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Techniques, Tutorials and Gear for BJJ, MMA and Submission Grappling

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Home » Leglocks

Leglocks

How to Safely Practice Dangerous Leglocks

March 20, 2025 by Stephan Kesting

how to train dangerous leglocks

Q: Given that leglocks are dangerous, how do you train them safely and still have confidence that they will work in a 'live' setting. A: Although ANY submission is potentially dangerous, cranking someone with a heel hook or toehold can not only end the match, it can end your opponent's athletic career. Go here if you don't know what a heel hook is. . If you don't know what a toehold is, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health & Nutrition, Training Tagged With: Injuries, Leglocks, Sparring, Submission, Training

How to Get Started with Leglocks

January 8, 2025 by Stephan Kesting

The Most Important Positions of Leglocking

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 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners, Grappling Techniques Tagged With: 411 Position, 50/50 Guard, Ankle Lock, Heel Hook, Leglocks, No Gi, Positions, Techniques, Video

BJJ in the Nineties, a Time Capsule!

November 15, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

The first Grapplearts instructional

It was the late 1990's, I was a purple belt, and my friend Allan had one of those gigantic $3,000 consumer cameras that recorded directly to a book-sized VHS cassette. He wanted to film some jiu-jitsu, and I wanted to show a few friends some material I'd been working on. So we went down to his condo's fitness room and shot a 12 minute "instructional" for some of my friends. The running joke at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: BJJ, Guard Passes, History, Leglocks, Omoplata, Turtle Position, Video

A New School Knee Ride Escape

November 6, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

The Uno Reverse Card Knee Ride Escape

Every once in a while, a new way of doing things comes along that is so much better that it has to get added to your repertoire right away. The Uno Reverse Card Escape vs the knee ride is one such technique! You start on the bottom of the knee ride, unable to breathe as your opponent spears his weight into your diaphragm... ...then, a few simple moves later, you spin into a leglock and/or … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Escapes, Knee Mount, Kneebars, Leglocks, No Gi, No Gi Pin Escapes, Submission Grappling, Techniques, Video

How to Become a Professional Grappler, with Chris Wojcik

September 22, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

As a first-time ADCC competitor, Chris beat the odds and came in fourth, beating a couple of legends along the way. In episode 410 of The Strenuous Life Podcast with Chris Wojcik, we cover... The qualifying process for ADCC, the Olympics of Grappling Training with a herniated disk How to go from enthusiastic amateur to dedicated professional What natural athletes need to do … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition, Grappling Techniques Tagged With: ADCC, Aoki lock, Chris Wojcik, CJI, Competition, false reap, Heel Hook, Injuries, Interviews, Leglocks, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

Three takeaways from the Craig Jones Invitational

August 19, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

Craig Jones Invitational CJI 2024

I was glued to my computer for hours this weekend, watching every match (and some more than once) in the Alley at the 2024 Craig Jones Invitational in Vegas. (I caught little bits and pieces of ADCC, too, but there was more talent and fewer stoppages at CJI.) The entire competition is available on Youtube... CJI Day 1 CJI Day 2 Anyway, I came away with a renewed appreciation … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition Tagged With: Competition, Craig Jones Invitational, Cutting Edge Leglocks, Guard Passes, Guard Retention, Leglocks, No Gi

Kneebar from Side Control

April 13, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

Kneebar from Side Control

If you've got your opponent in side control then you're definitely dominating the match, but if he's being defensive then it can still be hard to finish from there. A smart opponent will keep his arms in and protect his neck with his hands, making it challenging to catch an armlock or force a choke. This is where deception comes in. You've got to lure your opponent into a trap by giving him … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Kneebars, Leglocks, Sidemount, Strategy, Techniques, Video

Kneebar Mastery: Fixing the Most Common Mistakes

April 8, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

kneebar mastery

The kneebar is the king of leg submissions: you are attacking one of the largest joints in the body and demonstrating mastery over your opponent. Unlike heelhooks and toeholds, which often have to be applied gently in training to avoid injury, a successful kneebar leaves no doubt or debate as to its effectiveness. The kneebar is a fairly safe submission when applied properly, but is also a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Kneebars, Leglocks, Submission

About That Leglock-Shaped Hole in Your Game

February 9, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

The Ultimate Leglock Package

There was a time when you could be good at jiu-jitsu and not know anything about leglocks. (I miss this era because knowing a few leglocks back then made it relatively easy to ambush and tap out even high-level black belts.) But now jiu-jitsu has changed.  Everyone and their dog is busy ankle locking and heel hooking and kneebarring and toeholding. I'd go so far as to say that if you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Instructional Videos Tagged With: Cutting Edge Leglocks, Grapplearts DVDs, Leglocks, Rob Biernacki

Competition Kneebar Breakdown

February 5, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

Rob Biernacki wins gold at IBJJ No Gi Worlds black belt M4

Rob Biernacki recently won gold at black belt in master's ADCC Canada and in black M4 division at IBJJF NoGi Worlds. In a critical match, he swept the reigning champion, came up on top, got entangled in an X guard situation, and then pulled a kneebar out of nowhere to get the submission. The video below breaks down the unorthodox kneebar and finishing mechanics he used at IBJJF No Gi … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition, Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Competition, Cutting Edge Leglocks, Kneebars, Leglocks, Rob Biernacki, Techniques, Video

Knee Mount Escape to Backside 50/50

November 29, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Knee Mount Escape to Backside 50/50

If you can do the basic backward somersault, then I've got a pretty spectacular and highly effective kneemount escape for you. The Wu Tang escape takes you from the receiving end of eating pressure under a terrible position to one of the strongest positions in leglocking - the backside 50/50. Here's a detailed video about how to add this escape to your game, even if you're NOT … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: 50/50 Guard, Cutting Edge Leglocks, Escapes, Heel Hook, Knee Mount, Leglocks, No Gi, Techniques, Video

Not a Fair Fight At All!

September 19, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Heel Hook from 50-50

The 50/50 is a leglock entanglement and guard position that’s pretty unavoidable in modern jiu-jitsu. With the gi it’s a powerful sweeping and backtaking position, and in no gi matches it leads to a TON of leglock submissions. The 50/50 is a seemingly symmetrical position where, superficially at least, it looks like both people have the same set of options. People mistakenly think of it … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Instructional Videos Tagged With: 50/50 Guard, Cutting Edge Leglocks, Grapplearts BJJ Master App, Heel Hook, Leglocks

Rob Biernacki Double Gold!

July 26, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Rob Biernacki has been on a tear recently. In 2023 he's competed 4 times. In April, he got a Silver at the ADCC Open... in March, he won Gold at Grappling Industries... in June, he won Gold at the Portland Open... and just a few days ago, he won Double Gold at Grappling Industries! That last victory is particularly impressive because one of those gold medals was in the Masters Open division. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition, Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Competition, Cutting Edge Leglocks, Leglocks, Older Grapplers, Rob Biernacki

How to Do the Shotgun Ankle Lock

June 14, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

How to do the Shotgun Ankle Lock

Rob Biernacki wanted to show me something. It was an ankle lock variation that he'd recently successfully used to win a match at the ADCC Open. Now I've seen a lot of ankle locks in my day. I've even done highly specific training of the muscles on the front of my shin in order to better resist getting ankle locked. But NOTHING could prepare me for this. He applied the footlock, and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Ankle Lock, Cutting Edge Leglocks, Leglocks, Rob Biernacki, Shotgun Ankle Lock, Techniques, Video

How To Do The ‘Imanari Roll’

May 27, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Imanari Roll in UFC video game

The Imanari roll is absolutely one of the coolest submission attacks out there. It's unorthodox, it's fancy, but unlike many other flashy moves it's it's also quite high percentage. If you do it correctly you get straight into the 411 leglock position, which is the most powerful leglocking position we have. So there's definitely a huge upside if you land it. This move has been used … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Mixed Martial Arts Tagged With: 411 Position, Butterfly Guard, Drills, Heel Hook, Leglocks, Masakazu Imanari, Submission, Submission Grappling, Techniques, Video

Inbound Soon – Improvements To Cutting Edge Leglocks

May 26, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Rob Biernacki and Stephan Kesting after filming BJJ videos2

I spent the day with Rob Biernacki filming an insanely painful update to the leglock meta. The new and completely legal breaking mechanics will make the straight ankle lock as powerful as the heel hook, which is a terrifying thought. And yes, Rob celebrated with his now traditional post-filming gelato. In short, we're going to be covering a new breaking mechanism, which is to say, a brand new … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Ankle Lock, Cutting Edge Leglocks, Grapplearts DVDs, Leglocks, Rob Biernacki, Shotgun Ankle Lock

Three Critical Control Points You Must Have to Apply a Good Leglock

May 25, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Three Critical Control Points for a Good Leglock

It's a terrible thing to do all that work to get into a good leglock position only to have your opponent find enough space to slip out and escape.  Or worse, have him laugh at your submission attempt because it's not tight enough to cause him any concern. The key to a good leglock is having 3 points of control, namely, The three ingredients of every good leglock are Control of the hip, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Ankle Lock, BJJ, Caio Terra, Cutting Edge Leglocks, Heel Hook, Kneebar, Leglocks, No Gi, Rob Biernacki, Techniques, Video

The Step by Step Aoki Lock

April 8, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

The Aoki Lock

The Aoki lock is an incredibly versatile submission that can instantly turn the tables in a match. You can apply it in situations where you have the dominant leglock position, but you can also use it as a counter when your opponent has the dominant position. Either way, it's a gamechanger! Here's a video from Cutting Edge Leglocks to break down the Aoki Lock for you, followed by a written … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Aoki lock, Cutting Edge Leglocks, Leglocks, No Gi, Rob Biernacki, Single Leg X Guard, Techniques, Video

A Masterclass on Finishing the Heel Hook from the 411 Position

March 30, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Countering 411 Escapes

Leglocks are incredibly devastating submissions, especially in a no gi grappling context. And the inside heel hook from the 411 position (aka the saddle, the cross ashi, and the honey hole) is one of the most powerful leglock attacks in no gi grappling. As this attack becomes more popular people are inevitably getting better at defending it. Right now the most common defence by far is to turn … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: 411 Position, Cutting Edge Leglocks, Heel Hook, Leglocks, No Gi, Rob Biernacki, Video

New Product – Cutting Edge Leglocks!

March 30, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Cutting Edge Leglocks

Leglocks have changed the grappling game forever, and leglock attacks have never been more effective! But this area of jiu-jitsu is evolving FAST. In the last 5 years, a TON of new techniques, tactics, strategies and counters have been developed. So most grapplers need a bit of help to keep up with the times and avoid being left behind. Help is on the way... In our BRAND NEW, JUST … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Instructional Videos Tagged With: Cutting Edge Leglocks, Grapplearts, Grapplearts DVDs, Leglocks, No Gi, Rob Biernacki

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