Steal Souls With Henry Akins And The Scarf Hold

 

Henry Akins is one of the most sought after BJJ instructors in the world. A black belt under the great Rickson Gracie, Akins has a knack for instructing us on the more unseen themes of BJJ, helping practitioners worldwide to delve deeper into their BJJ practice. When it comes to BJJ, there is a whole underworld of technical mastery and mechanical genius that is relatively unseen. Akins has served as a guide to navigating this realm for many people and he continues to innovate and share his teachings with the masses. 

In collaboration with BJJ Fanatics, Akins has filmed and released some instructional content that's truly the first of its kind. With this new library of content we get a first hand viewing at Akins’ incredible ability to teach and convey the gentle art. In The Scarf Hold:The Soul Stealer, Akins is providing us a look at what may be one of the most misunderstood positions in BJJ. Though we’ve seen the scarf hold used successfully at the highest levels, not only as a control tactic, but also to submit, the position is often touted as “risky” or dismissed as a simple head lock. The scarf hold is such a huge part of every other grappling skillset, yet in BJJ it is underutilized. Akins is going to change the way you view this position by demonstrating its power and unprecedented control with incredible technique and genius instruction that will help you recruit this classic positional titan into your own BJJ tool box. 

“You’ll get your back taken”, “You can’t control effectively”, “You can't submit anyone from there”. These are just a few of the misconceptions we hear when we talk about the scarf hold and these things are only true if you haven't had a proper technical and intelligent introduction to the position. There is an entire world of effective techniques and control tactics from the scarf hold and Akins will prove this over and over again in 4 illuminating volumes of instruction. Let's take a look at a sample from the series.In this clip, Akins addresses a very common reaction to the scarf hold. You may recognize this as a traditional self defense style escape from  headlock but this reaction is a mistake and Akins shows us how to make the opposing party pay for it! Check this out!

 

Akins begins with demonstrating the traditional head lock escape, which is variable IF the top player is only controlling the head. By hooking the leg and using his free leg to drive his body, you can see how easy it is for Akins’ partner to transition to the top and become offencisve.THis is absolutely common in street fight scenarios and this particular defense has been taught and practiced for years in BJJ. But, if the arm is collected in addition to the head, this is not the answer. There sno way the bottom player can transition to the top when the scarf hold is applied properly.

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Next, Akins demonstrates how effective the position is once the arm is collected. He even offers his leg to his partner, with the confidence that the escape is simply not possible. In fact the attempt will land his partner in even more danger. Once Akins allows his partner to set his hook, he then hooks over his partner's foot and crosses his feet, holds his own thigh, and pinches his knees together, setting the stage for a brutal submission. Now, lifting up on the elbow and stretching his legs, Akins can apply what seems to be an unbelievable amount of pressure to his partners body, commanding the tap. Moral of the story here's to NEVER defend this way if you're ever caught in the scarf hold but if you find the opposing party looking to use this defense, they will now pay a hefty price!

How about a sneaky wrist lock from the scarf hold? If you're a wrist locker, this is a great place to launch your attacks. With the arm so incredibly isolated there is danger everywhere here. Akins takes it a step further in this segment, with a tactic to manipulate the wrist. You will undoubtedly run into a wrist you can't bend at some point and in this video Akins offers us some advice on how to get that wrist into position when your training partner or opponent is being a little difficult. Take a look at this!

 

As Akins attempts to bend the wrist, he meets resistance from his partner in the form of a tight fist. Using his leg as a wedge, Akins brings his knee up and positions it at the bend in his partners wrist, making it a much easier task to manipulate it. He then brings the hand back toward his partner and completes the lock. This is a really sneaky and efficient way to combat the wristlock defense and again, there's so little the bottom player can do here to defend with the arm so vulnerable and the control so constricting. 

To say that this is just the tip of the iceberg would be a massive understatement. Akins has compiled some of the most important content ever assembled on this widely underutilized position. Through world class instruction, Akins will help you add a dynamic and dangerous layer to your side control that will occupy the nightmares of your training partners and opponents! Available now!

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