Taking from other styles is common in jiu-jitsu. Athletes attempt to find answers for distant areas like the stand-up phase, usually borrowing from wrestling or judo. The logic appears sound on the surface: repeat simple observations and stable connections. However, this outlook views grappling as unchangeable. It reduces all processes to mechanics and assumes continuity in other environments. The results are often poor. Understanding mechanics is good in general. But examining takedowns for jiu-jitsu needs another approach. First, by understanding jiu-jitsu and its place on the grappling spectrum.
“Takedowns become an option, not a necessity. Athletes can choose between engaging on the feet or sit into a guard; questioning the role of takedowns altogether.”
The stand-up phase or wrestling, according to Professor John Danaher, generally centers on the upper-body against the opponent’s upper-body. This is also done in jiu-jitsu, albeit in a limited way. But the uniqueness of jiu-jitsu is the inversion of the stand-up phase. The lower-body (legs) wrestles the opponent’s upper-body (arms). In other words, it's the guard versus the clinch. And this conflict has implications.
Subjective finishes like pins or ippons have no real value in jiu-jitsu. Rather, hold-downs are used as forms of control--not an end in itself. The objective conclusion is the submission: causing injury or unconsciousness. Takedowns are vulnerable to them in every aspect--even on the feet. Also, the guard ends the stand-up phase. Takedowns become an option, not a necessity. Athletes can choose between engaging on the feet or sit into a guard; questioning the role of takedowns altogether. When they do happen it's usually at the start of a match or during scrambles. The challenge is to find a new place for takedowns under the sum of these circumstances:
To apply takedowns in the most standard, conventional way: landing the attacker in a top position and pinning the adversary’s back to the ground. Koshi-guruma (hip wheel) is a path to kesa-gatame (scarf-hold). The double-leg takedown lands the attacker in a way to clear the legs into side-control or the mount.
If the attempt fails, the athlete must retain guard or create frames for distance management. In any case, the action must continue positively into the ground-phase.
The takedown can serve as an entry into a submission. This response is the most direct way submissions happen on the feet. Like the flying arm lock or a heel-hook via scissor-leg takedown. Included are the rolling and inverted attacks.
By employing a guard from the start--bypassing the whole stand-up phase.
The stand-up phase for jiu-jitsu will be atypical. As a result, a new form of takedowns designed apart and distinct from the grappling establishment is inevitable. The same rules apply: by examining a technique at rest; seeing its different aspects and features from its outset. Take uchi-mata (inner-thigh throw): it's isolated and divided into separate parts in judo (kazushi-tsukuri-kake). Once concepts form, logical conclusions secure it as a skill. Development usually ends here for most athletes. But uchi-mata has a life of its own. There are internal contradictions, along with its external relations with judo. For instance, depending on the type of grip or clinch used, uchi-mata will vary in motion. Many sides appear in various ways to each outcome. And the athlete will adjust the technique to compensate for this change.
“Any verified takedown or throw from one system undergoes another transition in jiu-jitsu. This change signifies at any moment a technique retains its identity and at the same time does not. It goes from one state to another.”
Migrated techniques into jiu-jitsu follow the same process: by studying them in isolation along its relations within the surrounding world of jiu-jitsu. But this brings about new epistemological issues. Any verified takedown or throw from one system undergoes another transition in jiu-jitsu. This change signifies at any moment a technique retains its identity and at the same time does not. It goes from one state to another. In other words, there is a leap: a break or radical change in development. Single-leg and double-leg takedowns from wrestling can be leg entanglement entries instead of forcing opponents to the mat. While these techniques maintain the same character, their use is far from wrestling. Another example is sumi-gaeshi (corner throw) from judo. It's classified under sutemi-waza (sacrifice techniques); a last-ditch effort to score near the end of a judo match. The risk is getting pinned if the attempt fails. But sutemi-waza is ideal for jiu-jitsu. It becomes a guard-pull if the throw fails. With elevation, sumi-gaeshi goes through a shift. Opponents can fall into a kneebar; or the attacker can enter into reverse-x en route to leg entanglements (options totally foreign from its origin).
The embrace of any method appearing to offer an explanation to an area like takedowns is limited—or a mistake at worst. Reliable techniques are generally viewed as absolutes. While athletes tolerate minor adjustments, they cannot for the most part produce or explain breakthroughs. Athletes dismiss the principle jiu-jitsu is acted on: live training. It’s apparent for groundwork; but largely ignored for the stand-up phase—very few gyms take up the project to engage in it. Contradictions are resolved by the practical needs of the time (in this case the rise of nogi grappling and its disparate rule-sets); consequently providing a critical advantage at the highest level.
“Similarly the use of takedowns should not be comprehended as a complex of ready-made things, but a complex of processes.”
Theory, especially for takedowns, grows out of practice; it reacts and aids further practice because grappling phenomena is a flux; constantly connecting with things and processes around it. The fundamental cause of development is not external but internal. It lies within the workings of the technique. External causes are the condition of change; internal causes are the basis of it—suggesting technical innovations challenge the environment. The current leglock systems and the lapel guard series influence how athletes approach and apply jiu-jitsu. Similarly the use of takedowns should not be comprehended as a complex of ready-made things, but a complex of processes. Things apparently stable go through changes in jiu-jitsu, from a lower stage to a higher one; and therefore, in turn, change the nature of jiu-jitsu itself.