Neutral Wrestling Techniques

Neutral wrestling can be broken down into a few components: Basic positioning, hand-fighting, attacking and defending.

Attacking maneuvers can be further broken down into a separate area called finishing, which is probably the single most important aspect of high-level wrestling. The four main, attacking shots in wrestling are:

1) Double Leg – Attacking both your opponents legs at the same time.
2) Single Leg – Attacking a single leg with your head on the inside of that leg.
3) High Crotch – Attacking a single leg with your head on the outside of the target leg.
4) Low Single – A sweeping shot targeting your opponent’s ankle.

Double Leg Takedown:

Swing Single Leg Takedown:

Knee-Snatch Singe Leg Takedown:

High Crotch Takedown:

Fireman’s Carry Takedown:

Defenses against these attacks must also be broken down for each shot.

Two basic defenses are the whizzer and a cement mixer:

The Whizzer:

Cement Mixing:

I’ve done my best to categorize all the information, but this is very difficult as wrestling does not happen linearly. There are hundreds of different ways to transpose from one position to another.

Your best bet is to learn categorically: Learn the names of the major positions first, then slowly begin adding attacks/defenses in each category. Eventually you will become very rounded, able to find and exploit weaknesses of other good wrestlers, while having no holes in your own style.

You will always know how to finish from potentially winning positions, and you will have layer upon layer of defenses when you are in a potentially weak position.