Does anyone know some effective ways to deal with someone who shoots very low for a takedown? Are there options other than sprawling? It's easy to theorize about using uppercuts or snapdowns but do these techniques have a high percentage of success? Any help would be appreciated.

Shoot back with a firearm (it worked for DuPont; unfortunately DuPont probably wasn't fighting for his life & may therefore have murdered that Olympic wrestler).
Other weapons (such as pointy objects) may also work. I'll leave specific unarmed responses to others (such as Tim).

Michael,

There is an excellent technique in Tim's book
"Principles, Analysis and Application of Effortless Combat Throws". We'll call "ECT" for short. The technique is an arm lift head spiral. Very effective! This works well when the opponent shoots properly by keeping his head and chest up, even better when he doesn't. "Arm lift head spiral" is a descriptive name I believe Tim gave the technique to go with his categories of throws. In San Soo we did the same throw off a punch but it had no specific name. My Wing Chun teacher shows a variation of it for a shoot defense as well. Without getting to descriptive you simply place one hand on the back of the head/neck, the other underhooks the arm.(if your to the right of the head your left hand would be on it and vice versa) Next step backward in an arc with the same side foot that holds the head. As you step back push the opponents head under the arm you have hooked and simultaneously pull the arm over his head. This will flip him onto his back. From here there is a plethora of follow up! "ECT" goes in to much greater detail and is worth buying even if your not interested in this particular technique. I personally think it is a book every serious student of the martial arts should read. I also think those who do and apply the principles will be far better for it!!

Good Luck
Bob

Hey Michael,
Bob offers good advice; but do remember that the first principle is to GET OFF LINE of the opponent's incoming force, then apply the technique (or some variant thereof) as described above -- same goes for my earlier weapons techniques, for if you don't get off line, then you'll be in a heap of trouble (literally).

Michael,

What Mike says is true, you must move to one side or the other to make this technique work. Keep in mind that my post is not a how to, rather it is a general explanation. I only meant to suggest an idea. In Tim's book "ECT" there is also a technique provided for the contingency of being unable to move off the line as Mike mentioned above. Once again the answer isn't blowing in the wind, it's written in Tim's book!

Regards
Bob

Thanks alot gentlemen.

Unfortunately there is very little wrestling in Texas. The BJJ places I've trained taught some good groundwork but we always started from our knees so this aspect was neglected.

Why Michael I believe that both Mr. Taylor and Mr. Bob have their heads up their proverbial ass because they ignore the simple truth: this is ALLIGATOR WRASSLIN' pure and simple . . .OK, maybe not so simple, but you know what ah mean if yore frum Texas, and that is grab the attacker by their tail or ass and flip 'im over. Hey, I do believe that is what they both said so never mind . . .

Hey Michael Gooch,
Out of curiousity, how long did you study this art?

Michael,
I think the technique Bob talkes about above is a good first line of defense for a shot, as long as you can get off line. In my experience, once a trained grappler shoots and has even one hand secure on your leg, you most likely will have to sprawl before you can apply any other counter (whether it is striking or counter leverage).

GW
Hope you're not too stressed about Florida.

Mike
Which art? BJJ - off and on since 92.

Michael G.,
BJJ since 92 -- even on & off, didn't you EVER start practice from a standing position? I ask because I know that BJJ has a lot of stand up -- it's a "complete" art (that is, it's about as complete an art as most).

Stand-up was rare. Most of the training involved fighting from the guard working for armbars, triangle chokes etc.

Interesting,
I remember Reylson Gracie's demo tape (at Phil Hall's martial-art-supplies store) as showing a very well-rounded approach (using upright as well as downright grounded techniques). Thanks for the info.

OBSERVATION:
(A clear grasp of the obvious), not all BJJ instruction (as with any other art) is equal.

In retrospect the problem was more a matter of size. The small guys would practice live shooting. I had a hard time getting any of the big guys to shoot with me though.

Ah,
So you were trying to protect either the small guys or the big guys, eh? Weight can be used to advantage or disadvantage. If partners are careful, they can practice regardless of weight (they can say, practice slowly & not apply bone-breaking leverage -- usual practice stuff). Going full-bore (full-boar? hog wild?) is never a safe practice method (it is a practice method, it's just not very safe).

That's the real problem. Without the guidance of a wrestling coach (They're scarce in Texas) I'm weary of going full bore. I found some info on competitive push hands on another sight. Would this type of training be good for dealing with shots?

Hey M.G.,
This is a question for Tim (as I'm not qualified to answer it -- & Tim almost certainly is qualified). There's a push-hands champ in the USA named Don Miller (so I've heard); perhaps you can look him up on the internet & also ask him his opinion on the subject. I believe that push-hands drills are good for building sensitivity (knowing when to yield & when to strike so to speak) -- unfortunately I have extremely little training with such (as It takes two & I rarely get to practice with others -- & that time's usually spent in other endeavors).

Michael,
While the various 'Pushing Hands' practices are excellent drills to train sensitivity and control of another's center, they aren't going to help you much once an opponent already has a grip on your legs. My advice is to find someone who is a decent wrestler/grappler, and work on defending the shot. If wrestling coaches are hard to find, you may want to read up on the subject. I would recommend "Winning Wrestling Moves" by Mysnyk, Davis and Simpson.