Countering the Russian Tie
Although you’ve definitely heard this before, if you are a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner, you absolutely need to learn how to execute takedowns. Wrestling is a part of Jiu Jitsu that just cannot be ignored, even if you see the highest level guys pulling guard in the IBJJF worlds.
There is many aspects of Jiu Jitsu that students should be examining and partaking in. The first is fitness, which is implicit in pretty much every Jiu Jitsu class.
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The second is self-defense, and if you are training Jiu Jitsu but don’t care if you can defend yourself, you are not getting what you are paying for. The third is sport and competition, which isn’t absolutely necessary but a great thing to partake in.
Since 99% of Jiu Jitsu students want to be able to defend themselves, regardless of whether they compete or not, they need to be competent in takedowns. Most grappling is on the ground, and if you can’t get an aggressor there, you won’t be able to stop them.
One of the simplest takedowns you can and should learn is the single leg takedown. This is arguable the most utilized takedown in competition, be it Jiu Jitsu or wrestling.
A lot of set ups for single legs are proactive, meaning you have to chase them. There are, however, some excellent reactive ones you can learn and add to your game easily.
Bekzod Abdurakhmnov is an Uzebikstani wrestler and mixed martial arts fighter. As a wrestler, Bekzod won gold at the 2014 Asian games and beat Jordan Burroughs at the 2016 Olympics decisively. In the following video, Bekzod will illustrate a way to get a single leg take down when you are stuck in a two on one position, more often called the Russian tie. See below:
The Russian tie is an extremely dominant position in wrestling. If you ever have been caught in it, you understand the struggle. The most common defense to the Russian tie is to yank the arm out, but this will often lead to you getting caught in takedowns like single legs and double legs.
Rather than defending this way, which your opponent will expect, respond with a takedown attempt of your own. Because they won’t see it coming, you’ll have a high chance of success.
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