Leg locks changed BJJ. Competitors like Craig Jones and Gordon Ryan proved that attacking the lower body is just as effective as traditional upper-body submissions. The problem: most BJJ schools still don't teach them well, which means most grapplers don't see them coming. As one of our leg lock instructors puts it: "Now there's a lot of ways to get to the single leg. There's about a million and a half if you think about it."
These 5 leg lock entries come from the FightScience Advanced Unorthodox Leglocks course with Josh Hill and Robert Soliz. These aren't basic straight ankle locks. These are modern entries that catch experienced grapplers because they come from unexpected positions.
Leg Lock Safety
Heel hooks attack the knee ligaments, which provide almost no warning before they tear. Train with control. Tap early. Communicate with your partners. Learning leg locks comes with the responsibility of applying them carefully. Speed of application has to match your partner's experience level.
1. Straight Ankle Lock from Cross Single Leg
Most ankle locks come from a standard ashi garami (leg entanglement) position. This entry catches the ankle lock during a scramble, specifically when you're defending a single leg takedown. (If you need a refresher on basic BJJ submissions, start there first.)
When your opponent shoots a single leg and you sprawl, their leg is right there between yours. Instead of just defending, you attack. Wrap the ankle, fall to the outside, pinch your knees together, and arch. You've turned a defensive situation into a submission in one transition. Training partners rarely expect a leg attack from a takedown defense.
2. The Rolling Calf Lock
The rolling calf lock (calf slicer) is a mobile attack that works during guard passing exchanges. When your opponent is recovering guard and you're midway through a pass, this submission catches the exposed leg.
As they frame and try to re-guard, roll over the exposed leg, trapping their calf against your shin. The slicer happens when their knee bends and your shin drives into the back of their calf. It's painful, it's fast, and it comes from a position where most people are only thinking about guard recovery, not submission defense.
3. The Side Rolling Kneebar
The kneebar attacks the knee joint by hyperextending it in the same way the armbar hyperextends the elbow. The side rolling entry makes it available from scrambles and transitions rather than static positions.
From a guard passing exchange, when your opponent turns to their knees (turtle), the kneebar is available. Roll to the side, trapping their leg between your thighs. Control the foot in your armpit and extend your hips. The side roll is what makes this entry work against experienced grapplers. They're expecting back takes and front headlocks from turtle, not leg attacks.
4. The Knee Implosion from Guard
Most leg locks come from top or neutral positions. The knee implosion is a leg attack from bottom guard, which flips the script on everything your opponent expects from the position.
From closed or open guard, trap one of their legs by threading your leg over their thigh and under their knee. The "implosion" happens when you squeeze your legs together, collapsing their knee inward against its natural range. This is an advanced technique that requires precision, but it punishes opponents who get comfortable standing in your guard.
5. Counter Leg Lock: Attacking the Armbar Defense
This is the entry that makes leg lockers truly dangerous. When your opponent defends an armbar, their legs are exposed. Instead of fighting for the arm, you switch to the legs.
When they stack or posture out of your armbar attempt, their feet are right next to your hips. Release the arm, trap the ankle, and enter a straight ankle lock or heel hook. As the instructor reveals: "The good thing about this move is if you've caught your partner with this a couple of times, all you have to sometimes do is just hook the leg and they freak out. They think so much about the knee that they forget about the arm. So a lot of times I actually use these counters just to get the armbar because guys are so worried about getting tapped with an ankle lock that they completely forget." The transition from failed armbar to leg lock is one of the most powerful chains in modern BJJ because it punishes the defense of one submission with a completely different attack.
Leg Lock Integration
Leg locks aren't a separate game. They integrate into your existing BJJ. The cross single entry works during takedown defense. The calf slicer during guard passing. The kneebar from turtle transitions. The knee implosion from guard. The armbar counter from submission chains. Add them to situations you're already in, don't rebuild your game around them.