After you’ve spent a little time doing jiu-jitsu, transitioning from, say, an armbar to an omoplata becomes pretty easy. It makes sense, because the body parts you need to work with are around the same area. So if you were defending against one of these submissions, you probably wouldn’t be worrying too much about your feet, right?
After all, your feet and your shoulders are normally at two opposite ends of your body, right?
So no one in their right mind would attack your foot while they’re in the middle of an omoplata, right?
That’s exactly what black belt Lou Armezzani of Pride Lands BJJ in Monaca, Pennsylvania is hoping you’ll be thinking right before he transitions from an omoplata to a heel hook and (carefully) takes your foot home with him. Lucky for us, though, he’s willing to share his knowledge so we can spring this cool move on someone else.
Armezzani emphasizes that what makes this move so effective is just how unexpected it is. “Being strategic with varied attacks is a key component to success,” he says. “The element of surprise is my favorite way to change the paradigm of the contemporary jiu-jitsu thought process.”
If you can get this sneaky technique (techsneak?) down pat, you’ll have yet another fun leg lock to add to your collection. It is a little complicated, so if you’re newer to jiu-jitsu, make sure you feel comfortable with both the omoplata and the heel hook by themselves before you combine them.
Take a look, and then try this out for yourself and see how you like it!
