Inside Ankle Pick

The most common mistake is penetrating too far forward with your knee, similar to how you would in a double leg takedown. Coach Brian emphasizes that with an ankle pick, you don't want to penetrate—instead, you should drop your knee to your toe while keeping good posture, letting your back leg do the pressure work.

You need to shift your opponent's weight onto the foot you're targeting by pulling their head down, which loads that leg and brings it close enough to attack. Position yourself with your lead foot forward on the same side as the foot you're picking.

If your opponent sprawls and gets a good angle on you, the position is lost and you should abandon the technique, circle away, and return to your guard. Coach Brian stresses the importance of keeping a good angle throughout to prevent this defensive sprawl.

After dropping your knee and securing control of the ankle, transition directly into a guard pass such as a leg drag pass to continue attacking.

The Inside Ankle Pick subfamily targets the opponent's near-side (inside) ankle, reaching between the opponent's legs or across the centreline to pick up the ankle on the same side as the controlling hand. The inside angle of attack exploits the opponent's forward weight distribution by snapping the head and pulling the near ankle forward simultaneously.

Inside ankle picks developed as a standard wrestling technique in American folkstyle and freestyle programmes, valued for their accessibility from common tie-up positions. The technique has been adopted across grappling disciplines for its low-risk, high-reward profile.

IJF: banned — Banned since 2010 leg grab prohibition — direct hansoku-make for touching opp…; IBJJF: legal — Legal at all belt levels, scored as takedown (2 points); UWW: restricted — Legal in freestyle (2-4 points), banned in Greco-Roman (no attacks below waist); Unified MMA: legal — Legal takedown technique; ADCC: legal — Legal, scored 2-4 points in second half of match; FIAS Sport Sambo: legal — Legal — all takedowns permitted; FIAS Combat Sambo: legal — Legal; NCAA Folkstyle: legal — Legal, scored as takedown (2 points)

Danger rating 3/10. Moderate — ankle pick uses minimal force; one of the lowest-impact takedowns

The standard setup chain: Establish Contact → Create Off-Balance → Execute the Takedown → Follow to Ground.

Standard counters include: Sprawl — drop hips back and drive weight down to stuff the takedown attempt / Underhook — establish inside position to control distance and prevent the takedown entry / Post and Circle — post on the attacker's head and circle away to break their angle / Level Change Defence — recognize the shot early and react with appropriate hip defence.

Common variants: Inside ankle pick (reaching to the near ankle from inside tie position); Outside ankle pick (reaching to the far ankle from outside angle); Snap-down to ankle pick (using a snap-down to expose the ankle for the pick).

The inside ankle pick is commonly used in NCAA and freestyle competition, particularly as a counter-attack.

Top errors to watch for: Reaching between the legs without controlling the head first — you'll eat a knee or crossface / Not snapping hard enough to genuinely load weight onto the target foot / Staying squared up during the pick, giving the opponent a straight line to sprawl / Picking the unloaded foot — always pick the foot carrying weight.

The Inside Ankle Pick is also known as Insaido Ankuru Pikku, Inside Ankle Grab, Near-Side Ankle Pick, Uchi Ashi-dori.