Some leglocks are simple, straight-ahead, super-effective submissions that should be in every grappler’s arsenal.
Other leglock attacks, by contrast, are super-complicated multi-step techniques. And once you actually manoeuvre everybody into place you’re left with something that resembles an octopus orgy: arms, legs, and other body parts tangled together in a giant Gordian knot.
The more complicated lower-body submissions may look impressive, but most of the time they’re actually less effective and less practical than the bread-and-butter leglocks.
Plus they’re so hard to apply that to get into the right position you usually need a narcoleptic opponent who’s 50 lbs lighter than you.
But fancy isn’t always bad…
Here’s a fun little video I shot recently that shares three relatively complicated leglocks that I’ve actually had success with. I learned these in Sambo, Shootwrestling, and Erik Paulson’s Combat Submission Wrestling.
Hopefully one or two of the techniques in the video below will work for you.
I guarantee that these lower body attacks be a complete surprise for 99% of training partners and that’s a good thing – it means that they won’t see them coming and won’t have any idea how to defend them.
It’s always a good idea to be zigging when everyone else is zagging!