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I just exited another thread started by @AZ103 posing the question of why leg locks are so effective in high level competition nowadays. There was a lot of good material in the thread. It got me thinking of the history of leg locks in grappling and MMA. What are the milestones? Who are the game-changers? And in what order?
This is not really my area of expertise but as far as I can tell, this is how it went.
I think its obvious and consensus that the greater submission scene in Bjj/Sub grappling/Vale Tudo/NHB/MMA started with the Gracies. I know there were other players and disciplines but they were the 1st to take it to the world stage. As far as I know leg locks were not a big part of their repertoire.
Then comes either the Japanese catch/shooto/combat wrestling practitioners that come mostly from the Billy Robinson/Karl Gotch CACC lineage (Paulson, Shamrock, Sakuraba, Sato, etc), OR, the Russian sambo guys from the early days of MMA/NHB (Taktarov, , Gokor, Chalangov, Semenov, etc). Obviously these guys had leg locks for days.
When I think of who came next I draw a blank up unti the mid/upper mid 2000s when I started seeing guys like Joe Stevenson, Kurt Pellegrino, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Hector Lombard and others pulling off leg locks in the UFC and other high level MMA orgs. I didn't keep up with the grappling scene as much at that time. But the guy that took things a step further was Rousimar Palhares. Obviously he terrified people.
Then came the Alan Belcher fight. Belcher really prepared himself for Palhares and it bviously paid off. As far as I know, he sought out some Hayastan (Gokor) guys, Dean Lister, and if my memory serves, another submission guy from his native Louisiana to really up his game. In my opinion this is where leg locks really took off (2012). Alan let people know that you could really make huge strides in this relatively untapped sect of grappling if you put in the time and sought out multiple schools of thought.
Obviously I know in the following years leading up to today guys like Eddie Bravo and especially John Danaher got into the fray in a major way. But id like if you submission guys could fill in the gaps, tell me were I may be wrong, and expand on the story. Sorry so long but I think you guys will enjoy the read and following discussion.
This is not really my area of expertise but as far as I can tell, this is how it went.
I think its obvious and consensus that the greater submission scene in Bjj/Sub grappling/Vale Tudo/NHB/MMA started with the Gracies. I know there were other players and disciplines but they were the 1st to take it to the world stage. As far as I know leg locks were not a big part of their repertoire.
Then comes either the Japanese catch/shooto/combat wrestling practitioners that come mostly from the Billy Robinson/Karl Gotch CACC lineage (Paulson, Shamrock, Sakuraba, Sato, etc), OR, the Russian sambo guys from the early days of MMA/NHB (Taktarov, , Gokor, Chalangov, Semenov, etc). Obviously these guys had leg locks for days.
When I think of who came next I draw a blank up unti the mid/upper mid 2000s when I started seeing guys like Joe Stevenson, Kurt Pellegrino, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Hector Lombard and others pulling off leg locks in the UFC and other high level MMA orgs. I didn't keep up with the grappling scene as much at that time. But the guy that took things a step further was Rousimar Palhares. Obviously he terrified people.
Then came the Alan Belcher fight. Belcher really prepared himself for Palhares and it bviously paid off. As far as I know, he sought out some Hayastan (Gokor) guys, Dean Lister, and if my memory serves, another submission guy from his native Louisiana to really up his game. In my opinion this is where leg locks really took off (2012). Alan let people know that you could really make huge strides in this relatively untapped sect of grappling if you put in the time and sought out multiple schools of thought.
Obviously I know in the following years leading up to today guys like Eddie Bravo and especially John Danaher got into the fray in a major way. But id like if you submission guys could fill in the gaps, tell me were I may be wrong, and expand on the story. Sorry so long but I think you guys will enjoy the read and following discussion.