The essential skills of the leg lock system: You might be puzzled by the first two listed essential skills of the leg lock system – grip and inside position is the first, distance and connection is the second. In both cases TWO skills are listed. True – however, in practice those skills are so closely entwined that I usually teach them together and certainly in practice they are usually performed together- so for the sake of brevity I listed them as one skill (yes, brevity- sounds weird coming from me I know ) Here, Nicky Ryan goes through his grip and inside position drills with Garry Tonon just prior to his winning performance at Kasai Grappling 2. Note how inside position with the feet and a preliminary grip have been attained at the same time to lessen reaction time for his opponent and set up his ability to go to the next step. Seen in this light, you will see heel hooking as we do – as a PROCESS rather than a MOVE. There is a chain of skills where the preceding skill must be completed before the next can be attempted. All my students are highly adept at at working methodically through this process even against tremendous pressure. In this way even skilled resistance can be overcome and victory attained
