How Danaher chooses takedowns for BJJ (for beginners)

Summary of Danaher's highly viewed 40-minute video on the topic, available on KZbin: • Best Takedowns For Jiu...
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I recommend watching his full video, but if you'd like a starting point to wrap your head around the subject before getting into the weeds, I hope my video will help you out!
After many competitions at blue belt, I've decided I want to get better at standup. So, I dove deep into the world of takedowns, first focusing on BJJ legend John Danaher's video on his 6 criteria for choosing Jiu Jitsu takedowns to help guide me as I begin the 2024 competition season.
In this video, we'll explore how to adapt judo (and some wrestling!) to the sport of BJJ according to Danaher, and see how to analyze the risk versus reward of various throws... and best of all, we'll get an answer for which two takedowns Danaher recommends focusing on first: collar drags, and ankle picks.
Thank you to:
- My BJJ team Odyssey Jiu Jitsu and Coach Greg Sirico
- Jordan Coe, Eitan Gelber, Matt Guffey, Joshua for appearing in / helping with the video
- Sensei Chuck Jefferson and my training partners at CJ Judo
- My strength coaches at Victory Submission Strength
Also in this video:
- • TOP JUDO IPPONS 2023 -...
- • 15 of the Most Savage ...
/ joshbeambjj
#bjj #judo #wrestling #takedowns #bjjfanatics #johndanaher #bjjtechnique #judotechnique #bjjmotivation #judomotivation #crosstraining #martialarts

[@chenwang643]

63 comps at blue belt lmfao damn

[@jleano609]

Good for you for starting judo and also for seeking the glory of a big Ippon rather than the %game that is modern BJJ 🙂- Chuck is a monster BTW, you're in the right place.

[@joshbeambjj]

Haha thanks! I’m going for broke on those seoi nages 😂😂 Oh nice have you / do you train with Chuck?

[@jleano609]

@@joshbeambjjno, just know him by reputation and can see he’s very good from videos. I coach in Houston TX at GroundDwellers BJJ

[@ItsTheJits_]

Love judo it's a big part of my bjj game. (Even the ne waza stuff). When it comes to gi, there's some modifications you can do for judo that'll help in bjj. Few examples: Quarter turn drop seio; more of a snap down but can punish heavy wrestling stances. Limits back exposure and is low risk. Potentially leads to an ankle pick. Tomo nage; bread and butter for bjj throws imo. Failed tomo nage and lead right into a 3 foot sweep or other various open guards. Osoto, ouchi, kosoto gari; not much needs said here. Effective trips that can punish up right opponents. Cross body Osoto can work vs a wrestling stance as well No gi: Over hooks and under hooks are your friend. Best way to set up judo throws no gi and protects your back in the event of messing up a throw. Uchi mata, tai otoshi, etc I do all from an over hook. If you're gonna run judo in no gi (tbh also gi) you need a decent wrestling stance and a good sprawl so that you can safely establish your grip and move into a more traditional judo stance Speaking of grips they're very important. Grip fight is 70% the game imo. In gi you can grip and frame in a way to limit your opponents wrestling. With proper grips you can go for those big highlight reel turn throws more safely. Also a lot of judo and wrestling play off eachother. Old school judo has a lot of "leg grabs" (morto gari kata gurma etc) that can blend together. They function well together once you learn to chain throws into leg grabs or shots into dominant grips for throws. Sorry for rambling judo nerd here lmao but keep up the good work, love seeing judo come to jiujitsu a lot of people disregard it and pull guard. It's a really fun part of the game when you dive deep into it

[@endurojimmy3109]

Well, as an old Judo player from the past, we practiced standing into ground, meaning that when we threw your opponent, we would immediately follow through with ground work, so it was all one continuous movement. This seems to have stopped nowadays, and there's almost a pause between throwing your opponent and following up with ground work. For example, if you threw with tai toshi, you held the opponent's sleeve up, and went immediately into Jiji gatame. Personally, I think that a throw should be taught with a follow-up into ground.

[@andrewkarl5174]

I study at a dojo that teaches both Judo, and Jiu Jitsu, the sensie exhorts us to “squeeze out every drop “ after a throw. Also in competition not to expect an ipon, and set up for newaza.

[@TIZ_TheZone]

Great breakdown of Danaher's philosophy.

[@joshbeambjj]

thanks for watching!

[@moonrunrs]

Nice! I am 2nd degree black belt in BJJ and Sankyu in Judo. I love doing both and think most practitioners should if they have the time.

[@felixluna914]

I would like to know what you would use in a street fight would it be Judo or Jiu jitsu and why.????

[@moonrunrs]

@@felixluna914 For a real fight you need: striking, standing grappling, ground grappling (Ne Waza/BJJ). I train with a lot of street cops (LAPD, SMPD, LASD), corrections officers and guys who work at clubs and bars in LA as bouncers and security. They have taught me the most about actual street fighting rather than sport. I am trying to practice all 3 of these things. BJJ is the best if you actually go to the ground, especially on your back. But in a real fight on a hard surface, that's the last place you want to be. Real life Striking (boxing, Muay Thai and reality based simple striking like from a good combatives system) and standing grappling like Judo/wrestling will prevent you from having to go there.

[@moonrunrs]

@@felixluna914 Whatever works! IMO for self defense you need: Striking, throws/standing grappling and ground work (ne waza/Jiu Jitsu). You need to train in them all. Each has strengths and weaknesses for a real fight.

[@faburipk3927]

As a blue belt with injured shoulders I cannot go all in on takedowns, especially with heavy partners. So, exactly my thoughts in this video - thanks!

[@joshbeambjj]

Great point! I’ve actually recently hurt my shoulders too (AC joints). What happened to yours?

[@faburipk3927]

Torn Labrum on both sides. Changed my whole game, have to rely much on spider guard and Lasso in gi; leg locks in no-gi, and for takedowns pretty much the ones you mentioned. Always reducing the risk of getting thrown and land on the shoulders

[@mohammadashwaaduddin6613]

Really good vid. Just like you in blue belt at bjj and started judo to be better at bjj comp. Tomorrow going for ibjjf comp and excited to try out my new judo skill but only foot sweeps or ankle picks to ensure I don’t end up in a bad position on the mat.

[@joshbeambjj]

Oh nice! I’ll be curious to know how it goes! Good luck

[@mohammadashwaaduddin6613]

@@joshbeambjj got silver today at London IBJJF. Surprisingly the legend Roger Gracie was there today so managed to get a pic!!! 😎

[@TrueLegacyStudio]

Awesome video josh!

[@joshbeambjj]

Thanks dude 😍

[@bigmo931]

For comps, my judo and BJJ approaches are very different because of the rulesets, as you stated. Particularly, for BJJ, I do like foot sweeps as my go to options because they are easy to chain. For gi, I like ko soto gari (minor outside reap), ko uchi gari (minor inside reap), and sasae tsurikomi ashi (propping lifting pulling foot sweep). This is from an advantageous gripping configuration where I have a collar grip on my opponent and I have sleeve control with their hand not on my collar. This will allow you to close the distance without a stiff arm in your way. For nogi, I like to achieve a T position (I am in a side clinch with my head on my opponent's chest) Here, I go for ko uchi or valley drop. single legs are available here as well.

[@joshbeambjj]

Very nice, sounds like some low risk high reward options! I need to look up valley drop 🤔

[@henry4553]

this video was made for me. I'm a blue belt in my mid-30s, and I am tired of pulling guard and losing the stand-up exchange. I also compete, but nowhere near as you have (63 matches!? I assume you live in So Cal or someplace like that, where there are tons of comps and travel to get more.). I recently purchased Danaher's 3 part series, though haven't watched it bc I'm very atm. I also found a premium gym 1.5-2 hours from me that offers a Saturday Judo for JJ class by a black belt in Judo and JJ -- which has been awesome. I've considered finding a Judo academy and going up through the belts as I'm doing w/ JJ.

[@jeremymcshane9549]

Frankly, I don't really trust Danaher on this. I understand what he's trying to do with categorizing this stuff but I'd really suggest looking into what actual wrestlers, judoka and sambists have suggested for BJJ takedowns. I would suggest looking at Justin Flores, Joseph Breza, Shintaro Higashi and Vlad Koulikov. I would suggest more wrestlers for no gi but I just don't know that many. Takedowns are really not something I trust anyone who has a solely jiu jitsu background to teach or really comment on. There's been takedowns Danaher has put out on his dvds that are pretty clearly rooted much more in theory than experience. One of the names I posted earlier, Joseph Breza, talks about this at length in multiple of his videos. I'll link you one video I had in mind that is illustrative kzbin.info/www/bejne/pafdk4WkgLqNp6c

[@MrGatya2]

thanks, this was really helpful link!

[@markpatterson766]

And Gary Gygax.

[@joshbeambjj]

This is great info, thank you! I’m gonna take a look at the video link you posted as well. Appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment with this well thought out reply 🤙🏻

[@jeremymcshane9549]

@@joshbeambjj No problem man, I appreciate that you're really trying to up your takedown game for BJJ and I thought it was cool that you went to join in for a judo class. I do judo myself and it's been really helpful when I've done BJJ as the standing grappling and focus on top pressure and pin escapes helps quite a bit. You may also want to take time and specifically work on stance and moving correctly in standing grappling. It's something that needs to be drilled all the time otherwise you lose your ability to keep your feet under you pretty quick, a quick 5 minutes of moving in every direction, circling, pivoting and basic movements for throws/penetration steps for shots does a world of good.

[@jayman1931]

The timing is wayyy more important than people feel it is vs the technique. Once I adjusted that, I've been able to take down judo blackbelts myself. Our natural response is seconds behind what it needs to be for a successful throw. Also bjj guys don't need to hit these throws as clean as judokas. Remember judo is their art form, we just need a takedown to showcase ours

[@israelcanada8969]

I love your channel!

[@joshbeambjj]

Thanks so much! I’m glad you like it, and thanks for watching. What types of topics are you interested in?

[@israelcanada8969]

@@joshbeambjj bjj or judo for self defense 🤟

[@TakeItToTheGround]

Try kube nage (neck throw). Lands in side control in kesa gatame. The wind gets so taken out of them so that a back take/escape is furthest thing from their mind. It is also a very low skill throw that is easy to learn. Yoko tomoe nage. Worst case you get an arm bar or pull guard if it goes really south. Ude Gaeshi (crocodile roll ) to a shoulder lock. Banned in judo but probably legal in BJJ. Plus foot sweeps are easier than you think. Even if they don't work other opportunities flow from getting your opponent off balance and moving.

[@andrecheongavocadojudo2114]

Danaher talks a lot about Uki Waza in his Standing 2 Ground video. Essentially, just work on your lat-drop.

[@svatandoost]

Tai otoshi and Sasae. Done

[@anamulrahman543]

More like this

[@valentinorusconi7884]

great content sir! how old were you when you started?

[@joshbeambjj]

Thank you for watching! I was introduced to BJJ as a kid and did it for a few months here and there as a teen/young adult, and my main sport was Muay Thai for like 7 years. I committed fully to BJJ consistently in November 2020 still as a white belt.

[@ronin2167]

Now you just need to learn Aikido too and you've got the whole AikiJuJutsu

[@fumoaddict3526]

while I am just a shitty white belt, i don't think this has to be that complicated. my criteria for takedowns that I focus on are: 1. the takedown is available from strong positions I find myself in a lot. for me those positions are: underhook, body lock, collar tie, russian tie; they might be different for others 2. i can consistently score off the takedown or off a sequence involving the takedown. so for example if you can hit multiple single leg variations, you can also learn a throw-by that, if it misses, still opens up single-leg opportunities. i also found myself often in a body lock after a failed double, or with an underhook after a failed single 3. low risk high reward - lands you in a strong position if you hit it, doesn't screw you over if you miss it. for me a good starting point was to ask myself, what position am I in a lot and what takedowns are available from there, what takedowns I already know are available to chain with those, and how can I avoid getting screwed if i miss the takedown. so I decided , yeah I like underhooks and body locks, I'm going to get as good as possible at reaching and solidifying that position, then focus on hitting the moves available from those positions like throw-bys, single legs, bear hugs, inside trips, and chain those moves together when possible same philosophy applies to really any move. for example, people confident in their sprawls should probably also try to get good at front chokes and taking the back off a front headlock.

[@StripMallSensei]

I like how you challenged yourself to stop pulling guard.

[@joshbeambjj]

Thank you! Appreciate you watching

[@SinSacrificio13]

inside outside trip my go toos

[@nedron]

The collar drag will get you far. Low risk, high reward, and super easy to learn. Judo style foot sweeps take a lot of work. It involves a lot of timing. I have been doing Judo for 20 years and still can't hit them 100% of the time.

[@joshbeambjj]

Thanks for your comment! Ah yeah I keep hearing that about foot sweeps 😂 Seems like though even if I can’t hit them, I can still use them to set other things up? Off balance the opponent etc.

[@felixluna914]

I would like to know what you would use in a street fight, would it be judo or jiu jitsu.

[@joshbeambjj]

My running skills! Lol. I don’t think it’s an either/or situation, I think you’d wanna use whatever works holistically. That’s probably a mix of several disciplines, including striking. Just my two cents.

[@MartialAlexLe]

Have you seen into quarter turn seoi nage which Shintaro Higashi (look him up on KZbin) advertises for BJJ?

[@joshbeambjj]

I have actually yeah! I saw a few people demonstrating that online, and a few people have told me I should try it. I need to go back and take a harder look at that, I haven’t started implementing it in training. Do you use it?

[@MartialAlexLe]

I am a Judoka first and just began dabbling in BJJ at uni. I cant turn off my instincts yet getting my back taken lol but it is on my bucket list of things to master@@joshbeambjj

[@jasonredpill7473]

One Uchimata can freeze an opponent's movement for a short period.

[@sungjinkim712]

Heres an advanced combo for you. Uchimata -> Ouchi -> Kouchi -> Drop Seoi Unless you have really good seoi nage, its never good to do them without set up. Chaining them after a 2-3 throws overloads your opponent's brain and ability to react

[@joshbeambjj]

Oooo nice! Thanks for the comment. Gonna remember this…

[@nicholasnj3778]

basically just get a black belt in Judo LOL ....

[@gladiumcaeli]

@joshbeambjj the 3 initial attacks: uchi mata, o uchi, and ko uchi are techniques that you can indefinitely chain together from one to the other depending on your opponents reaction. For example: uchi mata to a ko uchi ( you take both of their legs), o uchi to uchi mata you are attacking with a forward attack their reaction is to push back then you hit them with the uchi mata Ko uchi to o uchi you are attacking their right leg, they would probably make their right leg light, so you take their left leg out with an o uchi. As you may notice you are changing the direction of your attack (um ⬇️↙️, KG ⬅️↙️↪️, OG⬆️➡️↩️ depending on how they shift their balance

[@nicholasnj3778]

Tight waist Tani Otosi good for Gi or No Gi, tell your opponent not to resist this (in practice at your gym/dojo), about 7 or 8 years ago, I was in on the tight waist in a live spar , my partner thought he could resist it by plating his legs and not going down, tried turning into me and broke his leg .... often people will say "watch your leg", just keep your knee turned out and there is no danger to you, as soon as you hit the ground go to side control or mount (you start to turn as you hit the ground) .... the danger is to your opponent since its your whole body weight bringing them down ... see videos posted OSS

[@anonymousperson2816]

Damn I was prioritizing foot sweeps since they looked cool and I’m not athletic enough yet to shoot for takedowns, I thought they were the “easy takedowns” only to find out they’re actually hard to master like you said

[@anonymousperson2816]

​@@saltymember1062 I've been watching vids about it but still can't grasp how it works, I mean I know it works but I always go "oh then I'll just move my feet away then it wont work on me"

[@joshbeambjj]

Yeah they look deceptively easy 😂 I guess that’s because we keep seeing high level people do them, so of course they’re supposed to look like that, lol

[@anonymousperson2816]

@@joshbeambjj just out of curiosity, was it your judo coach/partners who said they were hard to master? did they discourage u from it?

[@joshbeambjj]

I’ve heard it a variety of places, but I’ve never been discouraged by judo training partners from training them. They just emphasize that the timing usually takes people a long time to figure out.

[@anonymousperson2816]

@@joshbeambjj ah I see thanks!

[@jimster805]

does he have specific takedowns for nogi?

[@joshbeambjj]

He doesn’t mention them in the video I was referencing, but he does have a few no-gi takedown focused instructionals on BJJFanatics

[@TSM260]

If you can get really good at judo, tge risks vanish for the most part. You learn how to find the angles to minimize risks. I use Uchimata tons in jiu jitsu comp and harai goshi

[@joshbeambjj]

That’s dope! I aspire to be at that level

[@joshbeambjj]

Are you using either of those as counter throws, or entering directly into them?

[@nicholasnj3778]

OSS / OSU

[@Jonobos]

This attitude is really stupid if you think about it. Everything has a counter, and if you throw things away because they can be countered nothing is left. The takedowns jiujitsu guys prefer all have easy counters. Jiujitsu guys just suck at takedowns and don't know them. Constantly running from anything that can be countered doesn't make you better. It just kicks the problem down the road.

[@joshbeambjj]

Fair point. I feel like it’s more about just figuring out what to prioritize first, though. Like, if I’m gonna go try to hit a takedown in competition, I’ll probably have a better chance hitting a collar drag than a seoi nage. Doesn’t mean I can’t work a multitude of throws, it’s just about prioritizing high percentage moves for competition.

[@Jonobos]

@@joshbeambjj someone with good standup (posture, stance, footwork) isn't getting hit with a collar drag. You will have to follow up on it. So it isn't high percentage really. You will have to follow up with a single. Which also isn't high percentage, because the single itself doesn't finish. You have to switch to double, or trip the leg, etc. So that collar drag was actually 4 takedowns you had to learn. Which one was high percentage? Let's say you wrestle up to the single off the collar drag which is very likely necessary. What is your finish? Run the pipe. Easy uchimata or Sumi counter. Switch to double? Now you are back to getting sprawled on, guillotines, front headlock, etc. Sweep the foot? No control of center of mass and very tough to hold the person down, so low percentage. All you have accomplished is adding an extra step before you have to address the exact same problems you are trying to avoid. So danahers strategy isn't making you better at takedowns. It is doing what jiujitsu guys love to do. It is adding extra steps before doing the hard work of actually understanding the exchanges and why they happen. Learning to do a double correctly and how to defend the guillotine is hard. It seems easier to avoid the engagement, but you will end up there in the long run. Learning to defend the back or the guillotine pays off in ways other than just opening up "risky" takedowns.

[@zipcode305]

63 matches? Wtf lol

[@joshbeambjj]

Lol that’s tournaments! It’s 240+ matches