The Heavy Leg

I’ve been working on some standup wrestling with DS over the last few weeks. His takedown philosophy is geared around the inside single. And the timing of this takedown is based on an idea of the “heavy leg”. Basically he looks for, or really at this point just senses, when the opponent gets most of his weight on one leg. The moment that happens is the moment he’s shooting. I’m guessing he actually starts shooting before this happens and actually makes impact the moment the leg is heavy.

It reminds me of some of the concepts I was working on a month back like the ab wheel, where the opponent is stumbling to get back in position while I’m moving in that position already. This is almost the same idea but from a standing position.

One concept that DS showed me was something he said he saw John Smith do. The idea is to shoot when he saw the heavy leg, but anticipate that the opponent is going to sprawl. So the initial shot needs to be well timed, but you actually don’t want to fully commit so you’re underneath the guy when he sprawls out. What you’re waiting for is the guy to stand up and back away. So when the initial shot is made, you stay in there. The moment the guy starts to pick himself up, boom, that’s when you do your “real” shot. When most people stand up, they put all their weight on one leg.

What I really like about DS’s approach to takedowns and to how he’s teaching me, is the simplicity. There’s one takedown: the inside single and one time to do it: when the opponent’s leg is heavy.

Of course there are an infinite number of ways to get there, but having simple goals makes it much easier for me to keep my head in the moment rather than being overwhelmed by information.

Now I have no illusions about becoming a great wrestler or even a great takedown guy, but I think this training is really important for several reasons.

First off, it helps me know what a good takedown guy is looking for in his attacks. The better I can get at these attacks, the better I can get at defending them. While I may have a decent sprawl already, that is only going to help me against a very unsophisticated line of attack.

Secondly, while I may still not be able to get the opponent down even with a perfectly timed shot, getting that clinch can allow me to transition to an open guard position or a leg lock attack. I won’t be able to outwrestle a good wrestler, but by learning this timing and sensitivity I can bring my attacks to them.

It always makes me cringe seeing a jiu jitsu guy do a telegraphed shot from way outside that is stuffed, then they try to pull guard and the opponent just walks away. While the jiu jitsu guy may have initiated the action, he still gave his opponent the option of walking away. I want to eliminate that option whenever possible.

I want to know how to get the match to the ground, regardless of whether that means I’m on top or not, and to also ensure that I’m the one dictating the action.

Additionally I want to be able to coach my teammates better from the standing position. While they may still need to pull guard if they’re not practicing their standup, I can at least give them better advice on how and when to do that.

The training is very fast paced and really fun. DS is an awesome teacher and I can tell he enjoys doing this type of training as do I. In the past, the wrestling I’ve done has been very discouraging as I was taught what to do but not when.

And even if I was taught when, I was never taught how to make the “when” happen. DS is showing me this in terms of concepts so I can begin to recognize this in the heat of the moment, which is especially important in takedowns, as the pace is much faster.
As always I’m amazed at how little I know and happy that there are people willing to teach me more.