Unique Uchi Mata For Wrestling With Steve Mocco
There are a lot less people who cross train in grappling arts, especially if you don’t count MMA fighters. By comparison it's pretty common for people to cross train in striking arts, especially nowadays, but when you meet grapplers, there’s a pretty good chance that they will only train in one specific style or art.
The grapplers that cross train the most are 100 percent hands down Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners and even then it’s probably that they have only learned a technique or two from another style, that usually just being the double and single leg.
Wrestlers by contrast rarely ever cross train or learn from other martial arts, usually because of time constraints with school and other responsibilities. That plus the already gruelling schedule that wrestlers have to follow to stay competitive, there just isn’t much room for additional training.
This is why it is such a blessing to have a coach that has trained in other styles, or have a coach from another style brought in, as they will have knowledge that you and your opponents can’t learn from other wrestling coaches. This is a huge advantage to have as you will know techniques that your opponents probably have never seen before and will have no idea how to defend against.
One of the best styles for wrestlers to cross train in would have to be Judo, as the two are very similar and we have a technique to show you that combines the two arts perfectly. In this video, Coach Steve Mocco shows how to use the two on one as a step up for one of the most famous Judo techniques of all, the Uchi Mata.
Coach Steve Mocco is a former 2-NCAA national champion, 3-time Pan American champion, former member of the US olympic team and Judo Black belt so it’s safe to say he has a unique experience. The set up for this technique starts with a really tight two on one. From there Coach Mocco says to step back your far leg or bump up your opponent forward this way your rear leg is behind or next to your opponent's rear leg. You are also going to want to have what will be your kicking leg close to your opponent’s hips.
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From there you are going to bump, again if you did that to get into position and donkey kick your other leg under their hips to force them down. This technique probably won’t get your opponent completely on their back, but it will at least get them on all fours.
If that’s the case then you are going to lock or anchor on your opponent and work from there. Coach Mocco mentions other ways that he has seen this technique done, such as a common way of pulling this off where instead of stepping and pivoting into the set up position, some athletes will just jump straight into the throw.
Mocco says that way isn’t wrong and that it is viable but that he feels that it provides less control on the two on one, focusing on being sneaky instead. You can also attempt to take out both legs, which is more likely to get your opponent on the mat, but only if you are close and have long enough legs for it.
Coach Mocco emphasizes that the motion that you are doing with your upper body during this move should be like using an axe. It should be very strong and violent, almost like you are trying to drive your opponent’s head through the mat itself.
If you want to learn more cool techniques like this from Coach Steve Mocco, then check out our video series from this all time great!