Why Every Grappler Should Master The Underhook

There’s a saying in grappling circles: “Whoever will get the underhook, will get the win.” It would sound dramatic, however spend sufficient time rolling, and also you’ll begin to understand it’s not far off. The underhook is likely one of the strongest but missed instruments in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, and MMA. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t get spotlight reels. But it surely quietly dictates who controls the combat.

Let’s break it down, not simply what the underhook is, however why it issues in so many key positions.

What Is An Underhook?

Within the easiest phrases, an underhook is when your arm goes beneath your opponent’s arm and wraps round their again or torso. That will not sound like a lot, nevertheless it offers you leverage, entry to their hips, and the flexibility to manage their posture and stability. In a sport the place inches matter, the underhook can tilt the entire recreation.

The Underhook As Your Lifeline In The Half Guard

Should you’re enjoying backside half guard with out an underhook, you’re seemingly getting flattened and handed.

The underhook lets you get onto your aspect, begin arising on a single leg, and construct towards sweeps just like the dogfight, old-school, or again takes. It creates elevation. It forces your opponent to regulate. With out it, you’re caught attempting to make one thing occur whereas pinned below their weight.

In truth, many fashionable BJJ gamers construct whole half guard techniques round only one precept: get the underhook first, and the remaining will observe.

Using The Underhook And The Butterfly Guard To Steer Fights

Utilizing the Butterfly guard is all about angles, leverage, and momentum. And guess what opens the door to all three? The underhook.

From the underhook, you may elevate your opponent, shift their weight, and enter into sweeps just like the underhook butterfly sweep, single-leg X transitions, and even swap to leg entanglements. It’s additionally a secure base for wrestling up into single legs or forcing your opponent into defensive posture.

Utilizing the butterfly guard with and with out an underhook, and also you’ll immediately really feel the distinction. One model seems like steering a ship. The opposite seems like bailing water along with your naked fingers.

Aspect Management: Prime Stress, Backside Escape

On high, an underhook from the aspect management is the way you shut individuals down. It retains their near-side shoulder pinned and kills any significant hip motion. You’ll be able to isolate an arm, flatten them out, or arrange transitions to mount or north-south.

However from the underside aspect management, you need that underhook again. Why? As a result of it’s your manner out. When you dig an underhook and get to your aspect, you can begin escaping to your knees, hitting sit-ups, or regaining guard. No underhook? You’re in all probability getting shoulder-smashed and respiration via one lung.

The battle for the underhook in aspect management is usually silent, nevertheless it’s the important thing to both stabilizing or escaping the place.

The Underhook For Takedowns Setups

In wrestling and MMA, the underhook is gold. A robust underhook can shut down your opponent’s shot makes an attempt whereas organising your personal entries, suppose exterior journey, single leg, or physique lock.

It’s additionally a grip that permits you to really feel what your opponent is planning. You’ll sense their posture shift earlier than they shoot. You’ll really feel the stress construct earlier than they rotate. In shut quarters, the underhook isn’t only a deal with, it’s additionally a sensor.

And if you pair it with head place? That’s when the magic actually occurs.

Why It Works So Properly

The underhook works as a result of it offers you inside management, and inside management wins grappling exchanges. It places you nearer to your opponent’s middle of gravity whereas forcing them to function from the skin, with much less leverage and fewer choices.

It’s additionally extremely versatile. Offensive or defensive. Gi or No-Gi. Prime or backside. Takedown or guard restoration. You’ll discover the underhook exhibiting up repeatedly. That’s why it’s not only a method. It’s a behavior, a mindset and a beneficial precept.

How To Practice It (With out Forcing It)

Whereas there are numerous methods to coach the underhook, for simplicity sake, we’ll undergo only a few basic methods to coach it:

Throughout rolls, make it a objective to ascertain no less than one dominant underhook per spherical, don’t chase submissions till you do. This additionally drills the aim of intentional actions.
Begin positional sparring from underhook battles: half guard, dogfight, pummel drills.
When watching competitors footage, monitor underhooks. Discover who will get them first, and the way typically that results in dominant positions.

It’s not about muscling it in. It’s about timing, angles, and physique positioning. When the underhook feels easy, that’s when it’s working.

Remaining Thought

In grappling, the smallest issues typically determine the most important outcomes. The underhook is a kind of issues. It gained’t make headlines, however it can win rounds, management positions, and open the door to your finest assaults. So the following time you’re caught in half guard or attempting to cross, ask your self: Who has the underhook? If the reply isn’t you, then maybe it’s time to alter that.