Double Leg To Turk Finish With Henry Cejudo

In wrestling, a turk is a great move to expose your opponent’s back and get the pin; it’s highly effective and tough to defend. In this video, Olympic Gold Medalist and two weight UFC Champion Henry Cejudo shows us his variation of a double leg takedown to a turk as well as points out some common mistakes.

Let’s break these attack series down.

First point is the double leg. Now this video isn’t necessarily a tutorial on how to shoot a double leg, but when a gold medalist is showing a technique, it is best to try to learn as much as possible from it. The double leg he shows is not the standard double leg. Cejudo calls it a “cut back double”. When he does it, he emphasizes doing a “windshield wiper” movement with the legs in order to cut the angle once your opponent starts to put pressure on the head and sprawl. So the double leg is closer to an outside sweep single as opposed to a blast double.

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When finishing a cut back double, it is really important to sweep the legs to the outside to create an angle and really focus on keeping your elbows to your side. Really focus on pulling the outside leg with your outside arm to try to collapse the knee.

Once you have secured the takedown, you are ready to go into the turk. With the top arm (the side that your head is on) elevate your opponent's top leg and step your leg between their legs. Now from here, many people just try to scoop the leg and elevate it. The problem is, most of the time you will be too far down on your opponent's leg and he will be able to belly out.

So instead of just trying to scoop the leg, once you step your leg between theirs, step that same leg up even further and rock the knee forward to eliminate space and get in even tighter. Then scoop the leg and secure it. Now, you will have the leg locked above the knee, the further you are above the knee the better. Make sure you have your opponent's leg secured with a “figure 4” lock. This will keep your opponent from bellying out. This will give you a huge advantage in leverage and when you elevate the leg, your opponent will go to his back.

After you have locked the leg and elevated it, now is time to attack the head. Although there are a couple options at this point, Cejudo shows attacking the head and opposite arm, almost like a headlock position.

In a live situation, your opponent will be trying to fight off their back. Be sure to keep their leg elevated to prevent them from turning into you, and be sure your far arm is ready to post on the mat in case they try to roll you.

Now, even though Cejudo is showing the turk from the double leg finish, be aware that you can still hit this move without having just done a double leg. If you are trying to run a cross face cradle and your opponent turns into you, elevate the top leg and step though and you are in the same position.

Have fun drilling this attacking series. Really focus on the details and you will be hitting it in the practice room and in competition before you know it.

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