Dean Lister’s Sneaky Leg Attack

By Corey Kuropas, February 10, 2017

The leg lock aspect of grappling has always been an interesting one. Depending on the style of grappling that you study, the leg attacks will be with a different approach. While the feet and the legs can only be manipulated in so many ways, the ideas and concepts behind them will be different. We see the Danaher Death Squad members using their BJJ style leg attacks in a scientific manner. Then there is Sambo, where they do a lot of jumping into leg attacks, in a surprising manner. And there is Catch Wrestling which uses leg locks in a rough/tough cranking manner. No matter how you learn them, you can benefit from learning from any style. Here, BJJ legend Dean Lister shows a very Catch orientated lock. Check it out…

Dean starts out with having side control on his opponent. He switches his close side arm (his left) to the other side of his opponent’s head, keeping his elbow close to the guy’s face. He does this, because his opponent is doing some specific with his legs. He is putting his right leg up, with his foot near his own knee to prevent Dean from going to mount. Logical, but by doing that, he leaves himself open to an attack. Dean then uses his free arm to grab his opponent’s foot right up by the toes. He does this, so the guy will not be able to easily kick his leg free. Once Dean has control, he does a reverse sit out, almost identical to twister side control. An important note is that when he does sit out, his bottom side shin comes in and blocks his opponent’s hip/quad/thigh. Dean then takes his other hand and also uses it to grab up by the toes. He will then sit back and crank the foot/leg towards him causing his opponent to tap.

The really neat thing about this attack is the counters to defending it. Depending on how your opponent reacts, you can either transfer into a standard knee bar, or you can simply go to the full mount. Either way, you are being proactive and looking to dominate.

Dean has always been at the forefront of the leg lock game. His own style of attacking the legs has changed and improved over the years. If he can destroy your legs, then he will. He has also released quite a few awesome instructional videos on how to become devastating at leg attacks. If you’re looking to delve into the leg lock game, then you should check out…

The K.A.T.C.H Leg Attack System by Dean Lister. Click here!