Exposing The Heel Using the Tilting Method With John Danaher

Trying to learn leg locks without proper guidance or instruction can be an extremely overwhelming task.  It's important to seek out the best possible coaching and instruction.  There are a number of well known leg locking BJJ competitors out there. 

There are the OGs like Dean Lister who have influenced today's current crop of leg lockers, like Craig Jones and more.  But if you're going to get the best instruction available, why not going to the top of the list of most sought after coaches out there?  There are very few instructors who have the resume for coaching and developing grapplers like John Danaher.  Why not let BJJ Fanatics and Professor John Danaher the leader of the aptly named Danaher Death Squad be the ones that help get you comfortable with the leg lock game.

With the help of John Danaher, you too can become a leg lock ace.  Danaher's systematic approach to teaching and the techniques he teaches will give you not only the HOW of a technique, but the WHY behind each integral piece of that technique.  In the over 10 hours of instruction offered in Leglocks:  Enter the System, he covers his entire lower body submission philosophy from start to finish.

Let's look at an example of how John Danaher attacks a particular aspect of his leg lock system, namely the problem of an opponent who is doing everything they can to hide or protect their heel from being exposed and put into the position of potentially being caught in a heel hook.

Check out the excerpt from the newly recorded Leg Locks: Enter the System below and then we will systematically break down the key points John Danaher outlines.  Remember, if you purchase the system now, you will get access to both versions when the new version becomes available.  You will have more Danaher at your fingertips than you could ever imagine.  The early reviews of the new version say that not only is the sound amazing and crystal clear, but that the instruction has gotten even better, with a leaner more fast paced approach, that better explains the concepts.

 The Problem

One of the first things you will quickly realize that separates John Danaher from other BJJ black belts, coaches and instructors is his systematic and methodical approach to his instruction.  He does not simply present a haphazard techniques, but instead presents a series of "problems" followed by detailed and effective solutions to those problems.

In this particular video, the problem occurs when you've secured a Cross Ashi Garami position and are looking to attack the heel on the leg that is being controlled in the ashi garami.  The opponent, if they are aware of your intentions, will commonly turn their foot down which serves to hide the heel from being scooped up for the heel hook.  In this position, it is almost impossible to dig and expose the heel for attack.  But John Danaher has a solution.

The Solution:  Tilting

For Danaher, we must maintain the maximum level of control on the limbs of our defending opponent, while finding a quick, efficient way to expose that heel to allow us to proceed into the breaking phase once control has been secured.

Step One of the Tilt--Opening the Knee

The first thing Danaher will do is use his top hand to go wrist deep into the crook of the knee of the opponent to be able to help control the knee line and support the lift necessary for the tilt.  This tension helps keep them from being able to keep turning the foot down,  hiding the heel.

Step Two of the Tilt--Elbow block on foot

 The next step in the process of tilting is to drive the elbow against the foot that is being turned down.  This helps keep tabs on the positioning of the foot and makes the end game much easier to secure because you've already got your arm positioning in the proper place to snatch their heel once exposed.

Step Three of the Tilt--Hook far leg with foot

The next step in the tilting process is to hook their free leg that is not being attacked under the knee.  This will serve to work like a butterfly hook when it comes time to bring their body to the side you need to expose the heel.

Step Four of the Tilt--Create drive leg

 To make the tilting almost effortless, the leg that is not being used to hook their far leg will be used as a driving leg to start the tilting process.  By bringing that foot tight to their hip, it will allow you to create a great deal of drive and leverage to begin to tilt them back and away from where they would prefer to go, in the opposite direction.

Step Five of the Tilt--Bring hips underneath their hips

Before the drive takes place, it is important to bring your hips tight to theirs, essentially to help scoop underneath of them making the tilt easy once the driving leg from step four starts the process.

Step Six of the Tilt--Lift, tilt, expose

Now that all of the control points have been secured, the driving leg can push, the hooking foot can pull and the wrist under the knee will open up the knee.  This will cause the opponent to be taken backwards.  The heel that they've been protecting by turning their foot will be controlled by your elbow against the foot allowing you to easily lock it down for the heel hook finish.

Step Seven--Lock figure four and happy breaking

 Once the heel has been secured and you lock your own figure four protecting your own feet from attack, it's time to settle in to this powerful breaking position and finish the submission.  Cheers to your victory!

Keep in mind that this step by step breakdown was just for one specific action of your opponent.  Imagine the depth of instruction you will get in over 10 hours of this kind of detail.  With practice and dedication, you too will save yourself years of trial and error trying to pick things up and piece together your own leg submission game plan.  John Danaher has written the book on leg locks and you can get it here at BJJ Fanatics.

Now is the perfect time to get yourself a copy of Leglocks:  Enter the System.  The first version has admittedly had some audio issues, which have led to John and BJJ Fanatics to re-record the entire project in a forthcoming version that will prove to be better than the original in both audio quality and overall instructional level.  If you purchase today, you will receive access to both versions.  That will be nearly 20 hours of instruction from THE MOST sought after leg lock expert in the game today.  Get yours now!

BUY NOW