Leg locks are some of the most devastating techniques for no-gi grappling and MMA competition. The knee joint is very complex with ligaments, tendons, cartilage and muscles all working together. This is the reason why it is so vulnerable to submissions.
The weakest of the major joints on the body however is the ankle. Toe holds and foot locks done with proper technique will easily break your opponent's foot.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu traditionally frowned on the use of these types of techniques. However, during the mid 90’s this attitude slowly began to change as more and more BJJ players started using them in competition.
The Open Guard, which is very popular in BJJ, is a position that puts you in danger of being caught with leg submissions.
Russian Sambo is one of the most comprehensive grappling systems for Leg Locks that I know of.
Awareness is very important for defending leg submissions. Knowing when you are in danger and the various entries into leg control positions is a must. I've personally been expanding my game with leg attacks over the past few years and loving 'em.
Your opponent will be ‘surprised’ by leg attacks from a lack of knowledge about them. The result will be your opponent caught and tapping out.
If your opponent attacks your legs, depending on the technique, you want to 'avoid rolling out'. When you roll, really, you are in danger of tightening the submission or worse, tearing your knee out or breaking your ankle. This is advice that was given to me by Reilly Bodycomb of NY Combat Sambo.
Reilly also said that the best counter to leg attacks was a counter leg attack. That makes learning leg submissions very important for defending against them.
It will take knowledge, drilling and lots of sparring to make the techniques intuitive. I would suggest being very careful when sparring with your training partners. It is possible to do damage that requires surgery with poor technique.
If you have your training partner caught in a position where you could do serious damage to their knee or ankle but they won’t tap due to pride or ignorance, do the right thing and let the submission go. No need to injure someone.
Leg submissions are deceptive because your opponent won't necessarily feel pain until it's too late and something is torn or broken. Unlike muscles and tendons, cartilage and the ligaments in the knee and foot are not well innervated. This means they do not have many nerve endings in them so there is little pain until they tear. You just feel pressure on the joint before the tear, then comes the pain.
If you have solid leg control and can slowly apply the lock to cause pain your opponent might tap. If not, they may be able to escape the position. For this reason if you use LL's in your game you may have to go for the break in competition.
People that are not familiar with LL's and lower body positional fighting may not know when they are in danger, try to roll and actually cause the injury.
“All is fair in love and war” they say and a grappling match or MMA bout is definitely a war.
