To leg lock or not to leg lock, in Jiu-Jitsu that is the question.

Let me start out by asserting that there is no right answer here. I have an opinion on the subject, and I may decide later on that I was completely wrong. I think it’s always important to hold like 3% in your head that says even though I am so certain about this, I may be wrong. That said, I think it’s ok to leg lock anyone anywhere, as long as you are both consenting adults. Now that sounds creepier than I intended, let me explain.

It’s simple, if you grab someone’s leg in a sparring match, and they say don’t leg lock me, then don’t leg lock them, like not at all bro. Don’t touch the legs. But in a no-gi sparring scenario, with someone other than a complete noob, you have to expect they might leg lock, they might heal hook you, therefor you can do it to them. Now let me explain further. Every gym has their own rules. I am not advocating that you go rogue and flagrantly disregard the gym rules. Don’t do that. Respect whatever the gym norm is, because many of the old school Jiu-Jitsu teachers didn’t allow leg locks. It is what it is, don’t do it then, but if you are new to the gym, hopefully someone let’s you know the rule.

To further complicate the rules, let me say that in no-gi sparring match the default is to assume that leg locks are OK, but in a gi sparring match it isn’t necessarily the case. More often that not in traditional Jiu-Jitsu gyms, in a gi sparring session, heal hooks may be prohibited. So it gets pretty muddy here, and it’s hard to call a hard and fast rule. Straight Achilles leg locks and knee bars may be fine, but heal hooks might be a no no. Who the heck knows, ask your sparring partner before the round begins.

Let me try to clarify my rules. 1- Assume that leg locks and more specifically heal hooks are OK until someone says otherwise, and I mean this more in a defensive minded way than offensive. 2- If in doubt ask. 3- If you are new to leg locks, don’t be a jackass and hurt someone, approach the leg lock battles slowly and be OK with losing them over and over. 4- If you are more experienced, and you catch a leg lock, and you can tell that your sparring partner is unaware of what they are facing, don’t destroy their joints, let it go and move on, or make it a teachable moment and show them how to escape.

My gym has always been a wild west style gym, where new practitioners learn and try leg locks right away. Sounds crazy, but why is it any more acceptable for a new grappler to learn a Kimura than a heal hook? They are both capable of total destruction. If someone cant be trusted with a heal hook, why on earth are you trusting them with a Kimura? I firmly believe this, and then I have taught leg locks and watched a class of new white belts trying out their new Achilles leg locks on each other during sparring, and thought to myself, Dear God, what have I wrought? I may be wrong about this.

To sum up our rambling meandering discussion on when and when not you should be heal hooking, let me say this. Expect that everyone will be trying to heal hook you in the most catastrophic way possible, and defend (tap) appropriately. When you are leg locking, do so judiciously and with measured calm. Jiu-Jitsu is no fun by yourself, and if you hurt all your training partners then you have no one to train with. But by all means practice leg locks. A practicing leg locker is a safe leg locker. So quit reading this post and go leg lock someone!