You can expend very little
effort in spotting a technique such as Takedown #3 and its family of variations
across every part of the martial arts world. Of course, readers may refer to it
by a different name than the one we use in our Jiu Jitsu curriculum.
The
effect is like a fast and heavy broom, sweeping aside whatever happens to stand
in the way. As beginners, we were taught to grab the opponent’s shoulder with,
let’s say, our right hand….pull back hard…while sweeping the back of her leg
with our right leg. Again, practical and not so complex at all. Like a tricky
old school yard leg trip, in fact, my little students have plenty of fun with
this technique.
Little
Peyton will grasp her training chum’s left shoulder with her right hand, and as
a way of distracting her, she’ll point up at the ceiling and say” “Watch the
birdie!” Just as her partner gazes up, Peyton sweeps her off her leg. Hearing
this, Christopher tris to one up Peyton by grasping his brother Benjamin’s
shoulder and say: “Watch the flying pizza!” and so on. There is no shortage to
their inventions.
Their
innocence is endearing. Older kids will
learn to apply the technique from various angles; they’ll also pepper their
sparring with this and any number of other takedowns. And they’ll often grapple
with each other after the partner is swept of his feet or the partner who has
fallen will retaliate with a barrage of ground fighting kicks. They enjoy
taking a basic technique and bending it to serve the situation they find
themselves in.
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Source: www.shaolin.org |
I
can’t forget the first time I saw what we call Takedown #3 applied from the
front – or from any other angle for that matter – using the Northern Praying
Mantis form Bung Bo Kuen. In the form, the heel hammers the floor hard, and
the sound comes off like the shot of a rifle. The mantis claw comes across from
the opposite side of the leg and slices whatever it can get hold of. This
movement is repeated from the opposite side, so you immediately get the sense
that this left-right sequence is part of a cluster attack, along with elbows,
punches, low kicks, etc. Sharp and brutal, fighting such as this is ever remote
from what Peyton and Christopher do in class. But that’s the nature of Mantis.
It’s
time for an aside. Let’s compare our ever popular Takedown #3 to the bean salad
everybody seems to want to bring to the same pot luck dinner. The scene: an
apartment somewhere in Manhattan. The time: shall we say just before 7:00 P.M.
The host is expecting about nine or ten people at most. The doorbell rings. He
answers the door…
“Ah,
Shlomo, you brought bean salad. Thank goodness! I was so worried nobody would
think of bringing it!”
Two
minutes later:
“Ah,
Helga, you brought bean salad as well. What, enough for thirty people? How
thoughtful of you!”
Two
minutes later:
“Ah,
Vladimir, what?...bean salad? Could we be striving for overkill? No, Vladimir, overkill…not road kill.”
Two
minutes later:
“Ah,
the Bruegels. I bet you brought bean salad as well. Left it in the car? No
hurry, no hurry. It’s a cold night. It’ll keep.”
Two
minutes later:
“Ah,
Aimee. I didn’t know you were coming.
Thank God for Twitter. What’s in the bag? Six cans of beans? Yes, the
kitchen is free. It won’t take you long, you say.”
1. Mahoney grasps Anthony’s left shoulder with his left hand. (Some folks will take this opportunity to push the partner slightly forward and then proceed to yank him sharply back). Mahoney will now pull Anthony backward as his left leg sweeps Anthony’s right leg. Really, you can, if you wish, pull straight back however we’ve found that by pulling backward – and downward at the same time – unsettles the partner balance much more dramatically. The partner’s head tends to drop sharply downward while the upended legs swing up into the air.
2. That’s the basic
takedown, sweet and simple. Now the training begins in earnest, as well as the improvisation that goes along with the
training.
I’ve learned to appreciate that a Takedown is a weapon. Therefore,
as a weapon, Takedown #3, should be applied from any position, 360 degrees, under
any and all circumstances.
In
fact, as Mahoney shows us, you can do things such as slicing the arm backward
across the throat as you sweep; come in from the front or the sides, sweeping
from that particular angle of approach, while slicing the head from back to
front; driving across from your right against the inside of his left leg while
slashing his neck from left to right.
Another mode of training I
can suggest is to have your partner grab you in different ways: bear hug from
the back; head lock from the side; wrist grab from the front…or your partner
can try to jangle your nerves by jabbing at you from the front or performing a
barrage of low roundhouse kicks to your legs. No matter which, your Takedown #3
will eventually make its appearance. You may have to sidestep those jabs, you
may have to block his roundhouse punch, you may have to counter the thrust of a
knife attack…put you will use the takedown to place him on the ground.
Further reading about takedowns -
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