Improve Your Stand Up Game With This Effective Ankle Pick and Start Float Passing From HQ With Vagnar Rocha

 

Being efficient in your stand up game is imperative to your overall Jiu Jitsu practice.  There are tons of open guard techniques on the market and more and more people are developing a game through pulling guard, but being able to land a solid takedown and end up on top is necessary.

Your opponent might have exceptional passing, and if you have developed your whole approach off of pulling guard, now what? Additionally, with all the wrestling being incorporated in Jiu Jitsu, practitioners are all getting really good at both landing and stuffing takedowns. This is precisely the reason you need to become proficient in creative techniques that you can land whenever.

An extremely popular and effective takedown is an ankle pick. Unlike a single or double leg attempt, it is not as easy to sprawl or stuff an ankle pick, and once you get a hold of that ankle you can be sure your opponent is going down. On top of actually getting to the ankle, manipulating your opponent's body positions and how their weight is distributed is extremely important in landing the ankle pick successfully. 

In this video, Vagner Rocha demonstrates an effective ankle pick using a collar tie, showing a transition into the headquarters position, check it out below!

 

The Technique

One of the key components to fighting off of the feet is awareness. Understanding your own body position, what you are trying to do, and what your opponent is trying to do. Moving in a manner where you don’t compromise or telegraph what your goal is, while being careful not to create an opening for your opponent to shoot for a takedown.

Grips are also important. Getting the proper grips while tied up with your partner while on the feet can make all of the difference. They allow you to either snap your opponent down or just generally control them, moving them forward or back however you see fit.

In this technique, Vanger states that the most important grip to achieve is going to be the collar tie where you are gripping on the back of his partner's neck. The arm that needs to be used for the collar tie is the same side arm as the rear leg. The placement of the other arm can vary, but ideally you will have inside control of your partner's arm. 

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From this position you want to use that collar grip and start dragging your opponents head to his opposite side foot. This simultaneously breaks down your opponents posture, while making that opposite side foot extremely heavy and hard to move. As you move to this position, you should release the inside control on your partner's arm with your other hand and prepare to use it for the ankle pick.

Once you get your partner's head close to that foot, you are going to grab behind the ankle and pull while you use your body to push your partner back. You have forced all of his weight onto a post and then effectively gotten rid of that post, so with nowhere for the weight to go but down you have literally swept your partner’s feet from under him and successfully landed the takedown.

From here there are some important details to pay attention to. Do not be too quick to let go of the foot once you get the takedown. Your opponent is going to immediately be trying to retain his guard, so control of the leg will slow that process down. 

As you pushed your body forward to land the takedown, you have likely taken a step forward with theat rear leg which should now be your lead leg. If you can remain aware right here, it would be ideal for that leg to land right on the middle of your partner's legs. If you are successful up to this point, you should be able to drop down on top of your partner's foot right into the headquarters position and start your float passing.

It is one thing to successfully land a takedown, but being able to also land in a position where you can start to pass or attack is extremely important. When compiling a list of your most effective takedowns, you should do so and practice them in a way where you know exactly where you are going once you get it. This ankle pick variation is a great and extremely effective example of just that.

About Vagner Rocha

Vagner Rocha is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Pablo Popovitch. He has been training since 2001 and has placed 1st in multiple ADCC trials, 2017 EBI Combat Invitational, and IBJJF Pan Championship as a brown belt in 2007. 

Vagner began training Jiu Jitsu at the age of 18 and received his black belt in 2007. Along with his impressive Jiu Jitsu career, Vagner excelled in MMA, making a UFC debut in 2009. To this day Vagner is still engaged in competitive Jiu Jitsu, and spends most of his time coaching the art at his academy in Florida.

About Vagner’s Instructional 

Vagner has devoted this instructional to techniques for building better youth competitors. Included you will find techniques such as arm drag takedown drill, whizzer hip throw, single and double leg defense to kimura, Toreando passing, and so much more.

Vagner has a special way of combining the roots of Jiu Jitsu with modern day practice to create the very techniques which have led to the success of himself and his students. His teaching style is easily understood by all levels of practitioners and his technique is top level. Increase the effectiveness of your youth competitors, check out his instructional here!

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