Judo Olympic silver medalist & BJJ black belt Travis Stevens revealed that when he does BJJ, he uses more Wrestling than his world class Judo:
Having a little bit of basic basic wrestling can really help you with your takedown game. That says a lot coming from a judo guy. But when I do BJJ I mostly use wrestling. My judo is just use to intimate people on the feet but I almost never pull the trigger on the throws.
He added:
Having takedowns that your opponent don’t see coming that are not consistent is important. That’s what this technique is for me. Something that isn’t done that often but it has a high percentage of working because it really catches my opponents off guard. I will give this disclaimer though: Don’t do this against a good wrestler (good meaning national level or higher).
BJJ GOAT Marcelo also explained his reasoning of preferring Wrestling over Judo when doing BJJ:
Marcelo Garcia on Why he Prefers Wrestling over Judo To Complement Jiu-Jitsu
Travis Stevens’ 5 Favourite Takedowns for BJJ
In this video, Travis shows a very nice hybrid Wrestling-Judo technique of Inside trip (Ouchi Gari) to ankle pick which works great for BJJ. Note that he also uses a wrist grab instead of a sleeve grip:
Fundamental Folkstyle Wrestling by Adam Wheeler.
- Olympic Medalist Adam Wheeler shows the wrestling fundamentals in one of the most comprehensive courses we have
- Adam shows the takedowns, handfighting, and sprawls to wrestle from the feet.
