12/04/2016 - Open Mat | Leglocks

Class #712
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 12/04/2016

The 50/50 guard break wasn't working for me, as Simon just rotated rather than his guard opening. Am I missing a bit? Perhaps grabbing the gi in a certain way or something? On the nasty calf leglock, that needs to be in the middle of their calf, plenty of meat. You can't get enough calf muscle if you go too low on the leg.

I also got to have a play with technical mount as Mike wanted to work on holding it. Underneath I was either pushing the leg or rotating under for deep half. On top, I kept going for the arm, always trying to attack. I think that might be part of why Mike was having some trouble maintaining it on top, it was a little static and I wasn't under threat, which gives me time to work my defence.

11/04/2016 - Open Mat | Leglocks & Running Escape

Class #711
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 11/04/2016

I've been keen to get in some extra training for a while, as I'm not getting as much drilling and sparring as I'd like. Today was the first attempt to fit in some more, meeting up with a few people before class. We went through the leglock I learned from Kev on Saturday, which was useful. Drilling that indicated the importance of keeping your thumb up, to make sure you're driving the blade of your arm into the calf muscle. Also, you can bring your knee inwards, which keeps their leg twisted and I think makes it easier to attack that calf.

Ross and Milka were particularly good people to do this with, as they have that interest in the intricacies of technique, which really helps me get the most out of drilling. We also ran through leglock defence, the part that interests me more. I think I'll need to check back with Kev on the 50/50 guard break, I'm not sure I got all the details.

I also had a play with the running escape tip from a Carter Fisk video too, which is basically just shrimp firmly into them before you turn. That turn out from the running escape is much easier and less strain on neck than the leg swing, so if this makes the difference, I'd much rather focus on the turn. I'll keep playing with it.

There isn't quite enough room for sparring, as we're squeezing in around other people and classes. However, my hope is that if we can get a regular, committed group together, then I can go ahead and book a long-term slot.

09/04/2016 - Private with Kev | Open Guard | Leg Lock Defence, Calf Crush & Open Guard

Class #708 - Private #022
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK - 09/04/2016

I know very little about leglocks. I don't really care about being able to attack with them, but I am keen to nail down the defence. Rolling with Seymour at the GrappleThon, I kept ending up in 50/50 without much idea of how to get out, while he went for my feet. The last proper look I had at leglock defence was when John Palmer went through a few options with me, way back during my awesome 2012 Texas trip. Leglocks aren't something that feature in the vast majority of my training, so rolling with Seymour was an eye-opener. I had been planning to work on leglock defence in this private anyway, but that confirmed why it was important. ;)

Fortunately, it wasn't as complex as you might think. There are three basic principles that run through most defences, which I knew already, so that's good. First, 'put on the boot': pull your toes back and straighten out the leg that's being attacked, as if you were struggling to get on a boot. Second, you need to pull them towards you (e.g., grab their gi or head), as they need to drop back to apply most footlocks. Finally, stand up, because they're going to have a really tough time getting anything once you get the sole of your foot on the ground and can bring gravity to bear.

That applies to both orthodox footlock set-ups and stuff like 50/50. Kev added in some more specifics for 50/50 defence, which starts off with the usual putting on the boot, grabbing the gi and standing up. After you've done that, 'hula hoop' to put their locking leg in front of you, then grasp their knee and the bottom of their trouser leg. You can then shove that leg down and begin your pass. If the 50/50 is too tight, Kev suggested grabbing the locking knee, stiff-arming then shifting your hips away. I think I must have missed some details though, so I'll double check that with him next time.

You can also get in some early defence, such as getting a spider guard push into the arm they want to use to underhook your leg. Grab their same side arm, push into the crook of the elbow and use that to free your elbow. Sometimes you might need to hook under their leg as you're escaping, such as when you push their foot down and pop your hips over (I don't remember all the details on that, so will need to drill it some more).

As much as I don't intend to attack with footlocks, it is useful to know a few. Kev shared a nasty calf crush with me, interestingly entirely legal for white belts under IBJJF rules (as ever, that is just one rule set, but it's relatively widespread these days). From your usual straight ankle lock position, drag the arm you have underneath across the middle of their calf, aiming to pull as much calf up on the side as you can. Maintaining the tension, bring your other arm under, pushing the calf even higher. Lock that hand (thumb up) against the calf, then bring your other arm around the first, like you were trying to rear naked choke their calf. Squeeze, while also turning your shoulders away from the leg (i.e., towards their other leg). This comes on quick, so do it with control.

We also ran through some open guard maintenance again, as that's still my weak point. Kev did some light sparring, after which he said my approach is ok, but added that I should be pulling them into closed guard (because I said that's where I want to end up, progressing from the shoulder clamp etc). To do that is simple, you just need to yank them towards you when you feel their weight coming forwards. You can also do it like a guard pull, with a foot on the hip, grip on the collar, then pulling and swivelling from the floor. I'm also not setting up my ankle pick sweeps as effectively as I could. Kev suggested coming in closer and hooking the leg, IIRC.

There was a funky worm guard sweep too. In closed guard (or open, but closed was how we started), pull out their lapel. Get that underneath your same side leg, for which you'll need to open your guard, but keep your foot on their hip. Feed the lapel to your other hand. They will probably stand up at this point. Continuing pulling the lapel, yanking it behind their leg and again feeding to your other hand.

You're now going to do a final hand switch, so that you're grabbing the lapel with your same side hand, palm down. Bring your free leg on the outside of their wrapped shin. To finish, do a technical stand-up. That should knock them over, whereupon you can move through to pass or possibly even mount (you'll need to let go of the lapel for that).

Finally, Kev also got back to me on something I mentioned a few years ago (I was impressed he remembered!) about the 'cat' and 'dog' position with the back when inside somebody's closed guard. When you pop out your back ('dog'), that enhances your posture. It also makes it tough for them to climb their legs higher up your back. When he demonstrated, it put me in mind of Jason Scully's 'eat the belt' guard break: I should use that posture more. Good reminder. :)

31/07/2014 - Artemis BJJ | Open Guard | Leg Lock

Class #584
Artemis BJJ (Impact Gym), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 31/07/2014

Like I say every time I'm shown a leg lock, it's an area of jiu jitsu I almost completely ignore at the moment. I'm interested in the defence, out of safety considerations, but it is not something I ever go for on other people. I'm far too worried about either injuring them through applying it wrong myself, or that they could injure themselves by trying to explosively spin free. As ever, that comes down to familiarity, seeing as I don't have that worry with other submissions, but meh. It's a flaw I can live with for now. ;)

Anyway, the basic leg lock entry Dónal taught started from standing. Wrap your leg around the outside of theirs, putting your heel into their hip. Drop to your side, bringing your other leg in behind the leg you've trapped. Squeeze your knees together to help secure the position.

For the actual submission itself (a straight ankle lock, I think?), you wrap up the foot, bend it sideways towards you slightly. With an arm wrapped underneath, turn so your head is looking over your shoulder, arch your back and thrust your hips. Dónal also mentions that he likes to have the leg 'pre-bent' as he is dropping back, to make it harder for them to use the 'iron boot' defence where they straighten their leg and pull their toes back. I could well have missed a whole bunch of details there though.

Big class today, so I was mostly wandering around to try and help people out, along with simple space management during sparring, stopping people crashing into each other. I did get in a brief bit of drilling myself at the start, along with some specific sparring from open guard. I played with the bullfighter some more, grabbing the knees and dropping my shoulder. It did work, but involved some scrambling. I need to remember to reach for the far hip once I've dropped my shoulder, to control their ability to shrimp away. If I don't do that, I inevitably end up chasing them a little.

Underneath, I went for the tripod off the cross-grip, continuing to try and focus in on that version of open guard some more. It's what Kev recommended to me back in that private, so it's good I'm finally starting to feel more comfortable there (then again, it's been mostly white and blue belt: when I last tried that against brown belts at Jude's club, I was passed in seconds).

I also managed some kind of weird version of the rollover sweep from half guard: it felt sloppy, because I'm sure I didn't have the right grips, but it also didn't seem to take a huge amount of effort, so I must have lucked onto the correct leverage point. Something to play with, as ever. This will be my last chance to be a student for a while, as Dónal is away for the next couple of weeks.

That means I'm teaching six classes next week, but I do at least get the open mat for drilling time (assuming I can grab someone for drilling). Should be fun to test out some more lesson plans either way, plus it also means I can further refine what I taught at Bristol Sports Centre last month by trying it at Impact too.

08/07/2012 - Oli Geddes Seminar

Seminar #008
RGA Bucks, (BJJ), Oli Geddes, Aylesbury, UK - 08/07/2012

This weekend my family celebrated my father's 60th and my younger niece's 2nd birthday, so it was time to head back to Bucks for a visit. I try to make it up for all the birthdays, though I think I'll miss two in 2012 due to holidays abroad. Still, that normally means I can get back to Aylesbury around five or six times in a year. That tends to be a good excuse to go catch up with the team at RGA Bucks, which will be even easier after September when the Saturday open mats join the schedule.

Instead of that, Kev kindly invited me along to a seminar which was taking place on the Sunday. It was going to be Nic Gregoriades, who recently taught an excellent class at Gracie Barra Bristol, but due to unforeseen circumstances he had to pull out. Another old instructor of mine, Oli Geddes, generously filled in for him. I last saw Oli a bit more recently than Nic, as Oli has taught classes at GB Bristol too: I previously trained with him late last year.

Oli wasn't the only black belt present: Kev is now a black belt too. I wasn't able to congratulate him last time I was at RGA Bucks, so it was nice to be able to do it in person this time. He's also been building up his YouTube channel over the last year: very cool, as I can therefore still benefit from his instruction even though I'm in the wrong part of the country to train regularly at RGA Bucks. I'm looking forward to seeing him go through one of his signature submissions, the bow and arrow choke: he's caught me with that many times.

Oli's focus for today's seminar was a topic I've yet to approach in depth, mainly because it scares me: leglocks. However, it was good timing, because Mike down at GB Bristol recently asked about leglocks, so today helped to beef up my knowledge a bit. I knew there was a nifty set-up that involved stepping through so that you're facing the floor (checking back, I can see that Kev taught it here), but couldn't remember it. Oli more than refreshed my memory: he crammed it full of about ten different options. Fortunately he was kind enough to let me shoot a quick reference video at the end of the seminar, so I'll be peppering this post with some screenshots from that.

With so much to cover, Oli jumped straight into the technique. This wasn't going to be a basic level class, as right from the off we were switching from some kind of shin control open guard into what Oli called Lagarto guard, then x-guard, sweep and finish with a footlock. For that first straight ankle lock, you being with your same side shin pressed on the front of their shin, while your same side arm wraps behind their knee. Your free hand grips the material by the inside of their other knee, so that you can make a fist.

From there, drop back and lift their shin-trapped leg. As that leg elevates, pull their leg around the outside of your own, in order to put their foot next to your hip. You also want to wrap your arm around their same side leg again, but this time you're lower, behind the ankle. Hook it deep, so that the heel is in the crook of your elbow.

While you're doing all that, you're also going to adjust your leg position. The leg you were using to press into their shin now goes behind their leg, then you bring the foot of that leg around the outside, pressing into their hip, with the other foot tight.

When you've established that position, you can switch into x-guard. So, your other foot presses into the outside of their other leg, your shin pressure leg moves in front and inside, so that the knee is behind their shin leg, the foot wrapping the outside of their other hip. You can then push them off balance.

Bring that other foot back and return your first leg to the previous position, so that you can pinch your knees together on either side of the leg you've hooked with your arm. Turn your knees outward into their knee, in order to turn their leg and knock them over (you'll need to make sure you keep their foot tight for that to work). As they fall and are about to hit the mat, bring your outside leg underneath, sliding your inside leg over the top. Get a good wide base with those knees.

You're also still wrapping up their leg. By switching your legs, you'll also turn your body over, so that you're now facing away from them. Drive your hips down and arch your back, which should apply pressure to their ankle for the submission. This is legal for whitebelts on up in IBJJF rules, as it still counts as a straight ankle lock. It's always worth noting that there are many other competitions besides the IBJJF with different rules, but given that the IBJJF is currently the most powerful tournament business in BJJ, a lot of academies follow their lead in terms of regulations.

The next technique I can remember does something comparable, with a straight ankle lock from spider guard, except that you're switching to the previous guard to get that submission. Start with both sleeves gripped, one foot into the same side hip, the other foot pressing into their other arm (for spider guard, that means the crook of their elbow, so that you can bend their arm around your foot).

Maintaining your sleeve grip, switch your bicep foot to their same side knee and push that out. You hip foot will move inside their leg then go around the outside, to put that foot on their hip, while again you're simultaneously hooking behind their ankle with your same side arm. When you've pushed that leg out to disrupt their base, you can then bring the hip foot into x-guard: so, the knee goes behind their same side leg, while the foot hooks around the outside of their other hip.

From here, you're now going to use your sleeve grip to pull them down, passing that sleeve to the hand you have behind their leg. That then frees your other hand to grab the gi material behind their neck (or their collar if you can't reach that far, but behind the neck is better). Pull them down even further, then kick with your legs to roll them over. This is therefore a bit like the de la Riva sweeps I learned at Gracie Barra Birmingham two years ago, but from x-guard.

You'll end up on top, retaining that grip on their ankle you got right near the start. Once on top, you can let go of their sleeve. That gives you enough space to slide your knee on the non-trapped ankle side to their head. Your other knee is going to slide towards their head as well, but due to it's position, it will be able to scoop up both their leg and arm on that side in the process. This scrunches them up, so they're in a terrible position to defend.

The finish is a little different because of the need to keep your knees squeezed. You therefore can't spread your knees to drop your hips and drive through, or you'll give them a chance to wriggle free. Instead, you want to rely on arching your back and pushing out with your chest, in order to apply the ankle lock.

Technique number three was yet another complex guard, this time deep half. However, Oli wasn't looking to show us a sweep, but instead a way for the top person to use that previous submission in order to create an ankle lock counter to the waiter sweep, a typical sweep from deep half.

Of course, that assumes you know how to perform the waiter sweep, which if you're like me and rarely venture outside of fundamental guards probably isn't a particular familiar option. If you're in half guard, you want to swivel underneath them to get even deeper: hence the name deep half guard. You now have both legs and both arms around theirs.

For the waiter sweep, you want to use an underhooking arm to bend their leg around yours. Keep on lifting so it is off the floor and drag it towards your head, then kick your legs up to go for the sweep. It's just before this point that the person on top can use Oli's technique to counter. As they try to lift your leg and kick for the sweep, hook the one on the outside of your trapped leg, enveloping their foot in your armpit.

Immediately turn your knee downwards into order to put it by their head like before: if they get far enough in their sweep to lift your leg off the floor and towards their head, it's too late. You need to get the knee turned before that point. Once you have that, the ankle lock is the same as before, squeezing your knees to scrunch them up then arching your back and driving your chest forward for the submission.

Oli then dialled it back a bit to a slightly more simple ankle lock from x-guard. Instead of sweeping them and sliding through to the top, you'll sweep and stay on your back. To get into x-guard, your same side knee goes behind their leg, the instep of that foot around the front of their other hip. Your other foot presses into the knee of that other leg, to stretch them out and keep them off balance.

From there, again like before, you are wrapping with your arm, so their ankle is snug in the crook of your elbow. Bring the knee of your hip leg backwards, so that now the instep is hooking around the front of their same side hip. Your knee pressing foot goes back as well, pushing on that same hip but a little higher up than your first foot. You can now turn your knees to twist their leg and knock them to the floor.

You'll remain on your back, taking the opportunity to establish a solid ankle lock position. Their ankle is still in the crook of your elbow, which means you can reach that hand to the crook of your other elbow, crossing your arms. Your leg on the same side as your ankle hugging arm is underneath their leg, the knee pointing away from you, the foot hooked inside their thigh.

The other leg goes over the top, pressing into their hip: you can use this to push and stretch them out further. Turn onto your ankle hugging side and arch your back. It might feel like your arm is too deep, but after today I can say it does definitely apply pressure to your ankle, so seems to work.

Next up was a toe hold from butterfly guard, where things get a little more dangerous: this is not normally competition legal for anyone below brown belt, but always check the rules before you compete. From butterfly, grab their opposite collar, but not too deep: you still want to be able to pry under their chin with your forearm if necessary, like the overhook guard from Nic G's class. Your other hand grips the gi material on the outside of their same side knee.

Unusually, your inside knee moves across to their ribs. You're going to flare out that knee to shift them sideways. Fall to your back, pulling their leg up with your grip. Your flaring knee will probably have shifted down to their hip. Swivel the other leg around the outside of their same side leg, again putting the foot into their hip. The hand which was gripping by their knee now slides down to grab their foot.

Oli noted that if you can, grip around the toes to bend them down. Do so without actually grabbing the toes themselves: you're still grabbing the meat of the foot, but enveloping the toes with your hands, meaning you can bend them down. The reason for that is they can begin to defend your attack by curling their toes up to make their foot solid. If you take that possibility away, it's easier to manipulate their foot.

Having grasped the end of their foot with one hand, push it around your leg. Bring your other hand behind their ankle and grab your own wrist. You're then looking to push their foot, as if you were literally trying to shove their big toe into their bottom. A somewhat crude image, but it's helpful for remembering the proper direction of rotation. Again, this is dangerous, so do this with gradual control.

If you're stood in their open guard, you can wrap their foot to immediately drop back for an ankle lock. Some people try to do this instead of passing, which is not advisable: learning how to pass the guard is incredibly hard (in six years, I still suck at it), so you want as much practice with passing as possible. Still, it's worth having this up your sleeve if they keep dangling their feet in front of you.

Wrap the arm with your arm as in the previous techniques, then if you're being nasty, step on the inside of their thigh of the wrapped leg and fall back. Oli mentioned how both Buchecha and Ary Farias have done this to vicious effect, basically stamping on their opponent to set up the submission. Drop to the mat on your side, again with your ankle hug side leg underneath their leg, while your other foot is over the top, pressing into their same side hip. Raised slightly off the floor and looking over your shoulder nearest the mat, arch your back for the tap.

Oli finished up with a very unpleasant foot lock: I'm not sure exactly what this would be called, but from what Oli said I think it is the same one Victor Estima has been using successfully in recent competitions. You're in their open guard and they have a foot on your hip. For the submission, that foot needs to be turned so that their toes are pointing diagonally at your opposite shoulder. In drilling we were turning it by hand, but in sparring I am sure there are various ways you could get the foot into place.

Once it is there, wrap under their ankle and grip your other bicep, while your other arm comes over the top: i.e., a sort of RNC hold. Crouch down in a squat, then to apply the submission, turn your elbow in the direction of their leg. You're not swivelling from the hips, more from your shoulders. Even more than the toe hold, be very careful, this will fuck up their knee. Drilling this incredibly lightly with Sahid, I could still immediately feel a lot of tension in my knee. For good reason, only brown belts and above can do this in the IBJJF and I certainly hope that's the case in other competitions. Oli mentioned that David 'Morcegao' (a recenty promoted brown belt who is well-known on UK BJJ forums) goes through this attack on his YouTube channel, so check that out for some more details on the Estima footlock.

I think there were a few others I didn't manage to capture in a video at the end, so my memory may be more hazy on those. I believe one of them was a straight ankle lock from 50/50. I wouldn't know 50/50 guard if it smacked me in the face with a wet fish, but you basically just wrap under their ankle and grab your collar, then push on their knee with your other hand. Turn to the side and arch your back, if I'm remembering correctly.

Thanks again to Kev for inviting me down, to Oli for the seminar and letting me take a video, not forgetting Sahid for being an excellent training partner, as always. :D

27/03/2011 - RGA Aylesbury (Open Mat)

Class #384
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, UK - 27/03/2011

Had something of a transportation mix-up, meaning I missed almost all of the first lesson. Unfortunate, but at least it gives my knee a bit more time to rest. Also, those transportation issues should hopefully soon be a thing of the past. In about a month, I will be in Aylesbury, cycling distance from RGA Bucks. Then once I finally find a house in Bristol, I'll be within walking or cycling distance of Gracie Barra Bristol. No more relying on cars or buses! Hooray! Good fitness too. :D

I also watched the Pan Jiu Jitsu stream yesterday. That first day was free, while the second cost $10 (though I left to go visit my sister and nieces after training, so didn't see it). Enjoyable stuff, with particularly good commentary by Rafael Lovato Jr (especially as I think that might have been his first time: he definitely needs to be brought back as a permanent member of the commentary team).

It was great to see a few women's matches on Saturday, but I was disappointed that they kept switching to the men in the middle of female fights. For example, in one of Gabi Garcia's matches, it switched over twice. As there was a split screen available, I would have liked to see more women's fights, rather than the men swamping the coverage even when women's fights were available for viewing. Update: For an excellent write-up of the women's results, go here.

The dream would be multiple cameras so you could pick which match you wanted to follow, like when the BBC broadcast the last Olympics. However, that will be a long way off, and no doubt require lots of funds: for now, I guess we should all be thankful that companies like Budovideos are still willing to offer streams for free (and the paid stream on Sunday was only $10).

Unfortunately, current world champ Hillary Williams was hurt by a calf-slicer in her absolute fight: I see on her Facebook that she did fight the next day, but ran into the mighty Hannette Staack. Best of luck to Williams with her recovery: I'm sure she'll be back fighting for the gold soon. Oli Geddes from RGA and Geeza from GB Bristol are both competing too, so I look forward to hearing how they did (probably on Facebook).

Speaking of gold medals, one of those was placed around the neck of my training partner Yasmine Wilson that same day. She is the first ever British woman to win the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials, beating a tough brown belt and a top UK purple belt. As a result, Yas landed a paid flight to the main competition over in Abu Dhabi itself, with accommodation provided: very well done to her! Draz fought well too and got the bronze, with another member of RGA Bucks (who I haven't trained with yet) also medalling.

When I arrived at the Neil McLeod Academy (the home of RGA Bucks), the beginners class had entered the sparring phase. As I finished getting changed, the round finished, and it shifted to king of the hill. I took the opportunity to ask each of the two white belt women if they'd like to spar. I'm not sure what they thought of some random unshaven purple belt saying "fancy a roll?", but fortunately, they were both willing to indulge me.

I've said many times in the past that I prefer to roll with women, as they tend to be more mature, considerate training partners. If I'm injured, that's especially important. Michelle and Stacey were both careful not to aggravate my knee injury, keeping a relaxed pace, for which I'm grateful. That gave me the chance to ease myself back into playing closed guard: this is the first time I've ventured beyond either half guard or a one-legged open guard with the injury.

Kev had left earlier to pick up his son (I think? Something like that), meaning that there was a short lull before the competition class. That meant I could have another roll, with that same white belt I sparred last time (who has also proved to be a considerate training partner: must get his name next time we train). I suggested giving flow rolling a try, which he hadn't done before, but was happy to try it.

If you're not familiar with flow rolling, it is basically a form a sparring where the idea is to work on movement, timing and transitions, staying calm and controlled. As well as a useful exercise, flow rolling can also function as a great warm-up. I first learned it from Nic Gregoriades, and tried to remember the rules he put forward.

So, that meant we didn't hold any grips, and also made sure not to stay in one position just clamping down for too long (e.g., if you're in side control and have them stuck, switch to north-south, knee-on-belly, back to side control, mount, other side, etc). For something similar, check out Christian Graugart's thirty-seven minute long video on 'slow rolling', here.

Once Kev returned, the competition class got into gear. As everybody was sparring from standing, I decided against risking my knee. It also meant that there wasn't room to do any sparring at a lighter pace, at least not safely (I had intended to do some relaxed rolling with Adill, who is also injured). However, that did at least give me a chance to try and work out the points for each round. As I'm now a purple, it would be fun to go on a refereeing course or something, so I'll have to keep an eye out for the next one.

There was still time for some open mat at the end, so like before, I wanted to improve my understanding of leg locks. As Yas had won her gold medal with an ankle lock, that seemed like a good one to drill. She gave out plenty of handy tips to Sahid and I, after which we noticed Kev was demonstrating the very same technique up the other end of the mat. So, that provided us all with a chance to get Kev to go through the mechanics.

If I understood Kev and Yas correctly, this particular variation on the ankle lock begins by wrapping your arm around their ankle, as you would do for a standard Achilles lock. With your wrapping hand, grab your own gi collar, and make sure you have secured their ankle tightly. Having trapped that leg, drop back, then bring your inside leg over theirs (if they've grabbed your collar, simply bring your inside leg over that arm). It is very important you only do this with your inside leg: if you bring your outside leg over theirs, you're liable to get disqualified in IBJJF competitions.

You can now turn towards their trapped ankle side, so that you're facing the floor, with their ankle still trapped. To finish the submission, simply sprawl your legs back towards them and arch your back. Though this is technically an ankle lock due to your grips, the pressure will probably be on their knee.

Kev had several follow ups too, but I wanted to make sure I got the basic details of the submission down, so concentrated on that. Still, I did take some quick notes on the rest of the sequence and 'what ifs': if they wriggle their foot free, turn and pass their guard. If they stand and put the sole of their trapped foot to the floor, go to x-guard, sweep them, then you can go for the ankle lock again.

Finally, if they have pulled themselves up on your gi and are basing out with their other hand, grab the sleeve of that basing hand and yank them back off balance. There are of course a lot more details, but I'll look to iron those out once I've got a handle on the lock (which will be a good while). Also, if you're a Facebook friend of Kev's, he's put up the video of Yas using this technique at the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials (not sure if that will later appear on YouTube or not).