Takedown Overhaul with Henry Cejudo

Posted by Fanatics Authors on January 11, 2019

Whether you are competing in Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, MMA, or defending yourself being able to dictate where the action takes place is an extreme advantage. Being able to secure a takedown can severely limit your opponent’s options, while simultaneously increasing our own. This is especially true in MMA or self-defense. Enter Henry Cejudo.

Cejudo , America’s youngest gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, has executed takedowns in the absolute HIGHEST level of competition. He is the current UFC Flyweight champ getting ready to defend his title against Bantamweight champ TJ Dillishaw. Henry easily has one of the best resumes when it comes to wrestling. Recently BJJ Fanatics released HIGH LEVEL TAKEDOWNS AND MAT CONTROL FOR GRAPPLERS, and Henry is here to help us all out with our takedown game.

Foundational movements are KEY

We all see the takedown breakdowns all over the internet, and they are great. That said you are going to have a hard time executing many of the techniques properly unless you have forged yourselves in the fire of the foundations. Level changes and the penetration steps are to wrestling like hip escapes and bridges are to Jiu-Jitsu.

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First things first, the level change has to happen. When you can get lower than your opponent at a moment’s notice they will be off guard and will be late to react or over compensate and adjust. As you watch the ’08 Olympic Gold Medalist move you should notice how loose and relaxed he keeps himself. This makes him agile and ready to attack.

Next, the penetration step. As a newbie to wrestling it is important to remember what your goals are when executing the technique. A level change gets you lower, and the penetrations step gets you under your opponent. If you pay close attention to Henry’s knee it does not drop to where his foot was. This is a common error to beginner’s shot. After lowering levels Cejudo leans over his front leg as his knee touches the floor.

As he drives forward he doesn’t drag his rear leg on the floor. This friction will affect the speed and timing of the shot. Cejudo describes it as lifting the foot instead of sliding it. This will establish a new base under our opponent and will allow a strong finish of the shot. Henry’s rear leg is now his front leg, it is coiled and ready to allow further continuation of the takedown.