10 Core Principles

Question 1

1. Double Trouble Principle

Answer 1

Whenever I go to attack one of my opponent’s legs, the overwhelming majority of the resistances comes from the second leg, and so if I can tie up both of my opponent’s legs, I’Il have a much easier job controlling my opponent.

Question 2

2. Dilemma Principle

Answer 2

Always prioritize Dilemmas over Problems when possible. Every time he breaks out of a certain move he should go into another threatening move. I can build dilemma, trilemmas, quadlemmas, the more the better. But at a minimum, I should always seek a Dilemma

Question 3

3. Percentage Principle

Answer 3

There are a huge number of leg locks out there but, 90% of our success comes from two leg locks, the inside Heel-Hook and the outside Heel-Hook. These 2 are much higher percentage than any other leg lock.

Question 4

4. Central Problem Principle

Answer 4

It’s my belief that for any situation in the sport of Jiu-Jitsu, there is always one central problem, sometimes more than one, but at least one central problem that motivates the actions of both athletes. It gives direction to the scenario in which they find themselves. Understanding what the central problem is, is the beginning of how to build a system to create solutions to their problem.

1. Straight Ashi Garami - Shared Spiral Problem
2. Cross Ashi Garami - Turnout Problem
3. Reverse Ashi Garami - Cross Leg Problem

Question 5

5. Separation Principle

Answer 5

I make a strong separation between the mechanism of controlling my opponent and the mechanism of breaking my opponent. Very few people do this. Most people just teach a Heel-Hook, per se, rather than the mechanism of control, the Ashi-Garami, versus the mechanism of breaking, the Heel-Hook itself. You must learn to divorce the two to maximize your effectiveness.

Question 6

6. Hierarchy Principle

Answer 6

Just as, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a whole, is divided up into hierarchies. There are various pins, some of which are valued more highly than others. So too, the various leg locks and the various Ashi-Garamis are also arranged in hierarchies. Understanding which are the more valuable, the more desired locks and control positions is very very important for your development in vour leg locking game.

Question 7

7. Opposing Forces Principle

Answer 7

This is the idea, that whenever we go to control and break our opponent, we always want to create situations with a direction of my break and the direction of my Ashi-Garami go in opposing directions. In addition, when I go to physically break someone, the forces that I apply on the joint should also be in opposing directions in order to maximize in your breaking potential.

Question 8

8. Holistic Principle

Answer 8

Most people just teach Heel-Hooks or any other leg lock as an isolated move. We’ve seen that the best way to understand leg locking is to look at it as a sequence of events that begins long before the Heel-Hook itself was enacted. It begins with things like grip and inside position. And only when a long chain of events have been put into operation do you finely get through to the move that breaks your opponent. Only when you understand the whole process of Heel-Hooking do you have success.

Question 9

9. Multiple Ashi Principle

Answer 9

This is the idea that for almost all of our most successful and high percentage attacks we will employ more than one Ashi-Garami to enact one lock. Most people simply apply an Ashi-Garami, one Ashi-Garami per lock, where as we will use multiple Ashi-Garamis to cover different tasks. We see Heel-Hooking as a multi-task activity. There are many separate tasks that need to be performed in order to apply one Heel-Hook. The best way to operate is to have designated Ashi-Garami per task. So you can custom fit your control mechanism to what your trying to achieve at every step of the journey of Heel-Hooking.

Question 10

10. Closed over Open Wedges Principle

Answer 10

You’ll notice that my favorite breaking positions all involve closed or reinforced wedges, where one of my legs reinforces the position of the other. This creates a much stronger, tighter control over my opponents movement than if I have open legs around my opponents legs. The two most favored breaking positions, Inside-Sankaku and Outside-Ashi-Garami, both feature closed wedges.