Grappling Tips Newsletter

September 25, 2004

Other Ankle Lock Mistakes

Last week I talked about the most common mistake novice leglockers make when trying to use the ankle lock. Here are a few more common errors:

Telegraphing the attack. I often see someone decide to use an ankle lock to counter the open guard: this person then wraps his arm around the ankle, pauses, considers whether to proceed, and only then falls back into an ankle lock. This is way too telegraphic to work on a skilled opponent: there should be no pause when you decide to proceed with this attack.
Lack of leg control. To successfully attack the ankle joint you need to control the rest of his leg (i.e. the knee, thigh and hip). If you want to become disillusioned about leglocks try this: wrap your arm around your opponent's ankle, flop back without a plan of how to control his legs, and hope for a miracle. Leg control is very important in maintaining and applying ankle locks.
Attacking significantly longer legs. Generally speaking, if two people are trying to ankle lock each other the person with the longer legs has the advantage. It IS possible to leglock people with longer legs, but you need to have a higher level of technique than your opponent.
Not having a plan for opponents who stand up. It is very common for someone defending an ankle lock to stand up in an attempt to counter your ankle lock. To become an ankle lock expert you need to have several reliable solutions to this particular counter.
Not having a "Plan B" if the ankle lock fails. Not every submission will work on every opponent. There are some hyper-flexible and super-tough people out there who just will not tap to an ankle lock. Does your leglocking strategy include a "Plan B" for this type of situation?
Using the ankle lock too often. Some people fall in love with ankle locks and never learn to pass the guard. Leglocks are not a substitute for guard passing skills: leglock and guard passing complement each other and set each other up. Learn and use both.

Photo: Laura vs Jennifer Gibbons (closest to camera). Taken at the Defence Unlimited Submission League, August 17th, 2003 in Manchester, England. Courtesy of "Doctor Octagon" Formerly a featured Grappling and MMA Photo of the Week

Labels: leglocks

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 9:07 PM

September 19, 2004

The Most Common Ankle Lock Mistake

Let's talk about the basic ankle lock (also known as the 'Achilles lock' or the 'straight foot lock') today. When I see people trying ankle locks in sparring and in competition the most common error I see is targetting, by which I mean where they are placing their forearms on their opponent's ankle.

Quite often I see people trying to apply the ankle lock by putting pressure far too high up the leg, sometimes as high as mid-calf. While this might work for some people it isn't the most efficient method to use.

The place where you want to put your forearm is right at the bottom of the leg, just above the heel bone. Try this: extend your toes and foot away from you like you are going to round kick someone with your instep. Now look at the back of your ankle - you should see a bunch of horizontal wrinkles in the skin. This is where you want to place your forearm.

Another way to figure out where your forearm should go is to take a very loose ankle lock on your practise partner. Slide your forearms down his leg until they get stopped by his foot. Take a good look at the position of your arms relative to his leg, and make a mental note of how far down his leg your arms have come.

By placing your fulcrum (your bottom forearm) at this position on the foot you will have a very powerful submission. You will be applying maximum pressure to his achilles tendon and achieving maximum leverage against the top of his foot.

Happy footlocking!

Labels: leglocks

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 11:45 AM

September 12, 2004

Breathing and Stretching and Yoga

Yoga pays a lot of attention to breathing – Yoga has many special breathing exercises, ranging from the simple to the downright esoteric. For martial artists and grapplers, however, the integration of breathing and stretching is of particular interest. Here is a simple, but very useful yoga principle to apply to your own stretching regimen.

When you are stretching breathe deeply and slowly. As you breath in imagine that your spine is getting longer and longer. Visualize the breath increasing the distance between your pelvis and the top of your head. Then, as you breathe out, really relax and try to go deeper into the stretch. Repeat this in and out pattern to go deeper into the stretch, being sure to stop before you feel any pain.

Whether you are working towards touching your toes or doing the full splits this simple concept can really help you improve the quality of your stretching time.

Labels: breathing

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 8:25 PM

September 06, 2004

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

The more complex a motor skill is, the more repetition is required to make it instinctive, smooth and efficient. Let me tell you a little story to illustrate what I mean.

About 2 years ago I decided to work on a specific armbar escape. To do this particular escape you need to do 3 things nearly simultaneously: twist your arm and shoulder, bridge your hips to the side (not up) and run your feet away from your opponent in a half circle. This is a fairly complex movement, so I drilled it a lot: every class I'd grab someone, ask them to lightly armbar me, and I would practice this technique 5, 10 or 20 times.

Not surprisingly this escape started working really well for me. I used it in sparring all the time and even in competition. Life was good.

Then this escape stopped working: I would try using it but my timing and technique just weren't up to snuff. After some reflection I realized what had happened. Because the technique had been working for me in sparring I started taking it for granted and had stopped drilling it - I just wasn't getting the repetition I needed to keep this complex technique well oiled and ready for action.

The solution was obvious, and I now try to get some repetition of this movement at least once a week. My timing is coming back and I think that this technique will soon become part of my 'A game' once again.

The more complex a motor skill is, the more repetition is required to make it instinctive, smooth and efficient.

Labels: training

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 9:22 PM