Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Unnamed Leg Takedown

This unnamed throw is executed when Ryo has his back to his opponent, ducks, and executes a throw with his legs.

At first glance, this appears similar to kani basami, or scissors takedown. This move has been banned in judo due to high injury potential, but is still legal in MMA and other grappling arts.

The infamous match between Yasuhiro Yamashita and Sumio Endo that led to the banning of kani basami. Endo tries to go for kani basami against Yamashita and ends up breaking Yamashita's knee. The move was banned shortly after this match.

However, the opponent is taken backwards using kani basami whereas Ryo is throwing his opponent forward, similar to a drop toehold as it's known in pro wrestling. The move has its origins in catch wrestling. Here we can see Olympic Silver Medalist Nat Pendleton demonstrating this move, using it to transition to a single leg and finishing with a double wristlock (or koala guard and kimura if you're BJJ-inclined).

Nat Pendleton in a "boxer vs wrestler" demo.

I hadn't seen any analogues for this move in competition until the 2022 Paris Grand Slam. Muzaffarbek Turoboyev executes a sort of kani basami-soto makikomi hybrid where he scissors his legs and takes his opponent forward, just like Ryo does.

Muzaffarbek Turoboyev vs Nikoloz Sherazadishvili