That’s not a Heel-hook …

Heelhooks, or more specifically, the position known as Ashi Garami (leg entanglement) have been around for a long time; a very long time. 

Of course, the are all-the-rage right now and because of the rise and rise of the no-gi and submission-only competition landscape, they have seen a wonderful resurgence.

I learned 90% of what I know about Ashi Garami, it’s various manifestations and the relationship they have with various finishes (heel-hooks, foot-locks, toe-holds and leg bars) back in the early to mid 90’s. At that time, the Machado brothers, who I was training with (and still do of course) were trying to actively feed their penchant for competition in North America; but with very few BJJ competitions available, they had to compete in wrestling, Judo and Sambo. 

The Russian art of Sambo, enjoys a rule-set that allows full use of leg, foot and ankle locks, and so my own practise of the Ashi Garami position, came as a benefit of the Machado brothers training for that style of competition.

My own instructor, Professor Rigan Machado, just insisted that I keep passing the guard, before I attempted attacks on the legs, so that I wouldn’t become leg-attack-obsessed to the point where my guard passing would suffer. His thinking was simple - if you don’t pass the guard because you keep falling back for, or back-stepping to leg attacks, then you never get to side control - or mount, or knee ride, or back-control for that matter - in other words, the price for no longer passing the Guard was too high. So he constructed his simple rule - pass first - then hit Ashi Garami. Seemed to work for me. Then later of course, as a Black Belt I was introduced to many more setups, transitions, etc - and depend my understanding of the world of leg/foot attacks.

But that was then, and this is now … as the wheel has turned, and the Ashi Garami position has since a resurgence in popularity, I am keen to stay abreast of the newest developments that have occurred over the past few years. I have done some work to this effect, and am keen do more in 2019! 

Dusting off may old notes on Kani Basami and Ashi Garami … interesting timesHeelhooks, or more specifically, the position known as Ashi Garami (leg entanglement) have been around for a long time; a very long time. 

Of course, the are all-the-rage right now and because of the rise and rise of the no-gi and submission-only competition landscape, they have seen a wonderful resurgence.

I learned 90% of what I know about Ashi Garami, it’s various manifestations and the relationship they have with various finishes (heel-hooks, foot-locks, toe-holds and leg bars) back in the early to mid 90’s. At that time, the Machado brothers, who I was training with (and still do of course) were trying to actively feed their penchant for competition in North America; but with very few BJJ competitions available, they had to compete in wrestling, Judo and Sambo. 

The Russian art of Sambo, enjoys a rule-set that allows full use of leg, foot and ankle locks, and so my own practise of the Ashi Garami position, came as a benefit of the Machado brothers training for that style of competition.

My own instructor, Professor Rigan Machado, just insisted that I keep passing the guard, before I attempted attacks on the legs, so that I wouldn’t become leg-attack-obsessed to the point where my guard passing would suffer. His thinking was simple - if you don’t pass the guard because you keep falling back for, or back-stepping to leg attacks, then you never get to side control - or mount, or knee ride, or back-control for that matter - in other words, the price for no longer passing the Guard was too high. So he constructed his simple rule - pass first - then hit Ashi Garami. Seemed to work for me. Then later of course, as a Black Belt I was introduced to many more setups, transitions, etc - and depend my understanding of the world of leg/foot attacks.

But that was then, and this is now … as the wheel has turned, and the Ashi Garami position has since a resurgence in popularity, I am keen to stay abreast of the newest developments that have occurred over the past few years. I have done some work to this effect, and am keen do more in 2019! 

Dusting off may old notes on Kani Basami and Ashi Garami … interesting times!