Which tapes would you guys suggest one go to if one is a beginner when it comes to leg locks?
And then once one is no longer a beginner, which videos would you recommend at being the best when it comes to leg locks? Paulsen's? Cecchine's? Yakimov? Roy Harris? Which ones are worth getting? And which ones overlap and to what extent?
And has anyone checked out www.leglocks.com ? Anything on there worth getting?
Roy Harris' BJJ 101 v.3, and the Heel Hook seminar are fabulous. 101.3 shows a variety of footlocks, ankle locks, achilles crushes, heelhooks, kneebars, knee wrenches, hip wrenches, toe holds, and more. Lots of control positions, as well as entries, combinations and counters.
The Heel hook seminar is great for in-depth info on the heel hook itself. 8 Control positions!
~TT
I like the Yakimov set.
There used to be alotta great ones on www.fighttraining.com but it seems they did away w/ them. Did anybody save them before they were taken off?
Eric Paulsons Killer leg locks 1: Covers all you need to know bout achilles, heelhooks, kneebars and toeholds. It shows them from many positions: your guard, there guard, side, scarf(sneaky) and also goes into detail how to flow between the locks when someone rolls.
Eric Paulsons Killer Leg Locks 2: Shows some more unusual locks as well as the normal (ankle cruches, wishbones, step over toeholds). It also shows some counters from someone holding one of your legs when standing into leg locks (he shows this from a kick but it also works as a counter to a single leg). One of the best parts from this tape is the section on turning a turtled opponent. Here he uses several ankle compressions which turn the guy ovet and show the leg.
IMO these two tapes are the best I've seen. I've also got Bas Ruttens Extreme Pancrase Legs Locks tape which is great also but Erics stuff is much better.
I havent seen Cecchine's tapes but theres a load of stuff on shin locks etc in there that I haven heard of being anywhere else.
Which video(s) would be recommended for beginners?
Killer Leg Locks 1
I haven't seen any of the above mentioned ones, but Jen's lethal leglocks is very underrated. I recommend it.
My picks, with explanations, are:
Vince Fields- His seminar tape is absolutely loaded with attacks and defenses which were culled from his training under leglock wizards such as Gene LeBell, Gokor Chivichyan and Erik Paulson. This tape might be a bit much for a beginner or someone who has been spoiled by other video instructionals that present a start-to-finish game plan in a neat package (Mario Sperry, Michael Jen, etc), but if I were forced to own only one leglock tape, it would be this one.
Roy Harris- His heelhook seminar tape is less encyclopedic than Fields's, and shows many fewer moves. Instead, Harris gives the viewer a complete and well-rounded look at one move- the heel hook. He goes into great detail on mechanics, entries, control postions, counters, etc.
Michael Jen- Where Fields covers a huge number of moves and Harris goes in-depth on just one, Jen's two-tape leglock set may be the perfect balance of quantity and quality. He covers the most common ways to attack an opponent's legs, along with escapes, but also puts them into useful context. For instance, Jen starts in an opponent's guard, attacks a leg, then uses that as a launching point into a connected set of techniques designed to overcome an opponent's attempts to counter or escape. Like Andrew Yao said, a very underrated set.
Egan Inoue's "Leglock Bible" from his advanced series is a very good introduction complete with counters and escapes. All the basic locks are shown (achilles locks, heel hooks, kneebars, and toe holds) plus lock flows and methods of training them.
Vince Fields Leg Lock seminar tape covers a ton of moves in great detail for your money!
Vince Fields, hands down.
All of the mentioned video sets are great, especially Jen, Harris, and Paulson, but there is still no mention of Stephan Kesting's Dynamic Kneebar video. www.grapplearts.com This is my absolute favorite, and I can tell you that I have been able to incorporate leglocks completely into my game! You will see them coming as well. The other day when rolling with somone much better than me I was able to both see an attempt to attack me with one and thrart it, AND I was able to use the kneebar as an attack...the only reason I didn't get it is because I messed it up at the end...and I could have gotten a toe hold straight from the leglock attempt, but I let that one go....dang. But as I said, if you only buy one, go with Kesting's and you will NOT be diappointed!
Agree, kestings kneebar dvd is excellent! Lots of detail and variations.
Stephan Kesting's Knee-Bar DVD is excellent and I've used it to introduce a few beginners to leg locks in general. I've found it a lot safer to start with a knee-bar since it doesn't put as much rotational stress on the knee joint as a heel hook--and it seems to be safer to really fight for than an achilies.
I'm still experimenting, but there's no doubt that Stephan's DVD is the best resource for kneebars. There's a quick review of it on WhiteBelt.org.
http://www.whitebelt.org/x2_kesting_kneebar.html
- C.
Anyone else have any other opinions on www.leglock.com videos?
I got Stephan Kesting's Dynamic Kneebars video a while ago, and it is fair to say that it totally transformed my kneebar game.
There are lots of good videos out there, but none of them break down the kneebar game quite like this one. The coverage of the basics is first rate (I picked up a few helpful details), and the advanced game (sneaky setups, counters and recounters) are second to none.
I have the Roy Harris tape and Andrei Sosnovskikh. Russian Sambo Leglocks Seminar. I would recommend either one. The sambo tape is almost two hours of techniques. The only negative is the Sosnovskikh has a Russian accent,(but you get use to it) and the fact that since it was a seminar you get some background noise at times.
If anyone would like to read detailed reviews of my leglock tape or get the free notes that go with it, go here;
http://www.rmata.com/store.html
Thanks for the kind words from those that have seen my tape. Check the website soon for a new MMA/ NHB DVD set covering every range of combat in detail.
Vincent Fields
sperrys videos on leg locks are great.