Single Leg Entry
Single leg — penetration step to the outside of the near leg; shoulder drives through to complete the takedown.
Adapted from the original page. Grappling.Games did not write this. Sources.
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The single leg takedown entry is the most widely used takedown in no-gi grappling. The practitioner drops their level below the opponent’s centre of mass, penetrates with a step to the outside of the opponent’s near leg, places their near shoulder in the opponent’s hip, and controls the leg. From here, multiple finish variants are available based on the opponent’s defensive response.
The single leg’s versatility comes from its adaptability. Unlike the double leg, which requires both legs to be controlled simultaneously, the single leg can be entered from many angles, finished in many ways, and converted to other positions (front headlock, back take, leg entanglement entry) when the primary finish is defended.
The single leg is also the primary recovery position when other takedown entries are defended. A shot that begins as a double leg and meets the sprawl often converts to a single leg as the near leg becomes accessible during the scramble. Understanding the single leg is understanding how to extract value from any takedown attempt that does not immediately finish.
INV-ST02Invariant "Hip access is the functional goal of all single-leg attacks. Controlling the leg without accessing the hip allows the opponent to sprawl and recover."
Why it works hereThe high single's defining feature is the shoulder pressed into the opponent's hip — once the shoulder is on the hip, the sprawl has nothing to drive into. A grip lower on the leg without hip contact lets the opponent drive the hip back over the shooter and recover. The high single trades leg-isolation depth for hip access and pays off because INV-ST02 is the bottleneck; the low single must recreate hip access during the attack rather than buying it at entry.
See full invariant page → Hip access is the most important principle in single leg work. When the practitioner’s shoulder reaches the opponent’s hip — not just the knee or the ankle — the sprawl becomes mechanically impossible. The opponent cannot drive their hip back to defend because the shoulder is already there. A single leg that is grabbed below the hip (at the knee or lower) allows the opponent to step back and sprawl because the hip is still free.
This is the principle that distinguishes a high single (shoulder in the hip) from a low single (grip at the ankle). The high single sacrifices leg isolation for hip access; the low single sacrifices hip access for a grip further down the leg. Both require hip access to finish, but the high single establishes it at entry while the low single must create it during the attack.