High Percentage Leglocks – Stephan Kesting

Master the leglocks that work!

Leglocks are proven submission techniques at the highest levels of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, submission grappling and mixed martial arts competition. There are countless examples of smaller, weaker, and less experienced competitors using a leglock to turn the tables and tap out their opponent.

Why then is it that many grapplers have a love-hate relationship with leglocks?

Many grapplers simply haven’t been taught how to properly set up and apply leglocks. Others know how to attack with a leglock, but are lost once their opponent counters the initial attack. Some fear of botching a leglock and ending up in a bad position, getting crushed by their opponent. Other grapplers are worried about injuries because they’ve never been shown how to train leglocks safely. These are all valid concerns, but now there is a solution.

On High Percentage Leglocks Stephan breaks each technique down into the HOW, WHERE, WHEN and WHY, and then builds it back up, putting it into a tactical and strategic context. Leglocks are often taught as a bunch of isolated techniques, without an overall strategy, but that is NOT the approach in High Percentage Leglocks. Stephan then shares the best leglock counters, and then shows you how to counter those counters so you can successfully submit an opponent who is doing everything he can to stop you. You will also learn how to safely train the most dangerous leglocks.

Section 1 –  Introduction and Principles

You can learn how to apply leglocks by trial and error, but that is a long and difficult process. Without proper mechanics and positioning you will often find yourself applying leglocks, straining as hard as you can, but unable to force your opponent to tap out. A strong structure requires a solid foundation, and this section ensures that your your leglocking fundamentals are correct and efficient.

Learn how to position your hands and arms to put a vice-like grip on your opponent’s foot. Discover how to use the power of your whole body to attack one of his joints. Find out what your legs should be doing, and why leg positioning is one of the most important aspects of successful leglocking technique. Learn what the mechanisms are which cause your opponent to submit. Small mistakes here can have big consequences, so make sure that your leglock technique is airtight!

Section 2: Ankle Lock and Heel Hook Entries

In this section High Percentage Leglocks covers entries into the ankle lock and heel hook from many different positions. The techniques include methods to apply leglocks from inside your opponent’s guard, from your own guard, as counters to sweeps, in transitions between positions, as followups from other submission attempts, from sidemount and from full mount. This material moves swiftly and there is no redundancy because the fundamentals have already been well covered in the previous section.

Included in this section are several new drills to the application of leglocks instinctive and to teach you how to maneuver your opponent’s leg into ever more precarious and vulnerable positions.

Section 3: Counters and Recounters

To master leglocks you need to know leglock counters AND recounters (the counters to the counters). This material is critical, both to prevent your opponent from leglocking you, and also to be able to anticipate and defeat any leglock counters your opponent might use to try to shut down your attack.

High Percentage Leglocks includes many recounters: for example, seven different methods are shown to deal with your opponent when he tries to block your leglock by standing up over top of you. Having more than one solution to an opponent’s counter technique is important because the correct solution for your situation depends on many factors: including whether you are responding to your opponent’s counter early or late, what the rules are, what your physical attributes are, and what kind of energy you are getting from your opponent.

Some additional material covered in this section includes one simple step to make your open guard 100% more leglock-proof, how and when to ‘bail out’ of leglock attempts gone bad, using your opponent’s escape attempts to put him in the worst leglock position

possible, and the truth about some leglock ‘counters’ that don’t work very often.

Bonus Section: Toeholds

The bonus section on this DVD deals with the toehold, another of the ‘big four’ leglocks. Toeholds are one of the most versatile leglocks, and can be used to submit your opponent quickly from a great number of angles and positions.

Find out how to apply toeholds properly, what the common mistakes are, and what the best counters are should an opponent try to apply one on you. As with the rest of High Percentage Leglocks, multiple camera angles and extra footage are used to clarify the techniques taught.