Competition-Legal Leglocks by Luiza Monteiro

Often times when we think about leg locks the first thing that likely comes to mind is Gordan Ryan in competition hunting for the heels and heel hooking everyone from seemingly every position imaginable.  What you may or may not realize though is there is more to leg locks than just attacking the heels or straight ankle locks. There are kneebars, toe holds, and calf slicers. Understand your leglock game with the help of  Leglocks Unlocked by Tum Energia or The Leg Lock Arsenal by Gokor Ambaryan.

Calf slicers can be a frustrating submission that simply just hurts.  There is a risk of the opponent powering through the pain, which may be why it’s not a super common submission at the highest levels, but either way, it is a worthwhile submission to know and understand well, if for no other reason than you know what not to give to your opponent so it doesn’t happen to you. 

Do you remember the first time you tapped to a calf slicer?  I’ll go out on a limb here and say I bet you do. My guess is it was unlike anything you ever felt, because it is.  It’s such a weird feeling. Something about feeling your calf muscle being smashed like that just down right hurts most people.  While there are a number of ways to get there, we are going to look at the Calf Slice from Single X Guard BJJ Technique by Luiza Monterio.

 

To start out Luiza gets into her de la riva guard controlling the pants, ensuring not to use a 4 fingers inside the Gi pant grip as that is not legal in some tournaments, and also controlling the same side lapel at about the chin with a 4 finger in grip which is legal on the lapel.  Next Luiza lifts the opponent using her hook while simultaneously using her grip on the Gi pants to lift their leg over her leg and placing it next to her rib cage. 

Update your LEGAL Leg Locks! Click Learn More!

LEARN MORE

In order to get her under hook under the opponent’s leg she once again uses her hook along with her grip on the sleeve to steer the opponent off to the side taking the weight off of the leg she is trying to under hook. She now steps on the far leg with what was her butterfly hook and uses that to push off and switch the position of her legs bringing what was the butterfly hook, her right leg, over the opponent’s leg and below the knee and moving the other leg to the back of the leg she is attacking.  

At this point she hides her foot that is in front of the opponent’s leg under her other leg which gets it out of the way for her to now sit up using her hands to build up her posture.  As she comes up she looks to grab the belt. Once she has control of the belt, she plants her left foot and starts walking backward flattening the opponent out. 

She is now in position to finish the calf slicer submission.  In order to do this, she is simply laying on the opponent’s back and hugging them.  Much like a choke submission the tighter you squeeze the tighter the submission.  

I like the detail yet simplistic approach to this calf slicer submission.  I feel as though anyone could add this to their game regardless of their athleticism, flexibility or any other factor.  If you are looking to add more IBJJF legal leg locks to your game, why not learn them from Luiza who is known for her devastating lower body attacks an is going to provide you with more kneebar, toe hold and calf slicer options than you could have ever dreamed of.

Luiza’s 4 part video instructional titled “IBJJF Legal Leglocks” is packed full of lower body submissions that are sure to give you the upper hand on the mats whether it be against your friends at your academy or your opponent’s at competition.  Check it out today and take your lower body submissions to the next level!

BUY NOW