The Notorious Leglock Game of Dean Lister

By Emil Fischer, July 10, 2016

If you’ve watched high level no gi competitions that allow all leg locks over the past few years, you know that leglocks are all the rage right now. Leglocks have taken hold of the competitive grappling circuit becoming an extremely trendy over the past couple of years.

What make leglocks so effective and why are they so popular? One running theory is that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu’s long time neglect of lower body attacks and IBJJF tournaments generally limiting of the use of them has left a pretty major hole in the education of many jiujiteiros. If we learn leg locks from day one similar to how we learn chokes and arm attacks, their mystique becomes far less predominant and the chance of being seriously injured with one goes down.

Before Garry Tonon and Gordon Ryan and before the Danaher Death Squad, one American grappler was doing some pretty amazing stuff with leglocks. Dean “The Boogeyman” Lister, a long time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Fabio Santos, has amassed an impressive list of victories by leglock.

This guy has subbed many of the best grapplers in the world including Rodolfo Vieira, Joao Assis and Saulo Ribeiro with lower body attacks. If anyone knows their stuff, Dean Lister is the man to look to for knowledge on attacking the lower body with great effect and success.

Check out this video of Dean Lister explaining in great detail a calf slicer that he hits from half guard!