People of all belt levels will attest to the amount of physical and mental energy required to pass Eddie Bravo’s leg entangled clinching guard. If you don’t believe it – ask Royler Gracie.
Indeed, if you have experienced this guard, you will have a sense of what a pain in the butt it can be to get out of it. However, luckily for us, there is Youtube where many instructors provide hands-on solutions as to how easy it is to escape the Lockdown.
Most of these videos follow a particular pattern featuring a white belt who holds the instructor in a Lockdown. The instructor then shows how easy it is to get out, and the escapes are mostly legit – if the guy on the bottom doesn’t know the Lockdown.
Here are five debunks of the most common Youtube Lockdown escapes:
Escape # 1
The BUTTOCKS compressor
This is when the instructor slides down entirely with his body so that his hands can attach behind the white belt’s behind, after which he sprawls hard, causing pain in the ankles of the unsuspecting white belt.
It’s a legit one, but according to head instructor at Stockholm 10th Planet Black belt, Magnus Hansson. “a real Lockdown requires both leg connection and the use of proper upper body control.” He continues: “Ninety percent of escapes like this will never happen. You cannot easily escape somebody who is clinching onto both your lower and your upper body.”
Escape #2
The instructor shifts his weight to one side. Logically, this is one of the best ways to set up a Lockdown pass. However, this is where the upper body connection becomes crucial. The Lockdown user needs to keep his opponent on top and, as such, remove the base of the opponent. Letting the opponent turn or switch his hips is easily prevented if you have a basic understanding of the importance of upper body control, keeping the under or over hooks tight.
Escape # 3
The instructor untangles the foot and starts popping his knee out, using the knee slice to pass. This works well against an opponent who doesn’t know how to use the Lockdown properly. If you keep losing the foot, the problem can easily be adjusted because losing the foot is not a problem at all.
Escape # 4
The instructor lifts his entangled leg and pushes with his free leg on your heel to remove the leg connection. This is a classical move and quite an effective one too! However, in reality, a simple, quick foot dropping down close to your behind will prevent your opponent from escaping. If you do this, you will be able to reinsert the Lockdown swiftly.
Escape # 5
The instructor stands up and presses on your knees until the white belt screams in agony. This escape will only work against somebody who has never used the Lockdown because if your opponent manages to stand up, that means that you didn’t have any upper body control, and thus you did not even have a real Lockdown in the first place! Keep that upper body control tight, and never let go of the leg connection until you are ready to pass the guard and establish side control.
On the plus side, if you are using the Lockdown in a Gi, also called the Lotus Lockdown, the escapes become even more problematic due to the use of grips and the added friction from the Gi fabric. It is also worth mentioning that there are escapes that function very well, but you need to try them on someone who knows the Lockdown.
In the video below, Head instructor and BJJ black belt Magnus Hansson from 10th Planet Stockholm debunks one of the favorite YouTube Lockdown escapes.
Still in doubt? Check out www.grapplinginstructionals.com for further information on the Lotus Lockdown, the world’s most complete Lockdown instructional in a Gi.
Magnus Hansson, 3rd-degree blackbelt under Duda Suares (Gi) and Eddie Bravo’s 1st European blackbelt shows everything there is to know about the Lockdown in a Gi with new revolutionary details. Modified from its original, the Lotus Lockdown will change the way you approach this powerful half-guard. Let the Lotus Lockdown be your solution!
