Joker is a faixa preta (black belt) in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a black belt in Jeet Kune Do with Team McVicker. He is a yellow-white arm band in Dragonleg Muay Thai. He was the chief instructor of Goshin Jitsu, an eclectic martial arts club and has black belts in two different styles of karate. He's fought muay thai, jiu-jitsu, and mixed-martial arts.
Head up listening to the chest, legs square - think dead lift or squat with a slight lean.
The initial grip on the leg: lateral arm goes underneath the leg and is palm down, the medial hand is palm up.
To bring the leg up, drop your far leg back and the medial hand grabs the heel. Bring the leg up and guillotine it. To make him light on his base leg you want to guillotine at the ankle where the sock line would be, and lift. You can also punch up at the cubital fossa.
Pass to the side mount by putting them in a fetal position.
If they whizzer you by overlooking and grabbing the inside of their thigh, bringing their leg to the outside, switch to the knee tap. Underhook and punch up as you step around the near leg, loading them on their far leg. As you pressure forward tap the lateral side of the far leg with your free hand. The punch literally acts a wedge to tilt them onto one leg which you briefly block to let them fall.
Figure 1: If you want to do a single leg and you are in opposite leads, you will need to do a drop pivot step for them to switch leads so that they are mirror with you.
From your wrestling stance, lead hand protecting your lead leg (the most likely one to be attacked) and rear hand to make contact with your opponent (feel their movement). Use the “wristwatch grip”: grab the medial side of the ipsilateral wrist just proximal to the hand. If their lead foot is a mirror image to you, proceed directly to the single (Figure 2). If your leads are opposite, use your rear hand to pull them in a 90° pivot by dropping your rear leg back and keeping your same lead (Figure 1) then proceed to the single as above (Figure 2). Use your wristwatch grip to twist it anteriorly so their thumb is pointed to the rear. This opens the “door" for you to fit your shoulder inside as you step with your lead leg behind their lead leg (creating shelf behind their lead thigh), with your head on their chest listening to their heart, eyes up. Push with your head and pick their leg up, slide your arms in a guillotine grip at the ankle. Lift up to bend their knee, drawing them closer. Use your far leg to hook their base leg with the bottom of your foot.
Figure 2: From mirrored stances, set up the single leg by stepping behind their lead leg.
Once they are on the ground, you can clear the leg and pass to the side mount. Alternatively you can knee or kick their leg, followed by punching to the head with your far hand.
Hands - head - forearms - hips are the layers of defense in takedowns. Thus protect the lead leg with your lead hand, elbow at knee height, hand in front of the knee. Keep your head at or below your opponent’s. Use your rear hand to check and range find their head or shoulder. If they do not clear your lead hand it, your arm blocks the takedown with the help of the hip, checking into them perpendicularly.
To do the snap down your rear hand cups the head and the lead hand their elbow pull them down and lateral to your lead leg, using your legs not just your arms. Then double leg them laterally.
If they grab your wrist with their ipsilateral hand pull them across your body and grab their wrist with your free hand while freeing your hand. Pull to the single leg.
Remember that you must be eye-to-eye to engage your opponent, when you are ear-to-ear your are in a stalemated defense. To break this pull them forward, then push their ipsilateral elbow medially to break their clinch.
90° muay thai pivot drills.
Lead pivot: Rear kick, your opponent with step toward you, while you step 45° anterior laterally with the lead foot, check hand with your head hand (which will remain lead), pivot to the same stance, cross, lead hook, rear kick. Repeat. The lead pivot is easier but unless your are opposite leads will mean you are pivoting into their power side.
Rear pivot, version #1: Rear kick, your opponent with step toward you, while you step 45° anterior laterally with the rear foot, check hand with your rear hand (which will become your new lead hand), pivot to the opposite stance, cross, lead hook, rear kick. Repeat. This allows you to pivot to their weak side but is more complicated because of the lead switch.
Rear pivot, version #2: Rear kick, lead hook, cross, your opponent with step toward you, while you step 45° anterior laterally with the rear foot, check hand with your rear hand (which will become your new lead hand), pivot to the opposite stance, rear kick, lead hook, cross, pivot step. Repeat.
Grab the medial side of the ipsilateral hand palm to the posterior side of their hand, twist it anteriorly so their thumb is pointed to the rear. From here step in next to them shooting the underhook and “popping” their near chest with your shoulder, options:
Reach down with your free hand and then your underhook hand to secure their near leg. Take a step back to “drop them in the hole”.
If they step the foot back to avoid the single leg, drive your underhook up, as you step past them and knee tap the far leg
If they try to whizzer with their overhook, control their head with your free hand, elbow pointed to the mat with your forearm along the neck, a drop step first your near foot (the underhook side) then your rear foot to spin them to the mat.
Later we took this same set-up of striking, using the catch and parry to underhook and do the same takedowns.
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