This week’s training has been fun at AvA Jiu-Jitsu with Coach Alan. I came to class 3 days in a row, from Monday to Wednesday. The class is growing, and I love the community and camaraderie among my fellow partners. I usually stay longer to chat with the guys or simply linger on the mat a bit more, letting the exhaustion from the roll sink in so I can enjoy the dopamine lingering in my body and brain before hitting the shower. I need to sleep early and refuel smarter by drinking more water and eating more greens so that I can train better; I’ve been negligent in those areas.

Heel Hook from Half Guard (and How to Escape It)

This week was the first time I properly learned how to do a heel hook. I’ve been avoiding learning it since the injury risk in the sport is high, and I don’t want to hurt my partners, so I thought it best to simply not know how to do it altogether and avoid attempting it during rolls. However, I can’t avoid it forever if I want to improve at Jiu-Jitsu. It’s fun to learn, and I like how Coach Alan explains the mechanics—how to bridge with your hips and align your shoulder for the finish, how to set it up from half guard by moving their outside leg to your chest, keeping your foot as a hook to prevent them from running away, turning their knee to touch the mat before going for the heel hook, and how to differentiate between an outside heel hook and an inside heel hook (if you see the inside of your opponent’s heel, it’s the inside heel hook, and vice versa).

The heel hook escape is even more fun to learn. The steps Coach Alan showed are quite straightforward for my brain to comprehend: simply identify the far-side leg, find a way to escape it, and once you do, you’re free to explore more options from there. In this case, pin the far-side leg to the ground, sit back, connect your heel to your butt so they can no longer apply the heel hook, use your other leg to kick their arm away to free your heel, squeeze your knee into the inside position, and move to side control or perform the wedge bolo to take their back (I’m still figuring out the wedge bolo technique; I’m confused about which way to roll with my shoulder).

Single Leg X to Outside Ashi to Straight Ankle Lock Submission

The idea is to off-balance them, shifting between Single Leg X and Outside Ashi to sweep them. While still holding their ankle, use your preferred grip (mine is the shotgun grip) and move into the straight ankle lock position. If you want to switch their foot to the other side of your body, move it by grabbing their toes—not their ankle—for better control.

To pass when your opponent is transitioning between Single Leg X and Outside Ashi, start by peeling their top leg away while simultaneously squeezing your knees together and cupping their bottom knee. From there, you can push the legs away, clear the knee line, or do a backstep to move to mount or side control, depending on their foot placement. If it’s too high to backstep, move to mount.

Escaping the Mount Tip

• If your opponent is in low mount, use the inside knee, scoop the leg, and move to half-guard or perform the Upa bridge.
• If they are in high mount, do the kipping. It really depends on how you feel and your ability to identify your opponent’s weight distribution.

That’s pretty much all I can recall for this week. I’m still glad I could remember to pin the far-side leg to escape the heel hook during rolls. My knees thank me every time I successfully pull it off.

It’s been a very fun week to learn Jiu-Jitsu. I’m grateful to have trained with an amazing coach and partners.