All of these moves are effective for pinning your opponent. But, rarely do you see the best getting pinned.
This article picks up from the basic breakdowns and escapes we looked at last month to talk about how to finish off your opponent with a pin or devastating lead in points. A pin is when both of your opponent’s shoulder blades are touching the mat, and it ends the match immediately, in your favor. This is, obviously, good for you, even if it is fairly humiliating for your opponent (especially if his girlfriend is in the stands watching; not that I would know anything about that from personal experience or anything). You score near fall points when you expose your opponent’s back to the mat. His back has to be within a 45-degree angle from the mat for the referee to start counting. If you hold your opponent in this position for a three-second count, you are awarded two points; a five-second count rewards you with three points. These points can add up very quickly in a match if you are efficient and experienced at turning the opposition.
As with the other moves we have covered, you can work a series of moves off of one initial “hold.” This allows you to move from one thing to the next to get past lines of defense that your opponent may attempt. This month we will be going over one of the most basic pins or turns, a half nelson, and a bit more advanced one, the crossface series. Both are extremely effective and can put a hurtin’ on your opponent, especially the crossface series.
Half Nelson
One of the first wrestling moves kids are taught—and you even see variations on it in the WWE, as ridiculous as they may be—is the half nelson. After you have used one of your breakdowns, you want to work on keeping your opponent on the mat and turning him. It’s a good idea to have your opponent belly-down to do a half nelson (and I will teach it that way in this article), but it’s not totally necessary. To get him in that position, you have pressure on his chest and make sure that you have good control of him before going for a turn. You can perform a “half” from either side of the body, but I will describe it from the right side of the body since that’s a bit more common.
After achieving control on top, you want to get what is called a “one on one.” This means that your left hand is going to go under your opponent’s left arm and you will grab his wrist from there. Try to pull his wrist close to his body so he doesn’t have anything to post on to prevent you from turning him. Your right hand is going to go under his right arm and wrap around so that you are palming his head. Some people teach the “half” with wrapping around the neck, but you want to be able to palm their head so that you can pull it under. Once you get into position here and you have good control, turn your body nearly perpendicular to your opponent’s while keeping pressure on his upper body. Continue by sinking your chest down until it’s almost on his rib cage or shoulder and keeping your head high. Drive forward off your toes and as you do so, get the “one on one” by pulling in to the opponent’s body with your left hand and pulling his head down and toward you with your right. This is not a comfortable position for him and will help encourage him to roll over for you. Slowly drive your opponent over his left shoulder and ear. Once his back is turned toward you, you can sink the “half” in all the way up to the elbow of your right arm. Doing this allows you to pick up your opponent’s head so he has nothing to bridge off the mat with except his shoulders. That’s exactly what you want. Keep your pressure on his chest and stay “heavy” there while lifting his head. You should hear the ref slap the mat and blow the whistle shortly after this.
Crossface
The crossface series is a whole other beast—one that I think is much more painful and leads into many more options. Again, this can be performed from either side of the body, but I will teach it here from the right side.
We will start with the crossface cradle. Once you break your opponent down and have control, go for the crossface. Reach your right hand across his face and grab his left arm. You want to grab high up on the arm, definitely above the elbow. Pull tight and try to get the unpleasantly sharp bone in your forearm pressed up against your opponent’s cheekbone. If his nose is in the way, it’s his fault; feel free to crunch that as well.
Position yourself perpendicular to his body again and post your left hand behind his left leg. Your arm is not as strong as his leg, so don’t bother trying to bring his leg to his head. Instead, take his head to his knee. Lift up on his head and upper body with your crossface; this will bow his back in an uncomfortable direction and again encourage him to cooperate. Take your opponent’s head to his knee and reach under the left leg with your left hand. Do not let go of the crossface. Instead, keep it held tightly and grab your right wrist with your left hand. This makes the move very safe for you and very tight for your opponent. Once you have the lock in place, roll toward your back, being careful not to pin yourself. Your opponent should follow. Once you get him on his back, place your right knee on his hip and push his hips away from you. This creates space between the two of you and makes it easier for you to keep your squirming opponent still and get his shoulder blades on the mat. Again, at this point you will hopefully hear the ref slap the mat and blow the whistle to signal your victory.
Another variation of the crossface cradle that you can use if you are up against a good opponent is “rolling through.” All the initial steps are identical up to the point when you lock your hands. If you make an effort to pull your opponent back but just can’t get him all the way over, you can take him the other direction. Hold tight to your crossface and the lock on your wrist and roll through to your left shoulder. You will be on your back for a very brief moment as you complete the roll, but your opponent will follow and you will end up in the same position as you would in the original cradle. If for some reason your opponent kicks out of the cradle, make sure to hold on to the crossface. You are still safe and still have control as long as that crossface is tight. All you do from there is to continue rolling through until you are back on top of your opponent with the crossface.
One last option for you with the crossface is the “corkscrew.” If you are having difficulty getting the cradle, keep the crossface that you have and, with a heavy chest on your opponent’s upper back, circle around his body to the right. Hold tight to the crossface in the process. As you continue circling to the right you will eventually be head to head with your opponent and producing quite a bit of torque on his head and arm. Just keep walking around the head with that heavy chest and your opponent’s body will follow where you are pointing his head, which is to the lights in the ceiling. If the crossface loosens up once your opponent is on his back you can go to a “half” with your right hand.
Near fall points
All of these moves are effective for pinning your opponent. But rarely do you see the best getting pinned. Whether your opponent’s resistance comes from sheer determination, experience, or just not letting himself get put in bad positions, you can at least still get near fall points out of these moves. If you have solid positioning and a tight hold on your opponent, take your time in turning him. Don’t rush things if there is still time on the clock from this point. Some inexperienced wrestlers get overanxious and go too fast, creating too much momentum while turning the opponent to his back. This usually ends up in the opponent rolling through and the “hold” loosening up too much. Take your time and keep things tight once you have a solid move in place. When training these moves, make sure you get a taste of what it is like to be the one getting turned. You know what hurts and what doesn’t, which is usually the same as what is effective and what isn’t.
Read the PDF of this article in the CrossFit Journal here.
