Sprawling and Front Headlock Defense

Leg defense has three layers. The first is position: hips back, hands in front, and a stance that does not offer a leg. The second is the sprawl, which drops your weight onto the attacker's shoulders and pushes your legs out of reach. The third is what happens next, because a sprawl that ends with you square in front of a kneeling opponent has only postponed the problem. The front headlock is where that third layer usually goes.

Key points

• Sprawl by kicking both legs back and down at once, dropping your hips onto the attacker's shoulders with your chest heavy.
• The hips move first; a sprawl that only moves the feet leaves your weight forward and your legs still within reach.
• Fight the hands as the shot arrives, peeling or blocking so they cannot lock behind your knees in the first place.
• A front headlock pairs one hand cupped under the chin with the far arm hooked over the elbow, elbows squeezed together.
• Drive their head toward the mat and circle to the open hip to go behind, rather than pulling straight backward.

Common mistakes

• Sprawling with the hips high and the knees apart, which leaves a gap for the attacker to keep driving through.
• Grabbing the head without controlling an arm, so the opponent simply backs out and stands while you hold nothing useful.
• Cranking the neck with a front headlock instead of pressuring toward the mat, which risks injury and rarely improves the position.

Put it into practice