To the uninitiated, leglocking can seem like a confusing black art; a spinning tangle of legs resulting in sudden match-winning submissions.
But you can’t just stick your head in the sand and ignore them because but leglocks have become HUGE in jiu-jitsu, especially in no gi grappling.
To become a complete grappler (and to avoid tapping out 10 times per match to some young punk who just watches no gi competition videos all day) you’ve GOT to develop an understanding of the leglock game.
Now it’s true that there are a LOT of different leglock submissions; ankle locks, inside heel hooks, outside heel hooks, kneebars, calf slicers, Z locks, Aoki locks, toeholds, Estima locks, dogbars, etc, etc, etc. And when I started doing leglocks in the late 1980s the game was all about memorizing as many of these submissions and entries as possible.
But focussing on the submissions first is a fool’s errand, and leaves you susceptible to missing the big picture.
In recent years a huge change in the leglock game has been the emphasis on controlling the underlying leglock positions rather than going straight for the submission.
(This is essentially the same as the “position over submission” idea espoused in A Roadmap for BJJ, just applied to the lower body instead of the upper body)
Of course eventually you’ll need to learn the finer details of leglock entries, transitions, attacks, defenses, and escapes, but there’ll be time for all that later.
Start with the positions themselves and go from there! Once you have those everything else will be MUCH easier to learn!
In the video below I break down the first 5 leglock positions you need to learn…
00:00 How to Make Leglocks Make Sense01:03 Position 1, Standard Ashi02:03 Position 2, Double Outside Ashi02:43 Position 3, The Fifty-Fifty03:27 Position 4, The Reap04:02 Position 5, The 411
Standard Ashi
1st Fundamental Leglock Position – Standard Ashi
The Standard Ashi (aka “Ashi” or “Ashi Garami”) is the most basic and easiest-to-get leglock position, and also the first one you should learn.
You can get here from many bottom positions and from almost all top open guard positions.
You can hold Ashi Garami on either side, but ideally you want the leg you’re attacking to be on the bottom (like in the picture above) because it immobilises the hip better. We call this the ‘strong side’.
Submissions from Ashi Garami typically include the standard heel hook or the straight ankle lock. But it can be difficult to finish someone from here if they have good leglock defense, so typically you’ll want to improve your position if you’re fighting someone good.
Outside Ashi
2nd Fundamental Leglock Position – Outside Ashi
In Outside Ashi (aka “Double Outside Ashi, DOA”) you step your inside leg over your opponent’s trapped leg and cross your ankles with your outside foot over your inside foot to avoid giving your opponent the reverse heel hook. Also move your hips as close as you can to your opponent, and flare your knees apart as wide as possible.
The reason we like to flare the knees (as opposed to pinching the legs like some other practitioners) is that your top knee creates a frame between you and your opponent for range management, making it much more difficult for him to get close enough to grab your head, gripfight or get on top.
The time it takes for your oppponent to clear your frame allows you the time to dig for the heel hook.
When you’re lying on your side you have to always be bridging. This so-called ‘bridge wedge’ transforms this from a loose position that is easily countered into a tight position that gets your opponent thinking about tapping out even before you apply the submission. Try it out and see!
Fifty-Fifty
3rd Fundamental Leglock Position – Fifty-Fifty
The Fifty-Fifty guard in BJJ is one where both people have their inside legs intertwined, and anything one person can do the other person can do too (in theory at least).
The Fifty-Fifty gives access to the reverse heel hook strong control over your opponent’s hip and knee, which makes for an incredibly devastating leglock.
If you’re new to leglocking you may not want to chose to go to the Fifty-Fifty because your opponent has the same submissions options you do, therefore the winner in here is typically the person with a greater depth of familiarity with it.
The Fifty-Fifty is common enough that that I’m including it in the list of first five positions you need to learn, because even if you want to avoid a position you need to be able to distinguish and identify it.
The Reap
4th Fundamental Leglock Position – The Reap
The Reap (aka “Inside Ashi” or “Game Over”) is a hellish leg configuration for your opponent, giving you the luxury of moving to the submission at your own pace as he tries to figure out how to escape from there.
One common way to get here is to start in Standard Ashi (Position 1). Bring your outside leg over your opponent’s trapped leg and weave it into a number of different configurations that entangle his other leg.
This leg motion is called a ‘reap’ and it destroys the alignment of your opponent’s legs very effectively. Since his legs are so tangled up it makes it impossible to generate effective base until he first disentangles his legs.
(This position is definitely NOT legal in IBJJF gi competition so don’t even think about it if you’re competing with the gi on!)
The 411
5th Fundamental Leglock Position – The 411
If you’re going against someone good or super flexible then the 411 position (aka “The Saddle”) is where you want to end up!
It’s a very powerful position with great control… Your own legs are hidden and very hard for him to counter-leglock… You can control his free leg from beginning to end making it impossible for him to base up… And you have access to the reverse heel hook, the most powerful of all leglock submissions.
In other words, he’s really in trouble when you get here.
It’s called the “411” because your legs make a “4” and your opponent’s legs make an “11”. When you’re here you’re going to extend your outside leg (the one on the bottom in the photo above) to create a frame which both immobilises the hip and controls the distance.
A beautiful thing about this position is that, unlike most other leglock positions, you can actually tie up his loose leg using different techniques as you move into the final submission, so he never regains the ability to use that free leg as part of his defense.
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