Break The 50/50 Open With Craig Jones

By Fanatics Authors, September 26, 2019

50/50 is an odd position that has emerged in the evolution of the leglocking game. The two on one leg control makes it incredibility frustrating to try and pass and escape from, and doing so can leave the feet unprotected.

With passing out, the remaining option is to attack with a leg lock, which creates a situation where the competitor with more leg locking knowledge almost always wins. Being stuck in 50/50 without knowing a lower body submission is like trying to fight an assault rifle with a rock.

On paper, the position looks equal for both people. Unlock the saddle or ashi garami, both people have equal access to each others legs. The first step in attacking is taking away the opponent’s ability to get at your own feet. Below leglock master Craig Jones discusses using 50/50 as an offensive position.

Changing the Position

At the start, both players have equal access to the other persons feet. Craig’s first step is o protect his own legs. He frames one hand against the inside of his partners knee, and his other hand against the inside of their toes. He uses this to push their feet apart, loosening the clamp on his own leg.

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Now that he is free to move, he rotate his body and pulls his inside leg back. Craig pulls his knee to floor. This is the same concept of clearing the knee line seen in other leg lock positions like saddle and ashi garami. If there is a line between your partners knees, having your knee be on your side of that line is the most important part of leg lock defense (and preventing this slip is a key detail of offense). The knee is free to move, allowing for easy escapes.

With his opponent’s legs separated and his feet protect, Craig can now on thgoes e offensive. He kicks his right leg (outside leg) across his partners body. This looks dangerous, but his paertner isn’t really in any position to attack this outside leg. In 50/50 all of the control is focused on the inside leg.

Then Craig uses this outside leg to pull himself up so that both of his knees are on the floor and he is facing towards his opponent’s legs. As he does this his left foot comes cross body as well, and he triangles his legs.

Both of Craig’s feet are protected well his opponent’s are isolated. Additionally, all of his body weight is on his partner’s legs, making it hard for his partner move their limbs or try and roll away.

Going on the Attack

An intelligent opponent is going to try and cross his legs to keep at least one foot protected. As before Craig fights this by two on one control of one leg, one had at the heel, and the other at the knee. He pries the feet apart again and places his forehead on the mat between them. His head acts as a barrier, keeping the feet separate well he uses his hands to set up a finish. Without this, it would be a constant battle to keep the foot isolated long enough to attack.

Craig starts to fall back to the side he was originally on, scooping up a grip on the heel as he goes. By the time he lands has control of the heel and is ready to finish with an inside heel hook. Craig leans onto his shoulder, putting body weight on the heel and pushing his hips towards the ceiling. This puts a bend in the knee, providing extra torque for the finish.

For IBJJF tournaments the heel hook is not a legal submission, so for those matches a different finish is needed. Kneebars or ankle locks are good alternative options. The important part is that you are free the 50/50 stalemate, and can either bail out to a different position or go on the leg lock offensive and finish the match here.

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