If you’re a grappler then the chances are that you’ll have seen this hilarious meme from BJJ and MMA coach, Neil Melanson. Although the meme is funny, it’s actually based on a real move which is aptly called the butt drag. Yes, this technique actually exists and is as nasty as it sounds.
In this article, we shall be discussing what the butt drag involves and how and when to do it. All jokes aside, it’s actually a decent move if you’re looking to control someone from the top turtle position. Once again, this serves as an example of how wrestling moves can be applied to BJJ.
What is the butt drag?
The butt drag is a move to pin your opponent from the top turtle position. As the turtle is quite a dynamic position, many grapplers will purposely go their to avoid getting their guard passed and avoid giving up points in competition. Sometimes, people will end there if their takedown is sprawled on too.
For the bottom player, the idea is to escape and avoid submissions or being put into a bottom pin (or side control). This is where the butt drag comes into play. Imagine you’re facing your opponent face-on, so you’re directly opposite them. To attack their position, you’ll want to move to the side. Here, you should either have a chin strap to control their head or a cross face which will do the same job.
From there, you’ll want to move to the side of the turtle. At this point, you’ll want to start initiating the butt drag. This means using your free arm to reach over as if you’re putting it towards the opponent’s buttocks, then you’ll want to grab the inside of their near leg and drag them to the floor. If done correctly, you should have cracked the turtle and dragged them into side control.
Why it’s called the butt drag
As the above has demonstrated, a butt drag with clean technique actually won’t involve the opponent’s buttocks being touched, instead – it’s more like the inner thigh. Having said this, as you’re placing your arm under their legs and from their backside position, it looks awfully like you’re trying to put your arm in their backside (at least from one angle).
As wrestling terminology can be quite blunt at times, this is where its nickname comes from. Overall, it’s not exactly a nice move to perform on someone either but then again, wrestling is often quite rough.
When butt drags can become dirty moves
If you excuse the innuendos, the reality is that butt drags can be seen as dirty moves to do on your training partners. This is if they’re done with sloppy technique which could result in unwanted hand positioning. With this said, it’s fine to do in a competition but can be seen as taboo if you do it in a wrestling or BJJ training room.
For example, during the heat of training, you may quickly reach from behind and grab the first thing you make contact with. In this case, it could be the private parts of your opponent. Whilst grappling can be challenging, doing this can be quite intrusive. In wrestling, many practitioners will wear cups though, so it’s arguably not as bad as in BJJ.
In some extreme cases, people will literally try to enter the buttocks, to gain leverage on the opponent’s body. Technically, this isn’t what a butt drag is – but mechanically it serves the same purpose of dragging someone’s nearside body downward to secure a top pin. In this case, the technique could be classified as an oil check which is even more taboo and won’t win you many friends any time soon.
Conclusion
When it comes to cracking the turtle, there are lots of ways to do this. In fact, it’s even easier to do this whilst wearing a gi as it gives you more options and leverage. With this said, there’s nothing particularly wrong with doing a butt drag if it’s done perfectly and in terms of efficiency, it’s a solid move.
The issue is when it’s done at speed and the technique suffers. This is when you can land in dodgy territory where touching your training partner is concerned. Arguably, this could be why the butt drag is mostly considered as an uncommon move, because many practitioners simply don’t want to do it to their training partners. And to be honest, who can blame them?
