The World’s Best Unknown Move With Ben Askren
Low single legs can be tough to defend. Often times, you end up on the mat in a scramble or hanging on to your opponent in hopes of getting a stalemate called. Well wouldn’t it be nice to know a move that not only defends a low single, but also gets you an easy pin when someone shoots one on you? Well apparently there is such a move you can do and Ben Askren calls it “the world’s best unknown move” and it is so effective he has even used it to pick up a pin in the Olympics.
When someone shoots a low single leg, they often try to put their forehead right on the inside of your knee. So the first step is to stuff their head down to take the pressure off the knee and this also prevents them from driving you over. Then with the other foot, you will step up in order to get close enough to grab your opponent’s far knee.
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Once you step up, go over their leg at the knee and scoop their leg up off the mat. Make sure when you do, you go elbow deep. If you don’t, you will not be able to hold onto the leg and they will just drive it back down to the mat.
After you have their leg off the mat and are elbow deep, slide your other hand between your opponent’s shoulder and your own shin. From here, you can lock up the cradle. Once it is locked up, fall to your hip and take your opponent to their back. Then just hold here and get your five count. After you get your points, start making adjustments to get the fall.
This is a really simple yet effective way to defend a low single leg. When you are trying this out in practice, you have to make sure you stay on your feet; don’t let your opponent drive you down to your butt. Once you are off your feet, it becomes a lot more difficult to defend a low single. Really focus on stuffing the head down and putting pressure back into your opponent. Hitting this cradle does not have to be an immediate response when someone hits a low single on you. It is okay to stop their momentum first, then look for the cradle.
Keep in mind, anytime your opponent is down on the mat with their head on the inside, even if it didn’t start out as a low single, there is the potential to hit this cradle, especially if you have long arms.
Hopefully learning this move will help you to not only defend the low single leg better, but also pick up more pins. Ben Askren has a lot of great wrestling techniques that he has used to become a two time NCAA runner-up and a two time NCAA champion, as well as an Olympian. Askren has also used his high level wrestling in MMA to earn multiple championship belts in Bellator and ONE Championship.
If you would like to learn more wrestling technique from Ben, be sure to check out his in depth video series titled “Ultimate Askren Wrestling by Ben Askren