If you’re playing knockdown contact sports like mixed martial arts or valedo, you’ll know that knowing how to take down an opponent in combat is essential if you want to ensure victory.
Knocking down seems simple at times, but the truth is that it is more complicated than it may seem at first glance. Many people mistakenly believe that you can only take down your opponent using brute force, but this is not the case.
Anyone who knows anything about fights will know that knocking down an opponent in combat is a matter of knowing how to take advantage of the levers, centers of gravity and the strength of some parts of the body such as the hips.
If you learn all this, you’ll be able to knock your opponent down much more easily, even if they double your size. It will also help you learn how to defend yourself from when they try to take you down, which will give you even more advantage in combat.
What do you need to take down an opponent in combat?
- A partner to practice with.
- A place to practice, if possible, with a soft floor (mats for example).
Instructions for Knocking Down an Opponent in Combat
- Front-leg tackling:
This is one of the most basic takedowns out there but one of the most effective. First of all, we are going to stand at a close distance from the opponent in a guard position, and then rest the knee that we have in front of us on the ground. At the same time as we fall, we must grab the opponent by hugging him at knee height and stick our ear to his belly so that he cannot take us away. Now we’re going to take advantage of the power of the hips by bringing forward the leg that we had behind us and lifting up a little using the legs. Now all you have todo is use your body to unbalance your opponent by knocking him to the ground. To do this, we are going to rotate the body towards the place where we want to knock it down, while continuing to squeeze its knees and fall with it. - Knock down by defending yourself from a kick:
If you’re fast enough, you can easily knock down an opponent in combat by grabbing their leg and throwing the other one. When he throws the kick at you, be attentive and grab it, as soon as you have it grabbed, move the support leg with your foot inwards and use your arms to pull him to the side of his leg (if he gives it to you with his right hand you pull him to the right and vice versa). You should also use the strength of your hips to be able to pull it properly. - The wheelbarrow:
I call this mode of knocking down the wheelbarrow because we are going to attack it in a similar way to when we grab a wheelbarrow on the ground. To do this, we simply bend down and grab their legs below at knee height. Now we must pull forward with our body while pulling our legs upwards. In this way, we will be on top of the opponent and we will be able to finish him. - Using our weight:
Another takedown that I really like to use is to directly use our weight against the opponent. First of all, I warn you that for the inexperienced in fighting on the ground, it leaves you in a somewhat disadvantageous position. To do it, we are simply going to jump on the opponent, in such a way that we cross our legs at the height of their hips and grab their back so that they fall down. If you see that he doesn’t fall, grab him by the back of his knee to unbalance his center of gravity and finally fall to the ground easily.
Tips for Knocking Down an Opponent in Combat
- Defend Against Takedowns Face: To avoid this knockdown, the first thing you have to do is prevent your opponent from being able to leverage with you. To do this, we are going to separate his face from our body and use our head to push his out. In this way, it will no longer have the advantage of the lever and you will only have to push down your leg to let it go completely. Then you can choose to either counter with a takedown, with a punch or walk away.
- Defend yourself from wheelbarrow takedowns: You have to be aware of the possible sudden and fast movements of your opponent. When we see that he tries to do so, we will quickly move back and push his head down so that he hits himself on the ground and fails to do anything against you.
- Defend yourself from takedowns from grabbing legs: Here it’s simple, improve the quality and speed of your kicks so that they don’t grab your legs. If they manage to grab you, quickly stick to the opponent and use the takedown to use your weight to knock them down.
- Defend yourself from the takedown of using your weight: To defend yourself against it, you have two options. If you’re skilled, you can release his legs so that he falls to the ground. You can also choose to use your forward weight to land on top of the opponent and stay in an advantageous position.