How to Sprawl for Fighting and Training

A while back, I wrote an article entitled Defending the Takedown (for Strikers), in which I talked about the basic takedown defences. I mentioned the Sprawl as part of the defences. Many Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and other grappling styles know of the sprawl and use it to defend mainly pickups and tackles (shoots).

One thing I have noticed unfortunately though is that most Judo practitioners still don’t use this technique when attacked with the above takedowns, and instead try to spin out them, by trying to turn so they land on there front. Although they will stop there opponent from winning in competition, they will always find themselves in a very vulnerable position, and it is not wise to be done on the street. By sprawling, you land on top of your opponent, in a dominating position, and it is easy to get back up on your feet if you’re on the street. The best demonstration of the sprawl which I have seen was on a production by Frank Shamrock called The Ultimate Home Workout. In my previous article I wrote that “When your opponent dives in for your legs in a rugby tackle type attack (or pickup), kick your legs back, and drop your chest onto his upper back area. You will both end up on the floor but lying on his back, it should be YOU in the dominating position” The drill to practise the sprawl is,

From a normal fighting stance,
Drop your legs behind you, landing on your thighs as opposed to your knees, toes as opposed to the top of your feet and hands,
Make sure you hands land on your palms, (not fingers or fist), shoulder width apart with your fingers pointing outwards,
On landing, remember to keep your chin up and breathe out (breathing in when you’re up again)
As soon as you land, quickly thrust back, and stand, ending up in your fighting stance, taking about 1-2 seconds for the whole sprawl.

If your new to sprawls, perform repetitions to begin with, concentrating on slow and quality technique, and after you feel you have mastered the movement, the best way to carry out this drill is to sprawl by time. Perform as many as you can in 30 seconds then 1 minute, working up to two minutes, and least 5 rounds.

This is a great exercise which works nearly all of the muscles in the body, providing a strength, ploymetric and cardio workout in one.

Marks

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