Dan Faggella is a BJJ Academy Owner, No Gi Pan Am Champion at 130 pounds, and recognized expert in the area of leg locks. Dan writes or Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Jiu Jitsu Style, MMA Sports Mag, and more – find more of his leg lock articles and resources at www.BJJLegLocks.com
There will come a time when you’re in a match or just rolling with someone and they’re in your mount. Bottom mount may not be as drastic and dangerous in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as it is in Mixed Martial Arts, but it still isn’t too ideal of a spot to be in.
Your opponent has a huge menu of choices; armbar, kimura, key lock, arm triangle, you name it, it’s there! Before they get their chance to strike and lock on a submission, you can make the first move and catch them off guard!
Recently in one of my classes I went over a slick heel hook you can perform from bottom mount. Let’s take a look.
Catch Them by Surprise
When you’re in bottom mount, it’s easy for your opponent to think he has you right where he wants you. This easily plays to your advantage, because it may cause them to be a little more lax, and they definitely won’t be expecting a leg lock.
Anticipating your escape, that will be there main focal point. Using a similar approach to the hip escape from bottom mount, we first want to turn onto our side. From here, rather than scooping his foot, we want to buck our hips backwards which will open up his legs a little more, and throw him off balance.
With space having been created, you want to now take your bottom knee and slide it onto his hip. Secondly, take your other leg and bring it over the top of his exposed leg, and lock it in to his hip joint. You should now be in a modified x-guard.
Once you have your footing in place, make sure you pull his knee across your body. Failing to do so still allows him to stack his weight onto you, making this move null in void. After pulling the knee over, their heel should be exposed, allowing you to lock on the heel hook for the victory.
Why It Works
This is very effective for two reasons: 1) it’s a heel hook. 2) it’s from bottom mount. Unlike most heel hook setups, we aren’t pulling guard on our opponent. As I said earlier in the blog, they have the upper-hand and feel as if they have you on the ropes and can exert their dominance.
The key part to this is pulling the knee across the body. Not doing so doesn’t allow you to take the dominant position of x-guard. It also keeps their foot firmly planted on the ground, keeping their foot nice and safe. This is a very vital aspect to the sequence.
By now it’s no surprise that I’m a leg lock kind of guy. I’m a fan of them in any shape or size, or even position. The heel hook is arguably the most effective and devastating lock there is, given the severity of the potential damage. Being able to use it from many different spots is important if you want to become a well versed grappler.
So give it a try, and make sure you let your opponent visit Tap City, New Mexico! Want to learn more? Two Crazy Other Heel Hooks Can be learned all about in this awesome free DvD.
-Dan Faggella
