I wanted to continue our Heel Hook palloza today by focusing on an entrance that can be used from an open guard. This is a great move to use when you are facing off with a guy who has a guard that is almost impossible to pass. It’s also one of those moves that you can use to catch your opponent off guard and get a quick tap from. The main reason I like this set up though is that you can hit it from a lot of different places. I have used this set up from standing, on my knees, mid pass, from being in a Z guard, and as a counter for the scissor sweep just to name a few.

In the video below FFA Head instructor David Avellan breaks down his entrance to the heel hook from a standing position. I really like this tutorial because David does a great job of breaking down what my lower half of my body needs to be doing in order to get the heel hook. In order to ensure that my heel hook works I need to make sure that my lower body is engaged the whole time.

I also really liked the details of the heel hook finish that David points out. The biggest concept that I learned from this video is to keep my partner’s knee pointing up the whole time. Pointing the knee up, engaging my lower body, and applying the heel hook is what creates the finish here. When done right a move like this can really do damage to someone so please be careful!

Care to learn more about the heel hook? Stop by 10thplanetvannuys.com and check out some of the info about the best mma and jiu jitsu school in the San Fernando Valley!