Zebra Mats, one of the sponsors for this season’s ADCC wrestling tournaments, is selling off the mats used in this years competitions. If you’re looking for some “new” mats at a discount, you might want to check into it. See here for some details.

The Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission wrestling tournaments bring in some of the best no-gi grapplers in the world. (Although they have kids, teens, and beginners divisions, too.)

This year, regional tournaments are being held in Spring Texas, Los Angeles California, Las Vegas Nevada and Denver Colorado.  For us Utahans, the most accessible would probably be the Vegas regional, held on August 1.

If you have any questions about the tournament, you can read this interview with promoter Brett Boyce. If you desire to sign up, click here.

If you’re travelling and might be able to compete/attend one of their events, check out the official ADCC regional site, www.adccregionals.com .

The foot/ankle lock

This is a great submission to try when you’re attempting to break your opponents guard.

Now watch a slightly different variation, from standing position. This video is of Jean-Jacques Machado at ADCC (the toughest no-gi submission tournament in the world) slapping an ankle lock on his opponent within the first few seconds of the match. JJ Machado is awesome!

Sambo Leg Manipulation

The position in this video is a little bit different than the guard, but you can wind up there in several ways. You could have just gone from single/double leg takedown and had difficulty in going to side control or may have just thwarted a sweep attempt from your opponent. You may have also just transitioned into the leg lock position if the guard you’re in is open or loose.

Bruce Foster goes through a bunch of different submissions in a short time – so watch out. Notice how his hips are swiveled all the way to the side. If you aren’t sideways, on hip on the floor the submissions won’t work well, as his leg isn’t trapped very well.

A couple of tips:

• Remember – when locking in the submission, squeeze your knees together.
• Get those hips sideways.
• Get the other leg out of the way – you don’t want it interfering, be careful not to overextend it. At very least, your overextended leg will keep you from getting sideways. Worse yet, your opponent may grab your leg and try something.
• Use your radial bone (thumb-side forearm bone) to dig into his tissue.
• Get your radial bone under his Achilles tendon, close to his foot. Don’t choke up onto the leg – you have the most leverage and damage dealing potential at the end of his leg.