The blast takedown is a highly effective way to wrestle anyone to the ground. It’s an old wrestling technique that has carried over into mixed martial arts (MMA). It’s a power takedown that involves wrapping your legs around an opponent’s legs and driving them into the canvas. It’s a challenging takedown for anyone to stuff when you set it up correctly.
Setting Up The Blast Double Leg Takedown
Ready to learn how to set up the blast double leg takedown and perform it like pros like Jordan Burroughs? Let’s break down the technique.
The blast takedown isn’t just any takedown; it’s the Chuck Norris of takedowns. The technique is fast, explosive, and hard to stop when perfectly set up. The technique requires you to shoot for a double leg and push your shoulders into your opponent’s torso as you drive through with your legs.
The goal of the technique is to catch your opponent off-guard, denying them the opportunity to sprawl out of it. The key to enjoying success with the blast double leg is being patient and distracting your opponent from the threat of a takedown.
Some of the things you can do to set up the blast double include:
- Establish Your Stance Without Giving Away Your Intent: The blast double leg is much easier to pull off in mixed martial arts compared to wrestling since you have more things to distract them with. The first step toward positioning yourself to perform the technique is getting into a stance that allows you to shoot for a double leg. A boxing stance works well since you can still throw strikes from it, but you’re not too high to shoot in.
- Hide Your Intentions: The best way to prevent your opponent from anticipating your intent is by distracting them with strikes and feints. Throw punches and kicks to get your opponent anticipating strikes before shooting in. While it might sound counterintuitive, changing levels to feint takedowns can also be an excellent way to set up the blast double leg. The key is to change levels frequently enough so your opponent anticipates a feint and doesn’t react while you shoot in.
- Close The Distance: The further away you are when you shoot in for a blast double, the easier it is for your opponent to defend against it. Step closer to your opponent after backing them up with strikes to ensure you are close enough to wrap your hands around their legs once you change levels. You want to be close enough for the takedown but far enough so your opponent can’t clinch up with you.
Entering The Danger Zone With Your Penetration Step
Once you’ve done everything you can to hide your intentions from your opponent, it’s time to take a risk with your penetration step. You always leave yourself vulnerable to counters like knees or uppercuts when you shoot for a takedown in MMA. This is why you must properly set up your takedowns to minimize risk.
Once you set the distance right and have convinced your opponent that the last thing on your mind is a takedown, it’s time to shoot. Imagine you’re an American football linebacker looking to bash some wide receiver when shooting in. That’s the attitude you should have when going for the blast double leg. Here are the different steps involved:
1) Drop Levels
Lower your center of gravity by bending at your knees and hips while keeping your back straight and your head up. The goal is to position your body to allow you to explode toward your opponent.
2) The Penetration Step
Once you’re in position to shoot in on your opponent, take a giant step forward with your lead leg. Aim to get your lead foot right between their leg. Push off with your back leg, propelling your body forward.
3) Head Placement
Place your head on your opponent’s midsection or right above their hips. Drive forward with your head as you push into their torso. Proper head positioning is vital since it keeps your spine aligned, allowing you to generate more momentum as you drive through your opponent with your legs.
Finishing The Takedown
You’ve already done the hard part of the technique, and it’s time to finish what you started.
1) Wrap Your Hands Around The Legs
Once you’ve successfully shot in for the takedown, you first want to wrap your hands around the back of your opponent’s knees. Clasp your hands around their legs for maximum control, but you can still pull off the technique without doing that if you set everything else up properly. Squeeze tight when you secure your opponent’s legs.
2) Drive Through With Your Legs
This is where you perform the “blast” part of the blast double leg takedown. Drive forward by pushing your back leg into the ground while pushing on your opponent with your entire body. The goal is to get your opponent’s leg off the ground and continue driving forward until they’re on the ground, wondering what happened.
The blast double-leg takedown isn’t gentle; it’s meant to be performed as if you were trying to bulldoze your way through a brick wall. Keep the momentum going once you stop driving and keep going until you accomplish your goal.
3) Follow Through
Don’t just sit there once you have your opponent on the canvas. Establish control as soon as you hit the ground. You’re most likely to end up in side control or half-guard. Land some strikes, look for opportunities to transition to more dominant positions, and look for submissions. The blast double leg is a high-energy technique, so you want to get the most out of the position you end up in.
Blast Your Way To Victory
The blast double leg can be a beneficial technique to have in your mixed martial arts arsenal. Landing it is more demoralizing for opponents than most takedowns, and it’ll have them overreacting whenever you change levels, limiting their striking efficiency.
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