Foot Lock Mastery by Luiz Panza
Posted by Corey Kuropas on
Everyone who follows the top BJJ tournaments in the sport knows about Luiz Panza. When it comes to gi competition, he is one of the top dogs and is by far the best at foot locks in the gi. In competition, Luiz has over 20 wins by foot lock, including straight foot locks and kneebars. These techniques has allowed for Panza to take home many victories and championships against the best in the sport. If you are a BJJ competitor looking to improve your leg lock game in the gi, look no further than Luiz Panza. Here are two of his best leg techniques.
Foot Lock With An RNC Grip
The grip used for this straight foot lock is possibly the strongest of all ways to finish the technique. Panza uses this usually from the 50/50 guard, but you can also attain it from ashi garami or with your feet on the opponent’s hips. You can set up this up by transferring the opponents leg from the same side, to your opposite side, though you can finish it on the same side with the killer grip used for this. When you are able to lock up the rear naked choke style grip, you must slide the blade of your wrist/forearm in to take away the slack and extend to finish with the tap. This style of foot lock is very hard to stop once locked in.
Belly Down Foot Lock
Luiz Panza has a variety of ways to attack the legs of his opponents. This next technique is what he used to finish Claudio Calasans at Copa Podio back in 2014. To start, you must have your opponents ankle and foot secure with a tight one armed grip, with your feet on his hips to prevent him from sitting up and forward to defend the foot lock. Once you have the secure lock, you can start to go belly down. Touch the shoulder of the arm that has the foot secured down first, creating a crushing feeling. Then you must posture up and use your free arm to post and extend up. The great factor about this technique is that you can go belly down yourself, or you can use it as a defense if someone tries to roll out of the foot lock. It is a strong finisher.
Luiz Panza is such an interesting study when it comes to foot locks in the gi. Not many people in high level Jiu Jitsu seem to go for leg locks, so to see Panza’s aggressive finishing ability with them is beautiful in the way of technique. If you are a gi competitor who is looking to get better at this part of the game, then perhaps take a look at his DVD titled Hidden BJJ Secrets. It is a four DVD set with an entire DVD dedicated to Panza’s foot locks. It is worth every penny.
Click here to see Hidden BJJ Secrets for $77!
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