Going forward, on some Fridays, we’re going to call them “Footlock Friday’s” and we are going to post useful information all about footlocks, leglocks, knee bars and toeholds etc. Most of these posts will show you some extra techniques you can train to improve your game and others will be for entertainment as well.
We will get some help from Dan Faggella who we introduced last week with an article about the Standing 50-50 Heel Hook technique. If you missed that article, you can find it here… Toquinho-Style Standing 50-50 Heel Hook.
Incidentally, Dan Faggella is No Gi Pan Am Champion, BJJ School Owner, and writer for Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Jiu Jitsu Style Magazine, MMA Sports Mag, and others. He interviews the best “BJJ Giant Killers” in the world and is also giving away a free “The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall” DVD at: www.MicroBJJ.com/David.
How To Toe Hold Bigger Opponents
Leg Locking bigger guys isn’t always easy – and in my mind there are some strategies that WORK – and others that simply WON’T against someone significantly bigger and stronger.
One of the single biggest factors for tapping bigger opponents in any situation is: how much of your total body mass and force can you apply to as small an area as possible on your opponent? The more of you and the less of them, the better. This is why a guillotine on JUST the head is better than a head-and-arm guillotine on someone twice your size (generally).
Conceptually, the same applied for us here, lets take a look:
Giant Killer Toe Hold Setup
The rolling toe hold (second setup) is just a continuation of the concepts laid out in the initial setup from the Z-guard. Here are the technical elements that make the move work:
1) The initial grip on the toe is SUPER high on the foot, with my pinky over the pinky toe.
2) Grip number two can’t even be set in place until the opponent’s foot is flexed big time. We want a “banana bend” in the foot before we lock grips together.
3) Once the grips are in place it’s ESPECIALLY important to pull the foot in tight to your own chest in order to keep them from booting it strait for the defense.
4) Maintaining the flexed foot, rotate the opponent’s big toe towards his tailbone for the tap, keeping it snug to your chest.
It’s important to note that with many other leg locks, the same CONCEPT applies, but the toe hold really exemplifies the idea of “as much as you against as little of them as possible.”
Remember not to get overzealous if you go for the rolling setup, and always roll over the shin and not the thigh in order to avoid getting your back taken! You can check out my full rolling toe hold article here (including a link to Frank Mir’s AWESOME Toe Hold on Tank Abbott):
http://scienceofskill.com/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-leg-locks/
Enjoy and keep beating up guys that are bigger than you 
To your grappling success,
Written by Daniel Faggella (of Micro BJJ)
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