Footlocks – they’re cheeep, my frien’
While this maybe the advice of everyone who’s heard a Brasilian speak on the subject, or any of the old skool Irish BJJ heads – the fact remains that footlocks are viable techniques and there are filty Persians out there who’ll use them.
So why do people think footlocks are so dangerous? Two things, really.
- People tend to make mistakes while escaping them, they try to roll away from them, which is a massive NO NO. If you’re foot is fixed and you rotate your hip the knee is going to take those sheering forces and Pop! Guess who’s not training for a couple of weeks? Heck, it might be a few months before you’re back on the mats. To carry this issue further, when thinking about heel hooks (which work by putting twisting pressure on the knee) you don’t really feel it as you would an armbar. In fact, the pain can build up over twenty four hours and it’s only the next day you can feel the pain. It’s this sensitivity that makes heel hooks an “advanced” technique. Once you’re over your spazzy phase you can feel when you’re caught and tap in good time
- All sports have rituals and conventions that aren’t purely functional. Rowers don’t wear their singlets up during training – only in competition. Thai fighters perform a dance – the wai kru – before each match. In submission wrestling it’s considered bad manners to grab someone’s t-shirt during training. Brasilian Jiu Jitsu has a very strong emphasis on the guard, and passing it is a sign of your prowess. Footlocks, to die hard Brasilian’s, are for those who aren’t able to pass guard. So that’s why they’re cheap.
On to the Technique
- Footlocks occur when you get sloppy with your guard. For that reason, keep your guard active. In this case, I’ve got closed guard on Kev.
- Prison Guard! This is what leads you to getting footlocked. My legs are doing nothing to restrict Kev’s mobility. If you look closely you can see the evil hamster in Kev’s brain thinking of a footlock.
- For the purpose of this technique we’re assuming that I couldn’t grab on to Kev with my arms and pull him back into closed guard. Another way to avoid the footlock, as pointed out by Mark, is to shrimp violently onto the side that’s being footlocked. You’ll be able to get your foot back in front of their body if you do this right. However, we didn’t in this instance, so we’ve to rely on the old school defence.
- If at this point we can scoot our butt towards our partner and grab him we should. But remember keep the leg straight throughout, or else you’re likely to get subbed.
- For Kev to finish, he needs to isolate my hip(you need to control 3 joints to fully manipulate one in a submission) and apply pressure using his hips. Just like when taking someone’s back, the bottom leg is vital. So this is the one we need to stop getting on our hip.
- With my right hand I peel his foot off my hip and sit on his ankle. Keeping my trapped leg straight, I keep scooting until I’m sitting over his knee. Once I’m here, it’s safe to sit up and take top.
- Next time, keep your goddamn guard closed or actively open (feet on the hips or underneath in butterfly guard)
