The Best Single Leg In BJJ With Andre Galvao

 

With its unique ruleset and extreme prejudice against stalling, the ADCC format pushes the action. Without the luxury of pulling guard, the standing exchanges become incredibly important and the takedown game becomes a huge factor. When an athlete possesses a good wrestling pedigree, they’ve already given themselves a leg up in the ADCC format and others like it. The ability to navigate the early stages of a match successfully can have massive effects on the outcome. 

Andre Galvao knows exactly what it takes to win ADCC gold 6 times, because he’s done just that. His stand-up game is absolutely relentless and he demonstrated this yet again in his super fight against Felipe Pena at this year’s ADCC world championships. Galvao never stopped moving forward. His stand-up game looked as good as ever and he was able to best Pena to win the super fight title. Galvao’s performance this year was nothing short of inspiring. He appears to be in the best shape of his life and hasn’t lost a step or any of his competitive edge. He’s slated to face Gordon Ryan for the super fight title at ADCC in 2021. This is an interesting prospect and one that BJJ fans all over the world are surely looking forward to. 

When were talking about wrestling and BJJ, not everything translates perfectly, but there are a great many themes that we can pull from wrestling to make our stand-up game very dangerous and incredibly effective. The single leg for instance is one of the most popular takedowns in BJJ. It translates well and leaves us in much better position than some of the other wrestling-based takedowns we may choose to play with. 

There’s plenty to consider from start to finish with takedowns in BJJ. The threat of getting caught in an early submission is always present and when we land, it’s important that we end up in a good position so we can continue to advance in the match. Galvao has recently filmed an instructional with BJJ Fanatics all about takedowns pertaining to no gi grappling. Few do it better and we’re very excited to be releasing this information. In this sneak peek, the subject is the single leg and Galvao reveals some secrets that you’re going to want to see. Have a look at this!

 

When I’m watching an instructional and I hear the word “simple” right from the jump, I’m instantly relieved. BJJ players don’t always have the greatest wrestling backgrounds but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to acquire some good stand up knowledge. Simple is best for the more inexperienced BJJ folks looking to add some value to their game from the feet. Galvao first demonstrates a common error. We’ve all been here. A halfhearted attempt at grabbing for a leg from across the room with our head down. Its ugly, but sadly, it’s also common. There’s just too much danger here. Let’s fix it today.

Galvao’s first concern is preventing the sprawl. He also offers an interesting piece of advice here. He does not allow his knees to touch the floor during a shot. Thought his is something Galvao seems to have recently added to his game, it proves to be more than effective. 

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Protecting his lead leg with his same side arm, Galvao opens with pushing his partner’s shoulder using a stiff arm. You can clearly see that this push causes his partner to transfer all of us his weight in to his trailing leg, making the front leg very light for a brief moment. It’s during this time that Galvao quickly attacks and scoops up this light lead leg using a cupping grip with his free hand. Galvao acquires the leg, pinching it between his own legs and maintains good posture. He faces his partner, touching his nose to the shoulder area and never lets his chest touch his partner's knee. This may be a critical juncture for many of us and spot of great difficulty. Speaking personally, I can acquire the leg in many cases, but my posture and body positioning fail me at this point and the finish falls apart. 

Also keep in mind that you don’t have to change your stance to accommodate the stance of your partner. It only matters that you perform the push with your trailing leg hand and that you scoop with your free hand. This can be applied regardless of the configuration of your partner’s feet. Notice how Galvao adheres to this concept and can execute the technique from either side without switching his preferred stance. 

A traditional form of finishing the single leg called “running the pipe” may not serve us here, as it requires us to break one of Galvao’s rules: bringing the chest too close to our leg. This puts our neck in danger and could end up a disaster. Instead, Galvao turns his upper body (not his feet) to face the direction his partner is facing and places his bicep and shoulder on the thigh, creating an immense amount of downward pressure on the limb. The pressure on the knee almost seems it can be likened to a knee bar. Causing a lot of discomfort and also having an off-balancing effect. Maintaining this pressure, Galvao then turns back in the other direction to finish the takedown. Here, he’s put himself in good position and can begin to pursue the guard pass. 

Galvao understands the risks of wrestling as they relate to BJJ. It’s evident here that he’s covered all his bases from beginning to completion. He considers the dangers of the takedown in its early stages and also how he wants to end up at the completion of the takedown. It does us no good to take someone down and then lose control of the exchange as it hits the mat. You may have achieved a takedown but also put yourself in danger at the same time. 

This collection of stand-up techniques that Galvao is going to share with us will be more than battle tested. Galvao has been everywhere, done everything, and won it all. There are no stones left unturned for this BJJ icon. The release may be available by the time you read this blog. Add considerable value to your stand-up game with one of the best to ever do it!

Andre has the formula for YOU to finally defeat those complex guards. Better yet, do it with old school concepts! Passing Modern Guards Using Old School Concepts by Andre Galvao is dedicated to defeating the modern guard!

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