Master the Knee Bar Escape

By Joyel Ennis, March 09, 2017

Defending leg locks can be tricky. For every leg lock there is a certain way to prevent, defend and then escape them. Most people train simply to go for the leg attack, rather than to defend it. That kind of mind set will set you up for failure. Whenever you learn an offensive technique, you also have to learn a defense from that same technique. That way, not only will you be safe, but you will have complete knowledge of said technique. So let’s get into some key points on how to defend the knee bar.

First…prevention

Many times, when someone is going for the knee bar it will be from the top position. Knee bars certainly happen from the bottom, but I feel that you will see them more from the top. People like to go for it from half guard top, knee on belly and even side control. You can prevent them from just jumping into them by maintaining upper body control. Control your opponent’s head, neck, arm or shoulder. That way, he won’t be able to create the space that he needs to get into the submission.

Triangle your legs

Perhaps you were too slow to control his upper body and he spins into the knee bar. What you need to do immediately is to triangle your own legs. When you triangle the leg that your opponent is attacking, then he won’t be able to pull leg back and get the extension needed to finish it. While you are nowhere near being out of danger, it is a much safer thing to do then to just give him your straightened leg.

Get on top

After you triangle your legs, you still need to move. What you need to do is to get both of your knees to the mat. By doing that, you are putting all of your body weight onto your legs which will make it extremely difficult for your opponent to pull your leg straight. Also, by getting into that top position, you are also crossing his legs up in an odd way, where he won’t be able to submit you.

Crossface and sprawl

Now that you’re on top, and your opponent’s legs are all crossed up, you can successfully escape the sub completely. You need take your arm that is nearest to his head and crossface him. Be brutal about it. Really apply pressure into his jaw and face. That way you can cross up his spine as well, which will put him out of any effective alignment. And finally, just sprawl your hips flat to make his legs let go and move right into side control.

This escape will save you at least one time in your life on the mats. We all know that one guy who is exceptional at leg attacks, who searches for that knee bar. Being able to prevent, defend and escape is essential for leg locks. If you need to brush up on your escapes, then check out…

Bernardo Faria’s Escapes From Everywhere DVD set. Click here!

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