When should you tap out to a Heel Hook? 

What do you think is the most dangerous technique to practice?

Francis Nogano will skip this video.

Watching now but I'm going to guess the answer is EARLY and OFTEN lol

The first gym I trained at had a strict no leg locks before blue belt and even after that many of the blue belts never worked on them either. It was crazy when I visited a 10th Planet gym after that and I realized the gaping hole in the "no leg lock" philosophy because everyone at 10P was wrecking me with them. Fortunately a new instructor came to gym I used to be at and started slowly introducing leg locks to everyone which was great. Gave us all a much needed basic knowledge

“I could tear apart his knee but I’m not going to” LOL I love it

Great advice, love the tips on how to train safely! As a guy who’s been through a ligament reconstruction + micro fracture (from soccer) I would tap out as soon as they take the slack out of the joint. No need to risk going through another 11 month recovery to try and show how tough I am.

Months ago I showed a family member a heel hook. I'd shown him other locks, but with this one he said "maybe it's not working, because of my shoe". I just laughed and tried to explain, why it wasn't painful yet ("painful" or trigger the "that shouldn't bend that way" response, whatever we call it)

Be aware, it is not unknown. Consistent repetitive practise placing a small imperceptible stretch on knee ligaments will cause accumulative damage .

I don't know if you'll read this but as a guy who has spent a lot of time working leg entanglements it's always an interesting session teaching people when to tap to leg locks, like you said when in doubt just tap; but as a general rule of thumb I use, if they haven't caught the heel then it is safe to roll "against" the heel hook as you'll be hiding the heel, where as if they already have caught the heel you have to either heel slip or roll "with" the pressure. Although I think the best defense regarding leg entanglements is the hand fight/grip fight, almost everytime beat the hands and you'll be fine, so pretty much when in doubt fight the hands and hide the heel, which will eventually lead to freeing the knee line and then no danger. Quick note regarding when to tap, you touched on it in the video, but I find when teaching people what heel hook pressure feels like, I will normally apply an inside heel hook as slow as I can and I had a team mate describe it as "a general discomfort that feels like someone blowing up a balloon in my knee". If you read this have a lovely day 👍😁

In my gym we have an unwritten rule while sparing if you secure a tight heel hook you pause, don't apply pressure and give the " you're fucked" look to your opponent. They get extra time to decide if they want to tap or get there knee ripped off. If it's a white belt or a novice it's catch and release

The moment i got locked in by a leg lock, i tap immediately even before the guy apply any pressure. Sounds cowardly but my leg ligaments have suffered enough

Thanks for the vid coach!

Thanks coach !

You have to know the position and visually know when you are in trouble and tap out since as correctly mentioned in the video you can't tell by pressure. Especially if someone does the move as a hard fast hook that you just don't feel, just not worth the risk to the knee joint.

Thanks for having me on the show Ramsey! 😂

The rule at my academy is that when you get a heel hook grip if you maintain a 3 second hold then the guy should tap, because within those three seconds even a poor finish can cause injury so no need to crank

The thing about knee injuries is that they're kind of like food poisoning: you know you have it but it can be hard to tell where you got it from. I thought I got my knee injury from a heel hook but looking back I probably got it trying to vigorously pass half guard the same night.

The problem with this technique is that it kind of doesn't hurt that much until something rips apart.

Heel hooks are also scary because if you defend an inverted a heel hook the way you would an outside heel hook and vice versa you blow up your own knee

taboo in Gracie lineage that spread, but Fadda lineage used this a lot, they even defeated the Gracies with it

Excellent timing! My right knee hurts right now because I didn’t feel the leg lock early enough yesterday.

Excellent video! I teach all leglocks at white belt so that they have an understanding of them, which helps tremendously with defense. But we always emphasize taking it slow, work on holding the entanglement rather than getting the bite and going straight to a finish….and if someone looks like they want to spazz out, then let it go. Thanks for sharing!

"Hello I'm Ramsey Dewey and this is... uh ( What's his name again? )😅" Thank you for sharing ☺️.

Nice Faija Roxa. Something for Q&A with the coach: Would an academy style system for MMA, like there's with other sports such as football (Soccer) or Chinese sports schools where kids not only learn to fight but also get an education, work?

My old school kept us from leg locks of any type until very high rank. They said that they were too dangerous, that it doesn't hurt until it's too late, and by the time you think to tap, you are already hurt. Its neat to hear other philosophy on the subject.

Immediately. The answer is Immediately.

IMMEDIATELY!!! LOL If its already sunk in and the only thing preventing your ankle being broke is the mercy of your partner, tap. There will....or can.....always be another match. You dont grow new ankles. Other moves you know have some leeway, ankles and knees do not like to bend the wrong way. The other issue is you dont always feel the "pain". As Im typing this I hear you mention it. BRAVO Coach Ramsey! Thats the big issue. You are your worst enemy in this situation, so act like your best friend.

I love heel hooks. They are the nuclear bomb against higher belts.

I'd rather tap early than late to heel hooks because ifnyou leave it too late then you can't train for ages.

Is that your arch enemy, Ramsey Don'tey?

Everyone is uploading so much recently! Synchronicity.

It’s the same thing with the kneecaps. You can put the web of you thumb and index on the bottom of the knee cap and push towards the ass while straightening his leg. The pain comes the moment the kneecap moves.

I like heel-hooks.. held tight but never torqued when I snatch one... it usually yields a rushed tap once it's set up anyway..

I remember that video where the BJJ fight got resumed in the heel hook locked position, vs Rousimar Palhares... The other guy tried to roll out and got his knee bent within a second, that's nightmare fuel.

Too soon, Ramsey 😭 I'm still crying over Cyril's loss

If I don’t want to continue, I’m tapping out, it’s that simple.

Practising

For some reason, just watching the leg positioning of the heel hook causes sympathetic pains in my knees.

Where would bjj be if there was no key hole surgery to fix all the broken knees, backs and shoulders ? All those champs would be cripples.

Just yesterday I did and almost immediately. In my gym we have to ask each other before if we're up for heel hooks ( I'm a blue belt hobbiest and don't think I'd even do it in a self defense situation) anyways the guy got a heel hook and I tapped, coach grilled him when he seen it but I said no worries cos he just wasn't aware of the rules and I've no shame of putting my knees before tapping.

I realized that wearing a knee brace in my gym increased my chances of getting leg locked ten fold.

Man, locks like that look scary, but I'm sure it can be practiced well if the persons training start from a humble / healthy beginning, as to not get right into it. But it sure looks scary af, as a white belt rolling with other (some) white belts, I know some just try to force through things and simply get tired. I can imagine trying to force through one of those would end up being bad for business.

Thanks Ramsey. Can I ask where u got those Wrestling shoes in vid while wrestling “Knife murderer guy”?? They look like they don’t have much or any grip. I broke many toes years ago in Wrestling, Bjj & Muay Thai-even had big toe detached from foot(took long time to heal) so I want something to keep my toes intact but limited friction on bottom

At last assistant is not half-size

when your limb has been dominated. modern heel hooks are much more powerful and efficient than older verisions.

I don't know why I put off watching this video for two whole days ; I learned a lot from it. Strangely enough, I'm intimately familiar with the position of holding heel-hooks and straight-ankle-locks and applying light pressure and traction... because of my Job. But I've never been on the receiving end so I feel as if I'm not benefiting as much. I like to think that if I should ever grapple, I can apply a straight ankle lock because I'm all too familiar with applying the technique because it's a weekly, sometimes daily practice. In related news, there is a degree of training you can do to strengthen your knees so you can resist the tap longer... but no amount of training will let you resist a locked-in full strength heel-hook. There's only so much Knees-over-toes training can bulletproof your knees from lateral torsion of the knee capsule. The rest comes down to having Tree Trunk Legs that are Bigger than the guy trying to apply the Heel-Hook.

A rule I tell people who are not well versed in the dark arts is any time they have your knee line controlled and get two hands on your foot, tap. If you do not know what controlling the knee line is you are not ready to do anything but drill.

Oh, I hate heel hooks. I'm literally scared of them. And yet, I try attacking the legs from time to time, because it's fun. But IF I catch and lock the leg, I go for normal foot lock, never go for the heel hook (I prefer straight foot lock), mainly because I often roll with white belts, who have little knowledge how they work and have no idea when to tap to them. And I have terribly little experience performing them, that's why I don't even wanna go for the heel, since a bad scramble may cause a horrible and unwanted injury. But with colored belts it's a totally different thing. I'm more casual about it, because I know they will not let me, and if I somehow catch them, they know when to tap, before something bad happens. In terms of Imanari roll, I'm self taught, I do it just for fun, because in my gym, which is kind of Gracie Jiu Jitsu oriented, you know, BJJ for self defence and MMA, but not sport oriented. By sport oriented, I mean, butt scooting, attacking the legs, world's famous Craig "Always 2nd" Jones stuff. But I believe someday he's gonna tell me my Imanari roll sucks and finally show me how to do it correctly. Tl'dr - heel hooks are not dangerous, but lack of knowledge when to tap to them is.

I actually have an equipment question - since you're a taller guy with probably a larger foot which wrestling or boxing shoe brands would you recommend?

Hey ramsey How to perform at peak level with minimum amount of sleep? I can't afford to sleep for 8 hrs, the best I can get these days are 6-7 hrs, and im exhausted and fatigued waking up every morning, some days even with 8hrs of sleep I still wake up tired and i recently heard that Dwayne Johnson only sleeps for 5 -6 hrs a day. How can someone like him do more work than me and still sleeps less than me?

Never

You were probably thinking of a word such as indication or warning. 👍 Lol

I don't know about most dangerous, but I once broke a friend's rib when they attempted a tomoe nage. I'd never practiced the technique before and didn't land quite how they'd expected. It's not called a sacrifice throw for nothing I guess 😅

Ok serious question. Once i hurt my knee 2 year ago and it still hurt going up stairs. Is there a way to un screw it? Chiropractor says it is not that bad But he is not feeling it.

Never, tapping is for chicken.

What is the difference between jiujitsu , submission wrestling ( or sambo, for that case) , in this technic ? Seems none

If you're Don Frye the answer is NEVER!

Heel hooks in a gi....the scandal !

I am a bit shocked that you did this demonstration in a gi

Why would you ignore 50% of the human body? 😂

Great way to forget your partner s name !!!!

Purple belt teaching😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

If you want to learn leg locks sambo is way better than bjj .

This technique is not allowed under many mma rules due to the fact that most of the people who are heel hooked do not feel (compliance) pain until it is pretty much much too late. You'll alway see someone heel hooked tries to roll out of it only to be submitted and rolling in pain, unable to walk.