These are my favourite simple takedowns.
Grip-Switch Takedown
- Start with your left foot forward and your right hand in a wrestling clinch/tie up on your opponent/partner. Snap his head down slightly.
- Step Forwards with your right foot and switch your grip so that the left hand now has the clinch
- You can now grab the waist or leg of your opponent OR
- You can go for a headlock when the opponent sprawls back to stop you capturing the leg
The technique begins instantly at the start of this video – you really need to view at 0.25 speed to see the ‘grip-switch’
1-2 Takedown
- Hook or sweep (lightly) your opponents lead leg
- He will normally step back to avoid the trip
- Ankle pick his other foot/ankle which will now be in front
Basic Head-Snap
- Wrestling Clinch
- Push into partner
- Snap his head down into a headlock
The head-snap is a highly effective technique at low & intermediate level wrestling.
If you can’t reach a headlock from a snap-down, you can follow up with a double leg takedown or low single when the opponent tries to posture up.
You can also snap-down from a 2 on 1 grip on the wrist.
Wizzer – Uchi Mata
- From over/under position
- Tighten your overhook and try and get wrist control where your underhook is
The over/under position is shown below:
From here, when Hendo stands up, Anderson could tighten his overhook with his right arm – look the opposite way and perform an uchi-mata/wizzer throw as shown above