Beat All Those Lazy Turtle Stallers With Travis Stevens
Turtle Attack From Travis Stevens: Arm Snatch Roll With Leg
If you have been around the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu scene you have probably heard of Travis Stevens. Travis Stevens is one of the most successful American Judo athletes in the history of martial arts. In 2016, he won the silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Rio. Travis has continued the American Judo tradition of his coach, the legendary Jimmy Pedro, who himself was a part of four Olympic team, by being a part of his third team in 2016. Travis Stevens has won the prestigious Pan American Games twice and has been a National Champion on three different occasions. If his judo career weren’t enough, Travis also earned a black belt from the famed John Danaher of Team Renzo Gracie. He has often participated in the training camps of UFC fighters like Georges St. Pierre, as well as his grappling teammates in the Danaher Death Squad.
Judo players use the turtle position to stall and wait to be stood back up. So it's no surprise that Travis Stevens is a master at attacking from the turtle position for a variety of chokes and arm bars.
Today we are going to take a look at a turtle attack from Travis Stevens. If you have ever faced an opponent in turtle you know it can be very difficult to break their defense. Watch the video below and then we will break down Travis’ technique. Check it out!
Travis starts the attack from the side of his training partner’s turtle. He steps his foot in next to his opponent’s neck to move is head and create pressure. Then he switches his leg in order to hook his opponent’s arm with his back leg. This gives you an opening to feed through and grab the inside part of his pants. Now you can look over your shoulder and roll, taking the arm with you causing your opponent to roll as well. After you have rolled, grab your partner’s gi pants so he can’t continue to roll through. Hook his leg with your right arm, reverse his head and then shrimp away as you pressure his arm.
What I like most about this arm snatch roll turtle attack is the initial set up. Travis baits his opponent into giving him his arm, which he then traps, giving him an opening into the turtle defense to exploit. The next time you are struggling to break through a player’s turtle defense, remember that by isolating a limb you allow yourself an opening that you can use to slowly break down their posture. Great stuff!
Travis Stevens Judo-based system for attacking and defending the turtle (if you’re not familiar with the turtle - this is when your opponent gets in a tight little ball on all fours) will give you an unfair advantage over your opponents... especially when they turtle up and just stalllllll. Travis Stevens’ didn’t learn to attack the turtle doing BJJ – he learned it doing Judo. In Judo, opponents use the turtle all the time. The rules state that most of the match takes place on the feet, and once it hits the ground an opponent risks little by going there. Out of necessity, Travis developed a system for destroying anyone who tried to stall him on the ground and he has become one of the most successful American Judokas ever.
Now you can learn his system for dealing with those BORING STALLERS who refuse to come out of their shell with a step by step system for smashing through their turtle and submitting them at will.
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