Coaches Corner Article: Beating the opponent's Two on One

Coaches: Close Ties - Beating the Opponent's 2 on 1

When I refer to Close Ties, I am talking about positions such as the Two on One, Underhook, and also Head Ties, in addition to the Over/Under position. What I tell the athletes is to always keep good position. That means keeping elbows in, bending in their stance, and getting the head in the slot if you possible. A lot of guys make the mistake of letting the opponent turn their thumb downward and stretch their arm out. We want to keep our thumb up and keep our elbow in. A lot of guys also like to post on the head to counter the Two on One. I am not a big fan of this, as you also get out of position by doing this. I would much prefer to take my free hand and control the opponent's wrist. If I can pull his wrist off my wrist, I can beat his two on one and go on the attack.

My attacks from this position will depend on whether I was able to get head position on him or not. If I was able to get head position, I can go into an underhook with the arm he was controlling. I like to step in for a hip toss from this position if I move my hips the same time I'm clearing his wrist. If not, I can go into my underhook series, and I already have his wrist controlled on the first side for it.

If I do not have head position, I will clear his wrist and force it down across his body. Then, with my other hand, hook the armpit of that same arm and arm drag. Now - in order to hit the arm drag effectively and score with it, you need to step with your foot (same side as your hand that is grabbing his wrist), and then step across with the other leg. Notice that I do not like stepping in the middle on arm drags, rather, I like to go across the body. This prevents the opponent from re-dragging.

Coaches: How To Train It:

Let one guy get the two on one, and have the other guy position himself first by keeping the shoulder and head in, bending the knee, and keeping the arm bent - wrist in to his own chest, thumb up. Do this drill for a while, so your athletes get very comfortable positioning themselves against the Two on One. Then you can work the scoring techniques from there.

You can add sequencing to this drill by having one guy hit the Two on One off the other guy grabbing his wrist, grabbing his head, and putting a hand on him, then the other guy works out of it. That way, you are getting your athletes to employ several different hand-fighting techniques during the drill.