Tired of Getting Footlocked? Try this! TRUJITSU leg lock defense 101

Has this happened to you?

You're playing guard,

your opponent glances back, and BOOM! All of the sudden he's tearing your foot off.

Welcome to the world of leg locks, they're popular these days. Everything goes in cycles, and the season of leg locks is upon us.

Open guard players beware.

If you find yourself up against a leg lock enthusiast, here are a few helpful hints on how to survive.

First, Realize leg locks usually require 2 body movements from your opponent.

First being that they are able to use both of their arms for grabbing, the other being that their back must be able to pull away, arch or twist. In other words your opponent needs upper body mobility.

When your opponent falls back for a foot lock, a common reaction is to grab your opponent's lapel or neck.

The reasoning behind this is to prevent your opponent from extending their back and arching.

However, that's where your problems begins.

Here are 2 reasons why.

1. When you grab your opponents lapel, they have full use of both of their arms to freely apply a submission attempt.

And..

2. You are also relying on your grip strength to hold up against the strength of your opponents entire upper body as they pull back. It's just a matter of time before your opponent wins the "tug o war".

For a better result try this..

Instead of grabbing your opponents lapel, grab the sleeve of their secondary hand. Pull their sleeve and arm as close to your chest as possible. This will shut down your opponent's ability to pull away and arch their back.

Remember 2 arms are needed to finalize the leg attack in almost every case.