This takedown should never be legal anywhere 

Hey Chadi! Thanks for this breakdown. It's so important for people to get educated about it so what happened to me wouldn't happen to others. I also liked your point about this move where not giving an opportunity to tap. I certainly didn't have it. It happened so quickly and I only tapped when my bone was already broken (which is not ideal timing). Also, thank you for your kind words at the beginning of the video.

A member of that gym said that the same guy did it to another partner soon after. And as Rokas mentioned, the trainers and members didn't show any concern when he got injured. I think the name of the gym should be mentioned - seriously. Let people know which gyms can be dangerous to your health.

"Step 1 on stopping kani basami: Don't roll with assholes" -Jordan Teaches Jiujitsu (2024)

Even if Uke survives Kani-basami, you can see it was a close call 99% of the time.

One of the few banned throws that I agree with banning.

The name of the person and the gym/dojo should both be revealed.

I’ve had people perform that on me on open mat events on multiple occasions generally these people were visitors from other gyms who came to do a shared class, I never got injured but that’s because I trained judo since I was 4 years old so I know how to immediately fall down safely if someone applies that, and I STILL had plenty of close calls. This move should only be taught for self defense and technical purposes and NEVER should be used under any circumstances on any sort of competition or sparring practice. NEVER.

What happened is honestly unacceptable. The dude who did this should be ashamed

Kano- basami is simply a technique that should be taught to use in self defense. It should not be use in sparring or competition. Beware of meatheads in dojos. All banded techniques should be taught and practice as self defense only.

Damn, Rokas is a good guy...I hope he recovers well

Thank you for this video- another friend of mine received a career-ending injury because of an over-zealous dojo training partner. Don’t break your training partners. We all want another day to train….

I have seen injuries from this over the years ( Jujutsu / Judo). We learn it for combat use ( and used it in the 90's for Sport Jujutsu) but NO longer for sport. We wish Rokas a speedy recovery 🙏

I unironically think people who do this move should be sued; the person performing the move knows the high risk for serious injury to the opponent and shows blatant disregard for their wellbeing. Actions need to have consequences.

I saw Rokas' video. I have no problem training dangerous moves, but giving the move the respect it deserves and making sure your training partner agrees before you start should be paramount. Rokas having no clue that his partner could attempt this was absolutely wrong. Add to fact his gym was unprepared and no one stopped to help him is absolutely disgusting.

In capoeira they do a safer variaton of this, its called "tesoura", scissor in brazilian portuguese. In judo the judokas jump and they land diagonally puting all the weight on your opponent's knee. The capoeira variation they jump sideways in perpendicular angle, puting the hands on the floor, the hips are used to block the opponent's movimentation, and then they do the twist usign the legs. The weight distribution Its way better, not putting too much weight you your opponets knee , and by putting one or two hands on the floor makes your leg twist movement stronger.

I never knew the dangers. I trained wingchun, jujitsu, catch as catch can, hop gar, and tai chi. I saw a mma fighter, kung lee; use it easily and effectively in his matches; normally with a fake side kick, off to the opponents side. After that I praticed it and used it sparring and playing around. It was very effective. Luckily I never hurt any of my training partners with it. Thanks for the great content Chadi; really like your breakdowns, and understanding; keeps me sharp and learning more. Thank you

Thank you for making this video. I can honestly say, it changed my perspective. I grew up in martial arts and kani basami, or scissors takedown, as we called it, was one of my favorite throws. When it was outlawed in Judo (I cross-trained quite a bit, I didn't learn it by the English name in Judo), I was outraged. I was warned of the dangers when I learned it as something that can happen if you end up sideways, nearly perpendicular to your partner. From that perspective, a lot of moves can be dangerous if you to them completely wrong and try to force them. I continued practicing it and using it outside of competition and in other sports. I have never seen a breakdown like this, showing how easy it is for a well-intended, well-trained practitioner to cause injury. I will no longer argue for the use of this move and will no longer use it, except in explicitly structured training and will take the safety precautions you advised in those cases. I hope Rokas has a swift recovery. He has been a continual source of inspiration for me since his first video testing the efficacy of Aikido against MMA.

1:57 Exactly. Jiu jitsu guys should be trained better in understanding how dangerous takedowns can be. Just as they should do with leg locks. There needs to be a separate class with an experienced instructor to teach the do’s and do nots with take downs. Also Rokas’s injury happen in an open mat. That not really the place to be have at takedownfest not just because of inexperience but also because if you guys are not careful you could end up landing on do dudes just rolling.

Kanu basami and jumping guard…. I still cannot understand how people do these things. Devastating injuries result almost 99% of the time

The problem with this takedown is the hand grip. You can see scissors takedown (Tesoura) in Capoeira and it is one of the most popular takedowns you see in Roda(capoeira "ring") i have seen it also in other striking arts too and % with injuries is pretty low compared to grappling arts. The problem is that when they hold for collar or neck and when people who are trying to do this technique just jump on somebody and wait until they fall... and then bad things happen. I do not trying to offend or defend anyone here. I am also after knee reconstruction (broken ACL) and I do not recommend anyone to get knee injuries (seriously...don't do it guys! Heh). The problem is that some people have no chill or too big ego or just do NOT think... But yes. This technique shouldn't be legal because it is dangerous.

Thanks for posting this video, Chadi! I've never met Rokas, but he seems like a good guy, and I was saddened to hear this happened to him. With any luck, the videos each of you put out will help prevent something like this happening again. It's so unnecessary.

People can make Tani Otoshi dangerous. Unless you have Kyuzo Mifune levels of skill then attempting Kani Basami in Randori or Shihai is reckless.

I immediately thought of you when I saw Rokas's video about his injury because you have made multiple videos about how dangerous this move is and how it should be avoided. It's great your highlighting yet again how important it is to consider the safety of your uke. We should all keep highlighting it until people actually do it.

1000% agree. Kani Basami is very dangerous.

I got my blue belt in a gym like the one Rokas got injured in. They are brutal over there, and I got injured a lot (usually minor), even with decades of other martial arts experience. I'd never tell any beginner to go in there. I just did it because it was literally a couple of blocks away and felt that I could protect myself from the worst injuries. The only good thing about training in those schools is that it is a lot more like a street fight, and you learn accordingly how to deal with these people. Jumping guard, scissor takedowns, cranking, ripping submissions... You are with the sharks and you have to protect yourself. Be very careful who you trust with your training, especially if you are new to the mats.

Wow, they train this in Japanese Jujitsu quite a bit, but I've never seen it with the arm trapped, vicious move.

BJJ has a total disregard for the safety of their practicioners. So many tecniques that are banned in Judo and even Sambo that can be done in BJJ is ridiculous. That guy is fucked up for life.

I feel Kani Basami should NEVER be used in competition or sparring, however if you are literally trying to break someones leg, excellent technique. The one and ONLY time I've seen this live was when my sensei did it as a demo on someone (it was his birthday present) so Sensei did this on a willing and UNRESISTING opponent and it looked extremely graceful and powerful, however you could see how wrong anything could go if he was in the slightest bit off.

Thanks for the super informative video!

Thank you Chadi, for spreading this message. This move needs to be made aware and the damage it causes.

Excellent as always thank you chadi

Kanami basami is a dangerous throw it's banned for a reason

Tesouro de Costas in Capoeira seems to be done without so many of these issues. Maybe it's the way capoeristas are taught to escape it! Just some extra information for everyone.

I really agree with this video. I think that kani basami should be banned in all grappling sports (judo,bjj,wresting...). However, some people in bjj, especially in mma, seem not to understand this, and they suggest kani basami, as a sigle leg takedowns counter, as if it was just another takedown. They definitely, can't figure out, how dangerous it can be. But, what can you expect from people who don't know how to do a basic O goshi, they aren't afraid of what this takedown can cause. They regard it, as a simple technique like O soto gari, kouchi gururma,... My only doubt is if do-jime should be banned, as well as kani basami? Is it to dangerous? I founded a little bit difficult to apply, and according to the video, with ashi-garami, you can stop uke from making pressure in a submision, not the case with takedowns, such as kani basami.

What do you think about wakare recently? I think we see some injuries before it gets banned.

Extremely well said. Subscribed.

Kani basami claims another one; damn, said it once and I’ll say it again; kani basami is the only technique where you’re better off someone successfully hittimg it on you than messing it up

We use it in capoeira all the time without incident…it’s just a scissor take down…top leg should be higher around groin to waist…in capoeira we finish it taking lower leg over top knee strike to face…

What I find interesting about scissoring takedowns is that the injuries happen in grappling, so it's often banned. In capoeira it's more common and people don't get injuries, because in their mindset they don't mind going to the ground or being taken down, they just flow out of it. In judo people are trying so hard not to lose points from getting taken down that they resist at all costs even when it's doesn't make sense, and in BJJ people probably apply too much pressure to the scissors because they're always going for the tap. In grappling arts, I'm glad it's banned. Knee injuries are horrendous. At the same time, a change of mindset in how one trains, more fluidity, less competitiveness, tends to reduce injuries in general. You can practice with live motion and realistic feedback without the competitiveness ... collaboration over fighting, then everyone gets better together, and injuries are rare.

Scary technique, thankfully not in Sumo.

In my mid 30s I dropped training Muay Thai in favor of Filipino Martial Arts. The aspect of fighting for your life against a weapon chamged my view on "combat" sports training. Because training weapons means you have the skill training broken up into safer aspects I saw the wisdom of the traditional arts training. But many proponents of combat sports forget that the emphasis is more on "sport" than combat.

I am currently recovering from my second ACL surgery (two months out), and it sucks so hard, I don't think I will go back to doing juijitsu. I will buy a grappling dummy and practice at home ☠️.

I had kani-basami performed on me when practicing taekwondo of all things, and while I didn't get seriously injured, my knee was busted for several weeks during which I couldn't train at all. I ended up quitting that dojang.

Most of us in Jiu-Jitsu can't even do (or defend against) the Tani Otoshi properly, much less the Kani Basami.

In Jujutsu we do Kani Basami ABOVE the belt. Less broken legs (slightly more whiplash / back of head into the mat eep).

Good video. Appreciate safety tip

Was part of the curriculum at white belt in my first bjj school. No injuries. I guess we were all lucky. We were also taught to put a hand down , less like a flying guard pull.

cannot agree more, does not belong in tournaments.

I wish I can train with you chadi, it is amazing the way you construct your argument

Respecting a fellow competitor, that right there is the difference between a martial artist and a fighter

I first learned this in Judo in the 80’s and did it for decades with zero injuries. But…. I have a different way of executing it. See if you can find this injury where the attacker has one hand on the mat. I place a hand 1st. And usually hold their wrist. (I know this might be confusing.But I was throwing it no-go a lot too). Anyway- I never let them carry all my weight. I’m not against banning it. This other version is quite different tho. Lands you in perfect leg locks 😊 The most devistating injury I caused was twisting someone during osoto gari. Make sure you always “sweep” their leg clean and straight. Never stay planted and twist. If you think that scissor leg is bad…. 😅 don’t do this. Ugly.

What's the counter to kana basami? I remember Masahiko Kimura trained the counter because his future opponent was an expert at doing it.

Noted. I foolishly did it in some BJJ tournaments with success and no injuries (thank God), but what good is it if we can't compete anymore in the future

In Silat, we have something similar to Kani-Basami that we call as Guntingan. Difference is, we only use it targeting the feet and the back of the knees so heavy injuries don't often happen.

For the position to do a Kani Basami, you can choose to do O guruma, Ura Nage, Kosoto, and so on. I never understand why choose Kani Basami.

I hate that throw. Also the valley drop throw.

Gyms should make people sign paperwork they will not attempt this move on people.

Excellent, where it’d be good to learn and know, but not in play or competition! Judo is a sport!

Get well soon. This one is banned at my Dojo. I learned the "Scorpion Mortal Kombat" variant first long ago.

It should be legal in competition... but, that training partner is just a sadist. You never do that in the gym, ever. Not even once. Even drilling it is to be done and slowly. I feel bad for MAJ, got concussed a few times in Boxing/Muay Thai and it's a bit rough. Not being able to walk is worse.

Kani Basami is baned from competition and should be banned from free mat randori always. This being said, it is a flawless technique in self defence. Especialy against kickbocksers and karateka. If they want to full contact body you into the hospital, say no more, Kani Basami is the ultimate uno-reverse card on them. Besides that, do not use it. I hope Rochas makes a full recovery.

I had an overzealous young blackbelt try a scissor sweep like this on me in a Kung Fu sparring session long ago and hyperextended my knee. That is the most pain I've ever felt in my life and I walked with a cane for a month. I was lucky to avoid surgery. So no, this is not something to use in anything other than a serious self defense situation where you would be legally permitted to cause great bodily harm to another person.

Totally agree with you Chadi, can you also briefly cover the recent variation of 'kani basami' that Tatsuro Taira pulled against Alex Perez? Seems like for this 'variation', there's just no defence against it.

It depends on how you do the technique. It’s common in capoeira and used to be Cung Le’s go to move back in his early sanda days. I actually pulled it off on one of his student’s in competition, no injuries at all.

It's pretty common in the WJJF

Wow man, you had quite a year... I wish you the best recovery possible!

we do this takedown in Capoeira all the time but these examples look like it's done backwards or done flying and seems so much more dangerous. I agree with the proposed ban.. and yes, you can cartwheel out of it but unless you cartwheel like it's your last name, it's not coming out automatically.

what I really hace is how he describes that even when he was screaming on pain, nobody went to help him, everybody kept roññing as if nothing happened. the same happened to my in a bjj dojo, at this point I just believe bjj is the most toxic community in martial arts

Kani Basami, head butts, fish hooks, spine and neck cranks. All the banned moves are the most effective to save your life. For competition/training 100 percemt not allowed. Shadow striking. Practice with dummies. Visualization. If attacked, I will defend myself without prejudice.

I trained Japanese Jiu-Jitsu and learned a variant of this takedown; in training, my partner did it slightly wrong once and I suffered a sprained ankle, so I guess I got off easy.

Isn't this particular maneuver designed for the upper leg/hip area. This is more of a combative/battlefield mentality. Thank you Chadi. Discipline is a big part of martial arts. 🙇🏾‍♂️🙏🏾✌🏾

4:05 within the martial art of capoeira they Incorporated the scissor takedown. I only see high level teacher perform this takedown. Never seen a beginner attempt to do this takedown. Also the setup for the scissor takedown start from the ground up compared to falling down somebody need your leg.

Works great for street fight

I can't help but feel like some people target him for his status as a content creator and this might have been someone's perfect opportunity to really hurt him.

Hello Chadi! That’s a really interesting video. I have a question, i was asking myself, if you have a take on this. In capoeira we do the „tesoura“ frequebtly, but even when it’s done with more force, there are almost no reports or videos of people getting hurt by it. I wonder, if the technique or setup differs somehow? Best wishes to Rocus on his recovery.

Update: Rokas got this because of BJJ. Well, that's the reason why I don't buy with BJJ cz Judo has CLEAR LINES of banned and allowed techniques. Also, BJJ usually roamed by nasty tori(s) who'd like to torture the newbies with their gddamn dangerous movement. Kani Basami can now be categorised as Japanese Jujutsu takedown as it's LETHAL. there's a different between the term Judo n Jujutsu tho

Having been doing Judo for almost 20 years, I tell myself that it is a right to learn the techniques prohibited in judo, as I do, but to learn them for yourself, to enrich your culture of this martial art , but not to do it during a fight or competition, because it is dangerous for a reason. This is dangerous during a fight, because your opponent will not give in, so you will force it and therefore create injuries. But, it is not dangerous in demonstration and when your partner lets it happen. So, learn this technique, like Ashi Garami, Kibisu Gaeshi, or others... but only for you, in your Judo. But not in competition. But, thank you, for this video.

Marcos Ruas usa una variacion de esta tecnics.

I hope this message gets spread and people listen!

Oddly enough this move is very common in capoeira.

There are more practical throws/takedowns that are easier to accomplish and look just as impressive. There should be a sign in all gyms saying not to do it.

Got a sprained ankle from someone doing this to me back in 2012. It worked, he got me down and into the position he wanted, but my ankle was done lol. Should definitely not be done rolling. Drilling it and doing it in fights/mma sure. Grapping comps and tourneys, I think it depends on the level and type.

I'm not sure of the name, but there is an alternative takedown in scenarios that allow for leg grabs that is much safer where you circle to the outside and hook the knee with the outside hand, then just sit down without losing any control of your own body weight, or even with a forward roll on the outside shoulder.

This is what messed up Tyler spangler’s leg too

I did a lot of this when I did karate, and there were few, if any, injuries. I think the reason why is that the fighting stance is side-on, so the knee isn't being attacked from the side but from behind. Whereas judo/bjj guys fight front-on, making it hard to do safely.

Use to do it all the time in kung fu class of all places and everyone was hitting it all day and never getting hurt and then when i learned it in BJJ and shoot wrestling and sambo I saw people getting injured from it a lot, and the thing I noticed is that in kung fu class there was no hanging your weight on the person right before executing it, instead we would just do hands free while moving forward and be very fast on the scissor motion and what would happen is the feet get lift off the air and they never trapped underneath weight and the person just lands hard on their back. Hopefully this advice helps people practice it in a non-injuring way.

I tried this once as an orange belt in Judo class, after seeing the move in a judo book. The move totally worked but I was chastised by the teacher. No one was hurt thankfully..

I was heartbroken when i saw his video 😢

Cung Le used to do that takedown many times in his UFC fights and other tournaments before that

Thanks for the video! Could you tell us how to reduce the risk of injury if some idiot still makes this throw? Am I right in thinking that the best thing is to immediately fall down without resisting at all?

I agree so not necessary

And this is why I don't spar from standing with people I don't know, and I don't continue sparring at all with people who treat an open mat like a comp or street fight. I get the mentality of "testing" yourself, but there's also lots of flaws in that mentality. 1) The person you're sparring with most likely isn't "testing" themselves in the same way, so you're not getting the feedback you would from a comp or real fight and 2) people are training, they're usually trying to work on skills and KEEP training after. People that don't get that are just reckless a&&holes, and I will stop a spar if I feel like either I'm going to get injured or the other guy will. That being said, it's taken me some time to have the balls to do that, and I hope everyone can one day find the balls to just tell other people off.

the same with jumping guard, "jita kyoei": dont be an ass to your training partners

This video makes me want to drill scissor take down not to learn it but to learn how to survive it. Its always been banned at any club i have trained at (for good reason)

This takedown is more dangerous in Jiu Jitsu and Judo because of the Tatami mat surface, it's especially dangerous in wrestling yet not nearly as dangerous in CAMBO and it's all for the same reason. Jiu Jitsu and Judo have a tatami mat surface that provides a lot of friction while wrestlers wear shoes that have a gripping surface on their soft slick mats and that provides a lot of friction... it's this friction that doesn't allow the foot to slide out and that is what causes the knee damage. In Cambo AKA "Sambo" the shoes have a slick leather bottom plus the surface of the mat is slick like all surfaces used for wrestling... tatami mats have incredible friction while slick mats coupled with the wrestling shoe literally stick Like Glue allowing the phenomenally fast action we see in wrestling meanwhile in the sport of Cambo the Slick leather sole of the shoe coupled with the slick soft surface of the wrestling mat allows the foot to slip out and not fold over into the all familiar pattern we see where serious knee injuries occur

As a kid I used this technique even in competitions until it got forbidden still effective technique

I've trained and used this often in Capoeira (Tesoura) and a few times in MMA. There is a controlled way of setting it up and executing it. A lot of the injuries I've seen here and elsewhere are when the attackers throw themselves into it. Maybe the way it is taught/learned in some places should be reviewed. So folks know what NOT to do and how to react if they are caught with it. Although I see why it should be banned in competition. You'll always get that one A-hole.🤔

Kani basami is dangerous,this technique is banned in all martial art, also bjj, i think is good for playing slow.

I've got a question. In my jujitsu gym, we don't use this. I haven't even learned it in a jujitsu context, but we did something that looks very much like this in Capoeira, and I never saw an injury from it. Can someone with more experience in both arts inform me what's different?

In capoeira they do scissor takedown and nothing bad ever happens and they have many scissor variations. There is even capojitsu some mix bjj+ capo that have it.