Two on One Tips with Georgi Ivanov
In the world of wrestling there are few hot spots in the world. The United States of America, Russian Federation, and Japan is known for its wrestling prowess. Then you hear about Bulgaria. For those of us who are not familiar with the map of Europe, Bulgaria is just north of Turkey and south of Romania, nestled between the Black Sea and what used to be Yugoslavia.
Why is this important? Because of how small Bulgaria is in comparison to other wrestling nations. Bulgaria has contributions to combat sports. For Instance, where do you think the Bulgarian Bag comes from? They are also host to the Combat Wrestling World Championships.
In Their Olympic History the Bulgarians have won a total of 221 medals. 51 of which have been Gold. The sport that they have won the most gold in. You guessed it, Wrestling! Out of the 69 Wrestling medals they have won, 16 have been Gold.
For 40 years Bulgaria was part of the Soviet Union. Part of that included the assimilation of customs and traditions, and one of those traditions is wrestling. The Bulgarians became very good at all the combat sports during the Soviet era, but wrestling stood out.
One of the strongest positions in wrestling is the 2 on 1 or as many of us call it “The Russian”. The reason it picked up its name is due to the Soviets exemplary use of the 2 on 1 in international competition. The technique base was so widely used it penetrated other Soviet combat sports, Like Judo and SAMBO (Russian Judo).
The 2 on 1 is a strong position if you set it up correctly. It can lead to trips, go-behinds and even big throws.
What a beautiful throw!
After the initial snatch of the arm Georgi pulls the partner close with the top arm grip. What is unique here is how this throw is initiated. Georgi does not initiate the action, he waits for the commons escape to the 2 on 1 when the partner pulls his elbow to try and square back up.
Keeping the top arm tight, Georgi steps in deep and pulls hard while transferring his lower arm from the wrist to a DEEP underhook on the far side. He drives his hips in while looking over his right shoulder (top arm side) and driving with his foot that penetrated between his partners leg to finish the rotation over.
What Georgi does is maintain that tight top arm grip and still pull the partner down. This provides a counter to his opponent rolling into him and provides a grip for him to pull himself on top. For either back exposure or a pinning combination.
Georgi has created a full instructional on his expertise, the 2 on 1. You can check out his encyclopedia of this position that allowed him to win the Bulgarian National Title.
In the instructional he doesn’t just show you a few moves and move on. He goes in depth, and flows charts his way through positions. He provides an entire system to utilize for wrestlers both new and seasoned. Give it a look!