Taking advantage of Black Friday sales, I got three great DVDs about leglocks: High Percentage Leglocks & Dynamic Kneebars by Stephen Kesting & Sambo Leglocks for No-gi Grappling by Reilly Bodycomb I have a few other leglock instructionals by Roy Harris and one by Pedro Carvalho, and I
The Bodycomb DVD is great, the only problem is his system relies almost entirely on knee reaping, which is the best way to set up straight ankle locks and heel hooks but illegal under all IBJJF rules. But if you're wanting to learn a great, highly positional way of setting up straight ankle locks, toe holds, and some neat entries to leg locks directly from standing, Reilly's set is superb.
The Kesting DVDs are excellent. Reilly Bodycomb's Sambo Leg Locks for No Gi grappling is good to take your leg lock game to the next level once you know the basics. Ryan Hall also has some useful tips on heel hooks from his 50 50 guard DVD. Has anyone watched Scott Sonnon's Mastering The Saddle DVD? Thats the next one I would like to get and it would be great if someone here could give a review
For whatever it's worth, I don't care about IBJJF rules in regards to legal/illegal techniques and positions. I've never trained using them in the past and I don't foresee training with them in the near future. And I agree, his DVD is great. What sets his apart, in my mind, is the focus on positional control & a whole training and drilling system just on that. Plus, the way he does ankle locks is different enough from what I've seen before that I really want to give it a try.
What's so different, besides the leg control, if I may ask? I've only ever learned Reilly's style of ankle locks.
It's hard to describe, but the two methods I learned way back when are to immobilize my partner's foot relative to my torso by holding it in place using the triangle of my ribs, bicep, & forearm. I'd then get them to tap by driving my radial bone into their achilles tendon or by arching my back, which would hyper-extend the ankle. Often, it was a bit of both. Sorry for the unclear explanation; I'll try to find a video that better explains it.
The leg control is everything. The way all of the leg submissions he teaches work are defined entirely by his continuum of control positions.
So, it's taught as a pain technique instead of used to rip the ankle out of socket? No wonder some people just won't tap to them. Silly, silly people. Yes... you don't know just how right you are... it makes you feel helpless but at the same time like you have a way out.
Yeah Reilly's method teaches how to break the foot in an ankle lock. Similar to one of the previous posters I don't care too much about the IBJJF rules when it comes to learning leg locks. I don't think that reaping the leg is that bad in no Gi although I obviously don't heel hook people in class.
Bodycombs dvd set is cheap and an excellent deal. After studying his dvd's my finishing percentage went way up, especially on "bigger, stronger opponents." (even equal rank or +1) I can't recommend his stuff enough and people at my gym were asking me where I learned all that stuff, and I always point back to Reily. The dvd's aren't great quality, its just him doing a seminar, but the information is excellent and I would recommend it to anybody. ALSO I have to plug Hall's 50/50 dvd set. Its still an evolving guard and a slight bit of it is outdated but 99% is excellent material. As most know, Hall explains stuff so well you can watch it many times and continually get knowledge out of it. The only thing about Hall's is that, it is JUST about the 50/50 position (obviously). I cant recommend both dvd's enough. (in case anyone asks, I am a purple belt, just shy of 4 years exp...and I <3 leglocks).
Don't get the Sonnon one. Kesting is a good primer for Paulson, as Paulson is a mentor of Kesting. Sent by tablet
Thanks for the reply - why would you not get the Sonnon DVD? As far as I can tell from the brief clips I have seen on Youtube, the saddle position is more comprehensive as a form of control than any of the aforementioned material.
Sambo Steve could give more detail, but as far as I remember The Saddle isn't actually the name of any position that comes up in Sambo. There seems to be a level of bullshittery about Sonnon pushing it as such, but Sambo Steve can correct me if I'm wrong. Like I said, I'd ask Steve for more info.
Has anyone seen both of Reilly's DVDs, Sambo Leglocks and Dynamic Entries? If so, is there a lot of overlap in terms of the leg lock material?
I have both and absolutely recommend his sambo leglocks, not so much dynamic entries. The sambo leglock dvd is a flow series and some information on those transitions. These are pretty much all ground fighting. The dynamic entries is fancier entries to submissions, a lot of them are standing entries. They aren't very similar.
The saddle stuff isn't as easy to enter into, and i agree that Scott's view on what's in sambo is a little odd, but the positions he shows are incredibly stable in my experience, particular the "side saddle" position transition from 50/50. It doesn't integrate as tightly with the x/one-leg x in my opinion, but it's a solid control and the finishes work. I haven't watched the sets in a while, esp not since I've gotten an actual ASA coach, but I do plan to revisit the material once the mechanics of my leg locks are better.
