectiveness | Simplicity | Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Leg Takedown | 7 | 7 | 7 |
The next takedown we’ll review is the Double Leg Takedown. If you’re a fan of grappling, you’ve heard of it, as it’s popular in many grappling-based martial arts. This is a move you definitely want to learn and get comfortable with, so stick through!
I’ve made sure to include both the Single and Double Leg because these are effective for all the situations you can possibly imagine. They’re useful for competing, sparring, training, and even for self-defense and street fighting. So it’ll be worth it to learn both of these.
You want to start standing up to perform the Double Leg Takedown. Then, your next goal is to control the opponent’s upper body. Your lead hand should grab his wrist or sleeve while your other hand should be controlling his collar.
Then, you continue by moving forward and placing your lead leg between your opponent’s legs. Placing your head on his midsection is the next step. While you do that, you want to crouch and grab both the opponent’s legs (each on the same side of your hands.)
The final step is to lift the opponent up with as much explosiveness as possible while moving forward. This will cause him to get off-balance, as you can imagine, leading to a clean takedown, which is what we want!
Learn more about the Double Leg Takedown—by following this link!
#5 – Seoi Nage
| Takedown | Effectiveness | Simplicity | Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seoi Nage | 8 | 6 | 7 |
Next up on our list is the Seoi Nage. This is a wonderful shoulder throw you want to familiarize yourself with. It can be more than an effective and quick way to take your opponent from a standing position and to the ground. And we all know what taking your opponent to the ground means, more control!
The first step is to control the opponent’s upper body. You want to grip his triceps area and collar. You then want to open his hands up, twist and sit, place your elbow on his armpit, and explosively throw him above you.
I’m a big fan of this shoulder throw because it’s a great way of throwing your opponent quickly to the ground. It’s also fancy-looking, which I always love!
The primary issue grapplers who try the Seoi Nage for the first time have—is twisting and sitting while maintaining control over the opponent. What you can do to counter that mistake is tighten your hand grips over the opponent’s upper body, to ensure more stability when you crouch on your knee.
This is a fantastic throw to start with, although I encourage you to start learning them in the order I’ve placed them at.
Alright. Let’s move on to the next one!
Follow this link to learn about the Seoi Nage and how to execute it properly.
#4 – Foot Sweep
| Takedown | Effectiveness | Simplicity | Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foot Sweep | 5 | 9 | 7 |
The Foot Sweep is one of my absolute favorite takedowns because it’s so simple and effective. Since it’s so simple, you’ll be able to use it in almost every situation you can imagine, primarily against untrained people in the grappling world.
So if you ever find yourself in a street fight and you want to take the attacker to the ground, the Foot Sweep will be a marvelous way of doing so. I encourage you to try and do it on the air as I break it down. Imagine you’re against someone and shadow perform it.
To start performing the Foot Sweep, you want to start in a standing position. Your lead hand grabs the opponent’s collar while your other one grabs his elbow (sleeve if it’s Gi.) Next up, you step forward with your lead leg and maintain a straight posture.
Your opponent might try and attack you if you don’t maintain a balanced posture, so make sure to do that!
Once you step forward, you want to place your foot (the one you’re going to kick with) near the opponent’s foot that’s on the same side. You then move in a circular motion while kicking his foot inward. Simultaneously, you want to utilize your upper body grips to cause the opponent to be less balanced and drive him toward the ground.
And that’s the Foot Sweep!
Learn to master the Foot Sweep—by following this link.
#3 – Arm Drag
| Takedown | Effectiveness | Simplicity | Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arm Drag | 5 | 8 | 6 |
Let’s now review yet another throw that is prevalent in both BJJ and Wrestling: the Arm Drag. The execution of this move doesn’t end when the opponent is on the ground. Rather, it ends when you have control over his arm and take the back.
I love the Arm Drag because it allows you many options, and you can perform whichever is more suitable to the specific situation you’re in. You’ll shortly see that a viable option is to perform a Back Take and finish in Back Mount. This will give you plenty of control over the fight, leading to a great advantage.
Here’s how to perform the Arm Drag:
You first want to start standing up and grab the opponent’s triceps. Then, you want to insert your other hand inside his armpit (thumb outside, facing up) while moving closer to the opponent and hugging his back. From there, you can take the back.
Once you take the back, you might even want to throw him to the ground. In that case, you can use a Hip Throw or whichever other technique you want to use. Here’s a fantastic video showcasing a few variations of the Arm Drag.
#2 – Kouchi Gari
| Takedown | Effectiveness | Simplicity | Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kouchi Gari | 7 | 8 | 7 |
The Kouchi Gari is the next takedown we’ll review. It’s much more popular in Judo, which I feel like it’s a great sign since it’s the art of takedowns and throws. This is a move you’ll execute by stepping forward into the opponent’s safe zone and sliding your leg outward, to his leg.
You’ll be able to throw the opponent with ease by being comfortable with this move. Here’s how you perform it:
You first want to grab the opponent’s collar and sleeve (sleeve and collar grip) to perform the Kouchi Gari. Then, you want to pull the opponent’s arms down while stepping forward. Finally, you pull him toward you while kicking your leg to the opponent’s foot, in an outward direction.
This is also a type of foot sweep, as you’re creating pressure against the opponent’s foot. You’ll be creating outward pressure using your foot, which will make the opponent off-balance.
You can, and should, use your upper body to amplify the force you’re able to direct. That way, you’ll (1) be more stable, and (2) force the opponent off-balance easily.
If you want to master the Kouchi Gari, follow this link.
#1 – Uchi Mata
| Takedown | Effectiveness | Simplicity | Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uchi Mata | 8 | 5 | 7 |
And lastly, let’s review the Uchi Mata, which is a fantastic takedown. I love seeing it in real time because it’s absolutely fancy looking. However, it’s not that difficult to learn and execute.
You’ll be using your hips to lift the opponent and take him to the ground. From this position, you can perform whichever move feels more suitable. But your options are transitioning into a more dominant position, such as Mount or Side Control, and going for a submission.
You can even combine both options to get more points in a competition and gain more control, which is much more important than the first reason.
So you first want to start standing up. Then, you want to grab the opponent’s sleeves, around the triceps area and with a same-side grip. Once you control his upper body, you want to step in, twist, pull the opponent’s arm by lifting your arm and twisting your wrist (as if you’re looking at your watch), and kick your leg back. Finally, you use the leverage you created with your hips to flip the opponent and take him to the ground.
Here’s a visual aid:
Master the Uchi Mata Takedown—by following this link!
Are Takedowns Illegal in BJJ?
While BJJ is the art of ground grappling, it’s legal to use takedowns and throws in official tournaments, such as the IBJJF and NAGA. You will also get 2 points for taking your opponent down to the ground and attaining a dominant position for more than 3 seconds, another reason to learn takedowns in BJJ.
When Should I Use Takedowns in BJJ?
You should use takedowns in BJJ whenever you and your opponent are standing and you want to take him to the ground. After a clean takedown, you’ll be able to attain a superior position, such as Mount or Side Control, which will lead to points in competitions and the ability to submit the opponent.
Final Words
These are the best takedowns and throws BJJ has to offer. Obviously, I missed some, which might be more suitable for specific situations. However, these are the ones you want to learn and you won’t regret knowing, as they open you to countless more options.
BJJ is all about control. And how do you gain control? By having a lot of options! I’m willing to bet that a grappler who knows 10 takedowns is more likely to take another grappler, who knows 2 takedowns, to the ground. That’s just how it works.
So go ahead and start practicing the moves I’ve listed in this list. I encourage you to follow the link at the end of each section to learn more about the specific technique I’ve described in that section.
Here are other articles you’d enjoy reading:
The 10 Top BJJ Chokes You Need to Master
9 Most Effective Submissions From Mount (Must-Know)
BJJ’s 5 Most Effective Sweeps – Suitable for Beginners
BJJ Beginner Moves: The 11 Most Effective Ones