Check out weekly technique breakdowns by 3x NCAA champion Jason Nolf, presented by Athletes Ocean.
Hayden Ancheta's Secrets of Japanese Wrestling | Technique Tuesday
Sep 8, 2026
In this week's Technique Tuesday, San Francisco State's Hayden Ancheta breaks down three things he brought back from six months training with Japan's best — all built on one idea: attack a part of your opponent's body hard enough that he overcompensates, and he'll hand you the opening somewhere else.
Ancheta starts with the misdirection arm drag. He works to the wrist and hits a real drag — not a sell, an actual attempt to score — because the reaction you need only comes off an attack your opponent believes. When the guy pulls that leg out of the way, Ancheta load steps and powers off into the far leg instead of stepping back, then chains it: fake drag, single, fake drag, back to single, feet always moving forward, because good opponents will react to the first move, the second, and sometimes the third. Then he covers what Japanese wrestlers do better than anyone — locking out the single leg so there's no scramble left to have. Knee behind the ankle, one arm above the knee and the other snaking down, chest big and opening as he drives with his head, killing the funk roll and the ankle dive before they start.
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