Takedowns, and why you should never go to the ground, by Val Riazanov

In this clip I will demonstrate certain takedown techniques and also how to resist them. I cannot stress enough that going to the ground should never be an option in any street fight and this is not because you cannot win a one-on-one confrontation, but the fact that you don’t know who else is there! I did a seminar a few years ago for a well known SWAT team in the US. The guys were very welcoming to a Russian perspective and most of them had MMA backgrounds and it was not surprising that they were good at takedown techniques. I gave them some tips from my own grappling background and of course striking and then I asked them to give me some scenarios that they had difficulty with. Now I can’t be specific as to the exact scenario, but let’s just say that it ended up on the ground and two of these guys were woking on one ‘suspect’. When two people are working on one, then it is safe to assume that they will have the advantage, which of course they did. But what if the guy had two friends? Not only was the advantage lost, but now they were vulnerable and I see this situation many, many times. Now think of you as an individual – you have everything to lose going to the ground! Pay particular attention to the angles of each takedown and also to staying relaxed and loose as it is not easy to move a ‘dead weight’. There will be times when you absolutely have to take your opponent to the ground and also when you are taken to the ground as combat is unpredictable, but don’t direct the action to the ground!