Roll To Control With Hudson Taylor
Granby rolls are a solid defense wrestling technique that can be used in a lot of different situations. The technique has become increasingly popular in MMA, specifically with strikers that use the technique to get out of bad wrestling scenarios. Whether you're an MMA fighter who is looking for a quick way to escape a clinch or grappling position, or you are looking to use a technique to counter your opponent and gain a stronger position on them, the GRanby roll is a great option and basically a must learn.
This technique, as shown in the video that we are going to go over, is also a solid one in pure wrestling, especially off of a mat return. In this video 3x All American D-1 Wrestler Hudson Taylor covers the granby and how to use it to get a reversal on your opponent.
The video starts with Taylor and his opponent on the mat in the referee's position, which is somewhat similar to the turtle position in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Taylor first goes over the importance of clearing your ankles from underneath your opponent. If your ankle is trapped underneath your opponent you will get stuffed and end up in an even worse position.
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To clear your ankles, you are simply going to just windshield wiper both of your legs to make sure that both legs are out from underneath your opponent. Make sure that you do this right when you hear the referee’s whistle, or else your opponent might have the time to clamp down on your legs and make it a lot harder to escape.
After clearing your legs, you are going to come up off of them so that you get your hips high to help generate power into the roll. From here you can also grab the wrist with the same side arm before going into the actual roll itself to gain added control while you roll. Grabbing the wrist will make it a lot easier to work a new position immediately after finishing the granby, so if that's what you're looking to do grabbing the wrist is a must. If you are in MMA or BJJ and simply looking to get out of a bad position, then wrist control isn’t necessary as you are probably looking to get as much separation from your opponent as possible.
From here you are going to granby through and if you choose to keep the wrist control, you can follow through and start to work from the single wrist series that Talyor covers in his other videos. If Taylor manages to get his opponent to lay down flat on the mat then he will place the wrist on top of them to control, if he doesn’t manage to get them flat he is fine just controlling the wrist.
A key pointer that a lot of newer wrestlers, BJJ practitioners and MMA fighters miss is that you should try to roll across your shoulder blades and not over them like you would in a forward roll. This helps maintain control and help maintain posture when you land.
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