Footlock Friday: 10th Planet - Figure Four Leg Lock

 Dan Faggella is a BJJ Academy Owner, No Gi Pan Am Champion at 130 pounds, and recognized expert in the area of leg locks. Dan writes or Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Jiu Jitsu Style, MMA Sports Mag, and more - find more of his leg lock articles and resources at www.BJJLegLocks.com

So admit it, at one point in your childhood you turned on the TV every Monday night to watch a little professional wrestling.  It’s alright, plenty of people did it!  The entertainment factor is clearly the main priority and it’s fun to watch some of these crazy, hectic moves that these guys pull off!

Sure it might be fake or scripted, but some of these maneuvers can actually cause some serious damage with slight variations.  With that being said, today I’m breaking down a video from 10^th Planet Jiu Jitsu’s Van Nuys branch, where they go over the Figure Four Leg Lock which was also the signature move of former professional wrestler, Ric Flair.  See, it all came full circle!

Taking Names & Snapping Limbs

Ok, that’s a little drastic but it has a ring too it!

Anyway, here’s the breakdown to a move that has a rather high degree of difficulty:

• Start out in the ’93 Guard 
• Shoot a leg through his legs while your other foot hooks behind his knee.  This will isolate one of his legs, preventing a pass.
• Secure an under hook across his upper-back.
• Scoop under his leg with you other hand and while doing so, lift up with the foot that you used to hook his opposite knee.
• Disengage the hooked leg and grab the ankle of the leg that has been lifted.  From here, tuck it into your hip nice and tight.
• Whichever leg of yours is on the mat, scoot it up into your hip.  This locks in his leg.
• Close your feet as if you were closing guard, re-hook his leg, and bring your arm that was acting as the under hook to his chest.  Now push away by flaring out your hips.
• With him on the mat, hug onto his free leg while keeping the other trapped.
• Grab his ankle and place it right onto his knee and lean back.  Clamp down with your outside leg onto his ankle as if you were doing a triangle choke.
• Push your hips out, which will also push down on his legs, and lift his heel to the sky.  This will cause great pain where his ankle and knee are, forcing the tap out.

So there it is!  Yeah, it’s a little in depth and there are a lot of moving parts to this, but you can’t say I didn’t warn you!  This is a really cool move, as most of the leg locks the 10^th Planet guys come up with!  I plan on diving more into their stuff, so stay tuned if you liked this leg lock!

Keep it locked here at OTM, 

-Dan Faggella

 Dan Faggella is a BJJ Academy Owner, No Gi Pan Am Champion at 130 pounds, and recognized expert in the area of leg locks. Dan writes or Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Jiu Jitsu Style, MMA Sports Mag, and more - find more of his leg lock articles and resources at www.BJJLegLocks.com