Leglocks have been at the center of the bjj zeitgeist for quite some time. They are referred to as the great equalizer. Cases like this are just why.
A white belt competitor named James Hunt had an easy time finishing a blue and a purple belt in Australian Grappling Championships tournament to win gold in the Super Absolute division.
White Belt Enters All Ranks Absolute And Leg Locks His Way To Gold – in staggering 3 Minutes
Traditionally, leg locks have been unpopular with the BJJ old school. In other similar grappling arts like Sambo or Catch Wrestling, they occupy an important place.
In recent years a new school of Jiu-Jitsu players have started to perfect the leg lock game (Garry Tonon or Eddie Cummings in No Gi and Luis Panza, Cavaca in Gi) but they are still not developed so much in Jiu-Jitsu and many people still see them as cheap, low class moves or are frowned upon because of high risk of injury (especially heel hooks) .
The Heel Hook is one of the most devastating submission holds in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu… However, there are ways to defend against it and counter it at the same time.
In some situations, for example, you can even go for a Toehold. Here’s when and how, as demonstrated by Garry Tonon:
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