Using the Fear of the Leg Lock to Pass the Guard with Craig Jones

Posted by Fanatics Authors on February 15, 2019

Sneakily Attack The Legs, But Pass Instead!

Craig Jones has earned himself loads of respect in the grappling community with his dangerous leg lock game. But as is the case with all elite grapplers, they may have a particular skill set that there known for, but none of them are one trick ponies. Chances are if the leg lock game is particularly lethal, so is the rest of their game.

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While Craig has been incredibly creative with his leg locks, he’s also found innovative ways to pass the guard using the threat of the leg lock. In this video he gives us an example. Check it out!

Craig begins by showing us a very slick leg lock he was able to implement against his opponent in a semifinal match at EBI 14. He then begins with his partners leg over hooked in the style of a straight ankle lock, and his body configured in a similar position to a knee cut pass. At this point Jones could attack the leg behind him, but his partner is doing a good job of keeping his knee clear. This gives Jones access to an under hook on his partners leg. He then switches his straight ankle lock grip to putting pressure downward on his partners knee. As he spreads his partner out by leaning into the under hooked leg, Jones also hooks his right foot on the under side of his opponent’s thigh creating even more stress on his partners guard.

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Jones then begins to cut his knee through his partners guard and starts to hunt for the cross face. He steps over with his left leg, points his right knee to the floor and uses it to scrape his partners leg away, completing the pass.

Using leg locks as a means to pass the guard is a great concept. Leg locks command reactions, and we can take advantage of those opportunities and use them in different ways to advance!