The Single Leg

Why it exists

A double leg needs both legs available. Against someone in a long, bladed stance, the rear leg is a long way from the lead leg, and the double becomes a reach.

The single leg takes the leg that is already close. It is also where a defended double naturally goes — as they sprawl and their hips go back, one leg stays within reach.

DemonstrationA single leg with the opponent's leg held high against the chest, head up on the inside and elbow tight

The position

Getting the leg is easy. Holding it is the skill.

1. The leg is held high, against your chest, not down at your waist. A low single is a leg you are about to lose.
2. Your head is up and on the inside of their hip. Head down is a front headlock waiting to happen.
3. Elbows tight to your ribs, hands locked. Loose elbows let them whizzer and turn you.
4. Your hips are under you. If you are bent over holding a leg, they will simply sit on your head.
5. Keep moving. A static single leg is defended; a single leg that keeps changing angle is finished.

Three finishes

Run the pipe. Turn the corner sharply toward the leg you are holding, driving your shoulder into their hip. The most reliable finish and the first one to learn.

Inside trip. Step your near leg between theirs and trip the standing leg out. Useful when they are heavy on you and posting.

Lift and dump. Straighten your legs, lift the trapped leg higher, and turn them off their remaining base. Requires the strongest position but it ends things.

The whizzer

Their main answer is the whizzer — an overhook on your near arm, pressuring down. It works by making your position uncomfortable enough that you let go.

The answers, in order of preference:

1. Change direction. Attack toward the side away from the whizzer.
2. Switch to the far leg and take the double.
3. Come up on the leg and use the pressure to stand rather than fighting it.

Nobody holds a single leg through a whizzer by squeezing harder. Every real answer involves changing the angle.

DemonstrationRunning the pipe on a single leg — turning sharply toward the trapped leg and driving the shoulder into the hip

Drill it

Two rounds of entries to the locked single-leg position, no finishes, checking head and elbow position each time. Two rounds of the three finishes against a compliant partner. Two rounds where they apply a whizzer and you must change direction rather than fight it.