Leg attacks

[KUNTA KINTE]

I see alot of BJJ videos and the are always holding the guys feet to get past the gaurd why dont they ever go for a leg atack??

[Treebranch]

Do you mean leg locks or foot and ankle locks? Or do you mean if you are on your back, kicking the legs of the standing person? What do you mean?

[KUNTA KINTE]

Locks.

[TJS]

I do quite often. Positional dominance is generally emphasized in BJJ. So people like to pass gaurd and get on top to a controlling position..but leg locks are certainly an option especially if someone has a really good open gaurd.

I like leg locks, some people just dont like to give up position if they miss them.

[SubGrappler]

Leg attacks are a usefull tool, but as TJS explained, positional dominance is emphasized in BJJ. The better your positioning, the higher the odds of you achieving a submission hold. (i.e. finishing holds are much more successful from the back mount than the guard for instance).

Legs and feet are always there available for attack, which means that positional dominance isnt required to apply a footlock to the same degree that say, a choke is. Since you're not controlling your opponent as well, he's going to have higher chances of escaping the hold. (more footlocks will be attempted than choke holds, but choke holds will have a higher ratio of success than footlocks).

Lastly, footlocks are much easier to defend with the gi that without- holding the collar of your opponent does a great job of breaking his posture and preventing him from falling back for a foot attack.

[UseoForce]

I've heard sometimes people boo leg locks as cheap shots in BJJ competition.

[UseoForce]

I've heard sometimes people boo leg locks as cheap shots in BJJ competition.

[SubGrappler]

Absolutely- My friend told me of one instance where one of his friends (hes from brazil) won in the finals of the mundials with a footlock.

The boos from the crowd were relentless, and he stood up and started cheering for himself and begged the crowd to boo him more "boo boo, IM THE CHAMP! BOOO!"

[UseoForce]

That's ridiculous. A submission is a submission. I don't care if you twist the guy's finger. If it makes him tap, then it is a good submission. Tell your friend I agree with him.

[SubGrappler]

Im not a fan of footlocks either- alot of people use it just as a cop out of trying to pass the guard.

Im starting to respect them more and more, as I do no gi, but I'd much rather pass the guard than fall for a footlock. One thing is for sure, footlocks, while extremely popular/successful in submission wrestling, do not carry over to MMA as well.

It takes two hands to footlock someone, and top position is almost always lost on footlock attempts. This makes some people who would normally attack the feet at will in grappling matches be a bit more hesitant in MMA. Giving up the top position isnt as bad in grappling as it is in MMA, especially when you're trying for a footlock and your opponent has two hands with which to pound away at your skull.