Why you can’t finish a Double Leg Takedown & How to stop destroying your knees while trying 

Seeing you in a Gi was as weird as hearing master wong talk calm.

If you catch Coach Dewey staring at the lights, RUN!

Congrats on that purple belt sir!

There is a difference in a double leg for wrestling vs. MMA. Wrestling stances are so low that you do need to do the knee drop but for MMA you do not since the stances are higher. Even dealing with Judo folks the shot can be higher since they stand higher than wrestlers. Your examples in the video are correct for MMA but for pure wrestling they would not work, you would get hip checked, cross faced and sprawed into the floor.

OMG I really needed this video. Thanks Coach, you have saved my knees.

Hmmmmm.....back when I was actively taking BJJ we were taught the "knee to the ground" shot walks. I had a GREAT BJJ instructor, but I never felt comfortable doing that so I would do my shots the way you have explained. I always felt uncomfortable doing that, since I thought I was doing it wrong, and as a result I rarely used double leg takedowns, preferring instead reaps and sometimes firemen's carries. Thank you for letting me know I wasn't just being a knee wimp.

I never done a double leg takedown with the knees on the floor. When I practice the knee to the floor version, my knees usually hurt. Especially some of the mats are rock hard.

Interesting. We used similar methods in wrestling in high school to what you were demonstrating. We have to bring our knee to the mat becuase of low stances though. Our coach always told us to step in during the shot, not drop down. Good thing you got a new belt coach. Now you can have the fun of wearing it out again.

People screw up their knees because they drop their knee without level changing. Before you drop to your knee,you need to level change, so the distance between you and the ground is minimal Then, you need to hit your opponent a few milliseconds before your knee touches the ground,so that your opponent takes the impact General advice for people reading the comments

you're a great teacher, Ramsey! Thank you!

Something that isn’t pointed out much, but something I appreciate is you telling your students not to fall just because you’re showing a move.

'Look up at the lights.' Nice one. 😉

Ramsey, I love that you're talking about wrestling. I also love how you're emphasizing that you don't have to penetrate all the way to the knee. The reason why wrestlers penetrate to the knee is because our stances (excluding greco-roman wrestling) are always significantly lower than any combat sport be it other grappling disciplines or striking disciplines. Wrestlers must penetrate to the knee because our opponents are going to be as low as us; however in bjj or mma this is not the case. Therefore, you're right that a simple level change is adequate--even superior--than penetrating all the way to the knee. By penetrating all the way to the knee you're getting much lower than you have to, and therefore there's much more wasted movement and by extension wasted energy. However, there's a few things that I feel obligated to point out. I understand that you're an accomplished fighter, and its not my intention to belittle you, but there are a few things that you do that simply won't work against someone that actually knows how to counter a double leg beyond a guillotine. Also keep in mind, I'm not well versed in MMA, so it might be the case that my perspective is skewed too much toward pure grappling. First, you are shooting to the back leg every single time in this video. You even go to make the point that its opposite from boxers. This is just not true. Watch Jordan Burrough's double leg, he almost never *deliberately* penetrates to the back leg. You penetrate to the leading leg. This is true whether it is a double or a single, but its simply too much distance to close if you're actually shooting to the back leg. If the lead leg mirrors your own, then you either have to change your stance, circle the opposite way and make them step their back leg front, or you shoot an outside single. Shooting to the back leg gives the opponent much more time to sprawl. Additionally, it gives them the ability to wizzar (because you're coming in at an angle), and then you will end up with your knee on the ground with your posture broken. I can't speak to your mma experience, but you would be absolutely crushed by a college wrestler this way. Second, the trip is not a legitimate finish to a double leg. Any situation that the trip will work is a situation where the far knee chop or the lift will work and will be more effective giving you greater position later. One of the major reasons why the trip won't work is simply because anyone who knows how to counter a double leg is going to thrust their hips into you to stop your shot. This will naturally put their feet back further than you can trip them. If they don't do this, then sure it will work, but so will every other finish because they've allowed you to penetrate so deeply. I understand that most people even in grappling won't have this ability to defend a double leg like I'm talking about. This will be true in both mma and submission grappling, but my point is why even bother with a technique that can be countered so easily by an opponent who does know what they're doing? Why not just finish properly with your far knee chop that you show? There are no down sides to the far knee chop and its by far the most solid of all double leg finishes. The last point I have to make is a little bit of a nitpick, but there's no reason to expend the effort in lifting the leg that you're not chopping. The only reason why you want to control that leg is because you're trying to prevent the opponent from gaining space to counter your shot. I wouldn't say that its bad technique to lift the leg, but I would say that you're making the technique harder than it needs to be. Wrestling is already very physically demanding. I don't think there's a reason to make it even more so by adding extra movement. I mean no offense by any of my critiques, and I think that you're stressing the right point. The penetration step is not about going to the knee, its about being able to close the distance between you and your opponents legs while being lower than them. If your opponent is standing erect, like they do in mma fights or bjj matches, then there is usually very little reason for your penetration step to be so incredibly low to the mat.

Oh thank God! That’s how I learned it, too. I’m your age, Ramsey, so I really don’t need to jack up my knees any more than I have already done before. That extra leg trip was a nice new one for me, though, so thanks again, good sir.

Any technique that requires a change in the direction of force is hard on you and introduces a chance for blocking. Legs are meant to be swept with force exerted on the torso. Going forward then lifting is a waste of momentum. Going forward and trapping the legs and using the same force to control the upper body is kind of a sweep. Or at least “sweepish” This to me was a great demonstration. The mechanics of force was very well explained and the demonstration

no wonder many UFC fighters get the headchoke on a double leg takedown also nice counter to a sleeper hold. Looking up instead of looking down does a lot indeed because like said in the video your momentum is up and you're posturing up even if you get choke you can slam the opponent on the ground and loses his grip. Again another great martial arts video from Ramsey.

Daddy Ramsey has posted and I’m here for it

You know how Americans often view English accents as high class and sophisticated, how do the Chinese and other ethnic groups view American accents?

Congratulations on your purple belt coach!

Oh man this video is just what I needed. I had just started training MMA a few months ago and the gym that I go to pretty much says that we must drop to our knees. I have been scraping and banging the life out of my knees every time I attempt a double leg and I had been thinking that there must be a better way of doing this. Gotta try this out next time I’m at the gym

« Nothing more rewarding than getting ones thesis validated by those who exceeds oneself in excellence” This is also an lower-risk/ high reward adaptation for self defense purposes as well. 👍🏻 Always a joy to be able to observe and learn from such an peer as yourself mr Dewey. Sincere regards. Fellow martial artist. Tom Framnes. Norway.

This is the BEST Ramsey Dewey video ever!!! I could spend years working on just what was shown in this video. The double is so useful. I wrestled in HS, but I'm old now so I don't like bending over and banging my knees. Great video. Now I'mma go out there... and train!!

good information. But for the love of all things Holy, please show Eddie how to do a proper break fall ! I cringe every time he reaches straight out instead of at a 45 degree angle. Otherwise he is going to end up hurting himself. I remember doing a lot of break falls and rolls during the Judo training at my Dojo. They are now automatic, especially the roll. Best way to save face when you trip over air !

Thank you

Thanks a lot for this. I've been learning the double leg takedown, and you explained it gracefully.

great technique, especially fo da sreetz, since there are no wrestling mats there.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PURPLE BELT, WELCOME TO THE CLUB

Congrats on the purple belt! Also question for you coach Ramsey what is your opinion of the rubber guard and the Williams guard

Thank you sir this will help me so much in Wrestling practice on Monday

I love that I get to learn from you without having to take classes. 🙏🙏🙏 Thank you, coach!

I was always taught to drop the knee to the mat at every jiu jitsu school I trained at. I hated doing it because I have bad knees. Also, I felt so slow coming in for the shot.

If you drop your level first, the impact on your knee is minimal, because you are moving straight forward. Most people fall down to their knee, which is a terrible level change. Olympic wrestlers drop really low before they shoot, so that there is barely any impact on the knee. The power for the shot, the power for the lift...it all comes from the legs. If your torso remains upright, and you drop your level all the way to the floor, you have already gotten beneath his center of gravity, an then you can use your legs to project your power upward

Thanks ramsey I'm new to wrestling and I hadn't really figured that out... This will help me out a lot

A great follow-up to this might be a video on power doubles/singles, since those don't require a sacrifice to the knee gods.

I have a wrestling background, but my double legs were never really good. Looking back, I made a lot of mistakes doing the move that never got corrected. And so I got better at single legs and a move my school called "high crotch." Basically a single leg attempt with head on outside instead of inside, and switch to the double after getting under the hips.

Jesus, my coach in high school INSISTED that you had to drop to your knees. I've had bad knees since my early twenties and I stopped training and went to boxing, which I'm still terrible at, to make up for it. I'm going to sue that bastard. Also makes sense that our school did terrible at every meet.

Thank you so much were not doing contact right now because we're distancing (it feels weird) and I realy didn't get what that step was for Now it makes sense

The lights will take you to da streetz heaven

Thanks Remsey!

I believe Ramsey's demos because he uses some level of resistance. This teaches that to perform a technique, you have to exceed the level of resistance you're being met with. Very important knowledge.

For the one where you wrap the leg with your calf and "fall" forward, be wearing a cup.

Watching you casually lift and set this man down on his back is lowkey intimidating lmao

Can you do a video on the golf swing,I always live seeing you do that movement

Kung-fu stance training keeps showing itself to be an all-around good idea.

I wish they taught this variation at my gym, I have osteoarthritis in my knees and this would’ve helped. Although I’m not really supposed to be training as the doctors recommend against it.

Great vid!

when did you earn your purple belt? Congrats by the way!!!

Great video.

Ramsey doing the double leg is so beautyful to watch. So smooth, and him lifting an adult man and throwing to the ground seems effortless

So what you are saying is to use footwork rather than leaning forward and break your posture....

Great, coach now can you please show us the counter double leg defense.

I usually just ask my opponent if I can borrow his mother's knee pads.

Nice purple belt there, Ramsey. Congrats!

It looks great when it is possible for a taller man to succesfully apply the double leg takedown without damaging the knee, you now when you have to lower the posture alittle bit more in order to work with a shorter opponent. Great video, coach!

Judô morote gari/ sukui nague. Good.

Good stuff

Hi Coach Ramsay! any way you can demonstrate a Harai Goshi and Uki Goshi for bjj or mma?

Subtitles would be great for this video, I'd love to show it to my professor, he seems to enjoy destroying knees.

Oh nice belt. When did you get promoted? I thought you still had that worn out blue belt?

Great vid coach. btw, can you show us some submissions from taijiquan? that would be unique.

Why are lots of Martial Artists suffering from Knee and Hip issues regardless of the style? How do we combat it?

i'm tall for my weight and i find almost impossible to do a good double leg, i tend to go for body locks and trips. could you do a video of the best takedowns to do against guys of different body shapes?

I brought some of NoGi's rashguards and I was NOT happy at all. Unless you buy their "premium" rashguards. The regular rashguards are the equivalent of a costume shirt. On the VERY FIRST DAY of wearing the Joker rashguard, the stitching came loose on the left arm, the neckline, and the bottom of the shirt. Also the front upper right hand area of the chest was already heavily worn from just TWO rolling sessions on sparing. For $35 dollars a pop, I was not a happy camper.

Is there any particular reason why you leaving your rear leg in the back when you doing "high" version of double leg? I was taught that you should always step with it close to oponent, irrespectively for double leg version, to neutralize sprawls as much as possible... But besides (potentially) that, really great explanation on whole subject of double legs.

It kinda looks like youd also be good in rock'n'roll dancing :D. I guess your dance experience plays into this already.

yay, my knees are saved!

Ramsey, legit question about wrestling. How well conditioned to you need to be to control your opponent's fall so they don't get hurt by the technique you want to perform? A fair example would be a german suplex. How strong do you have to be to avoid breaking your neck with it?

I noticed you shoot at the far leg not the front leg at the stance I tought its usualy much safer to shoot for the front leg its more easy to sprol if you shoot at the far leg and in mma its more easy to attemp an uprecut or knee if you coming at the far leg im curious to hear your opinion on it :)

its strange seeing you in a GI but i like it

Maybe no one will read this but getting a takedown while your being choked in a front headlock just seems to help the person doing the choking rather than myself cant we do anything to prevent this.

never shoot a double with the knee down on the streetz!

When did Ramsey get a purple belt?

You are undoubtedly a more competent wrestler than I am. That said when I was doing freestyle regularly you were kind of bent at the hip to start with. Like the basic engaging posture looked was like each guy is basically kind of leaning over at 90 degrees. The point was you're keeping your hips and legs back and you want to arm drag a dude to, best case scenario, get under him but obviously there were other things that could happen. But to get lower you were kind of dropping the knee to get there. Out training mats were more forgiving than a ring. I could have slept on those things if we didn't have to kick them together so often. The coaches had that wrestler waddle though

I used to have drop to the knee in High School Wrestling for a single or a double leg. I think it works for safety in that sport. We practiced duck walks alot. However I did pull a double leg dropping to the knee in a street fight. It worked well there too. However long term practice especially in MMA may not be a good idea....some things in Wrestling may not carry over well to MMA.

Need a video on ur purple belt promotion

Ramsey, man. My knees really struggle sometimes trying to follow shot drills ( sweeps i think it is called). The techniques is where you lunge then drop your knee to the floor and pivit on your knee to change angle. I straight up cant do it. My coaches say not to bother as i am a heavyweight still i see video's of J'den cox floating on the mat.

Hey Ramsey! What do you think about the hook kick (without the spin)? I learned it in shotokan karate years ago, went to kickboxing/mma later and have seen nobody using it. I know you've answered questions about taekwondo an stuff in mma before, but I've see other techniques (side kick, turning back kick, spinning hook kick, even the crane kick) ocassionaly work - in either the gym or in Glory or UFC matches. But besides Wonderboy I don't think I've seen anyone succesfully use the regular hook kick. Am I looking at the wrong matches, is it under valued or just a crappy technique for real fighting? Thanks :)

Or you could just practice technique, this would improve balance control and gracefulness allowing you to drop the knee to the floor smoothly not banging it up.

If the duck walk is not needed to finish a double leg takedown why is it used?Its a thought I’ve had for a long while and never really got an answer. Is it to get even lower underneath your opponent hips?

I want to see Ramsey double leg vs Khabib double leg in a match.

Just remember folks, practice your breakfalls, and get them good and solid. Don't want to bounce your head off the matt, wrench a limb, or knock the wind out of you while training.

Comment for the algorithm! 😁

I have old man knees and back so I run the pipe instead.

Hey Sir!I am 18 years old can i be a champion if i start training for boxing today.I can train 4-5 hrs. a day....

Hey Ramsey, please respond to this if you can. As a high school wrestler, you see this stuff even with guys who do wrestle. I can see your point with double leg, but what about the sweep single? It seems really hard to get into that position without a knee to pivot on. Edit: I just realized that I pivot before my knee hits the ground on the sweep single, but I do have to get really low for it in order to pick up the knee or ankle with my head outside Edit 2: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uORanSvGpAE.html&ab_channel=CaryKolat Kolat says you can put your hand on the mat for this move. Thoughts?

I can attest you will get knee problems fast. only a second year wrestler and already have knee problems

being an uke is so stressful

I've recently seen a video about how to do a double-leg in sword fighting (no idea when this would come in handy in a swordfight though): basically, you headbutt your opponent in the stomach while doing a normal double-leg to avoid being headlocked. does that make sense?

Purple Belt! Congratulations. Did you set the blue belt record?

is that on purpose that ur intro looks like charlie chaplin? also, why is yt trying to autocorrect chaplin?? XD

As others have said the habit of dropping the knee to the floor on a penetration step was a reaction in wrestling to a low defensive posture ... especially if your opponent was a lot shorter than you are. At 6'3" and 152 pounds in High School I often had to drop that knee to get in. That said, it wasn't preferred and absolutely unnecessary in BJJ because JUDO and unnecessary in MMA because STRIKES. Yes, ideally you could get your opponent to provide an entry that didn't require the knee drop with a good setup and timing, but sometimes you just forced it through. In my opinion Wrestling is much more weighted to initiative and sheer effort than BJJ.

I get caught in guillotines when doing double legs and single legs

My coach my be a little bit upset if I try this during practice X)

I can see how some king fu forms teach the penetration step without putting the knee on the floor

Ey ramsey. Are you an purple belt? I thought you had only an worn blue belt? Or did you do your exam?

Ramsey are you watching karate combat on RU-vid ??

Can we just thank this white belt for his sacrifice?

I've banged my knees to the point of hurting myself more times than I'd able to count while wrestling. Never in a double leg atempt, though. How come those soft mats be so flipping hard hahahahaha

your purple belt Ramsey ?

The guillotine is just not Eddie's game. Get over it guys.