Ankle lock deep dive

[Chandler sama]

I wrote an article going over the ankle lock, including finishing mechanics as well as example from high level competitions. It is one of my favorite submissions and hopefully more people will start to fall in love with it like I have.

https://thegrapplingconjecture.blogspot.com/2022/05/locked-in-ankle-lock.html

 

[yetanother]

The finishing mechanics Mikey where he twists the foot are really different from just hyperextending it as show on the first clip.

 

[Chandler sama]

The finishing mechanics Mikey where he twists the foot are really different from just hyperextending it as show on the first clip.

Mikey actually shows about 4 different ways to finish in his DVD as well as a bunch of different ways to apply pressure. Of course there are quite a few ways that I feel are efficient, there are also multiple ways that I feel work and don't take much energy.

 

[RemyR]

May be pointing out the obvious, but Mikey’s style of ankle lock looks pretty gi-specific. I feel like the way he positions his legs is risky if the opponent could heel hook you.

 

[yetanother]

Mikey actually shows about 4 different ways to finish in his DVD as well as a bunch of different ways to apply pressure. Of course there are quite a few ways that I feel are efficient, there are also multiple ways that I feel work and don't take much energy.

I saw his DVDs. But the main point of his approach is to twist the foot .

 

[rmongler]

The ligaments on the sides of the ankle are a lot weaker than the ones on the front and back.

 

[Chandler sama]

May be pointing out the obvious, but Mikey’s style of ankle lock looks pretty gi-specific. I feel like the way he positions his legs is risky if the opponent could heel hook you.

It seems that way, but it actually isn't as long as you know the counter. From the butterfly ashi your foot should be low and pointed to opposite way from the inside heelhook, making the dig very very difficult. Also your other foot should be inside ready to be used as a frame which will allow you ro free your knee at any time. From there you can use crabride variations to pass or take the back. Mikey did this to Imanari when Imanari tried to heelhook him from this position.

Of course if you freak out, remove your frames and spin the wrong way, then you can get heelhooked. It shouldn't be a problem though unless you don't have any experience with heelhooks or you aren't paying attention.