Recently I had the pleasure of teaching my 10th Planet Van Nuys Fundamentals class a few leg locks. Since this was a fundamentals class I spent most of my time focusing on the smaller details of leg locks that most of the time are overlooked. Many Jiu Jitsu players want to use a cool set up for their leg lock looks and don’t really focus on the keys to finishing each hold. Over the next few months I am going to be posting some Leg Lock basics that anyone who is looking to use these submissions should know. Since I am currently trying to use the rolling toe hold from open guard, I thought we would start with the Toe Hold!

The Toe Hold was the first leg lock I learned. It’s a brutal hold that has been banned from most BJJ competitions. In fact the Toe Hold has only been completed once in the UFC by Former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir.

Just looking at the move it seems like a pretty straight forward submission. So why do people have problems finishing the Toe Hold? Today I want to offer you three tips that you can use to help you finish Toe Holds.

1. Grab The Toes

One of the biggest mistakes I see people making when they are looking for Toe Holds is that they grab the top of the foot. Before twisting the Toe Hold it is vital that you grab your opponent’s toes and not his foot. The move is called a Toe Hold for a reason. 🙂

2. Use Your Body

For some reason when people try and finish the Toe Hold they feel the need to prove their Adonis like strength and use only their arms to finish. While you may have incredible strength in your arms, you have to remember that you are battling someones legs here. Instead of using my arms I like to pull the Toe Hold close to my body and then rotate my upper body to get the finish. Doing this allows me to not gas out my arms.

3. Big Toe Meets The Butt

One of the main questions I get from people looking to finish the Toe Hold is which direction to push the toe in. As silly as it sounds my main goal when using the Toe Hold is to put my opponent’s big toe into his butt. This will twist his ankle in the direction that I need to get the tap.

There you have it! Three modifications you can make that will take your Toe Hold go from being ok to being Frank Mir levels! If you have any questions or want to learn more about the Toe Hold stop by 10th Planet Van Nuys and say hi!