Dean Lister's Rolling Toe Hold From Open Guard

Posted by Fanatics Authors on December 12, 2018

Dean Lister Teaches Rolling Toe Hold in Open Guard

Every experienced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor knows how dangerous open guard can be. If you try to pass a high level open guard player you quickly learn that it can be quite difficult to do. Of course, it is important to learn how to pass open guard, and there are many techniques that improve your chance of doing so successfully. In this video from Dean Lister we will take a look at one of those techniques: foot locks. Foot locks are a great way to catch an open guard player… off guard. They have been proven to be effective at the highest levels of competition by some of the greatest BJJ practitioners in the world. Let us take a look at how you can effectively use toe holds when in open guard.

Dean Lister is obviously the master of the foot lock and toe hold. He hits them from everywhere. One of his favorite sayings is "why would you ignore 50% of the body?"

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Check out the video below and then we will break down the technique.

Dean Lister starts out the demonstration by explaining that this is a standard toe hold dive from open guard. The first thing Lister tells you to do is control the far leg by hooking it as you roll. As he rolls notice how his back leg hooks anywhere on the opponent’s leg. Notice how at this time Lister uses his thumb and four fingers to connect with his opponent’s toes. He emphasizes connecting his pinky to his training partner’s little toe. If you grab too high on the foot you will not be able to get the submission. It is the roll that makes this technique very fast and very tricky to deal with. You see that when Lister completes the roll he is already in the perfect position to go for the toe hold. It is a surprise attack that can strike fear in to the heart of any opponent.