The Ashi Garami escape is a fundamental defensive skill in modern leg lock grappling, requiring precise understanding of leg entanglement mechanics and systematic approach to extracting the trapped leg. This escape addresses one of the most common leg entanglement positions in no-gi competition, where the opponent controls your leg while maintaining inside position. The primary goal is to extract the trapped leg while preventing the opponent from advancing to more dangerous positions like the saddle or securing submission attacks. Success depends on understanding the hierarchical nature of leg entanglements and systematically clearing control points before attempting full extraction. The escape emphasizes hip positioning, frame management, and timing to create space for leg removal while maintaining defensive awareness of submission threats. This technique is essential for anyone training in modern submission grappling, as leg entanglements have become increasingly prevalent in contemporary competition.
Starting Position: Ashi Garami Ending Position: Standing Position Success Rates: Beginner 30%, Intermediate 50%, Advanced 70%
Key Principles
- Protect the heel by keeping toes pointed and foot flexed away from opponent
- Control distance with frames to prevent opponent from tightening grip
- Clear the opponent’s legs systematically before attempting extraction
- Maintain hip positioning to prevent advancement to inside sankaku or saddle
- Use grip fighting to break opponent’s control on the trapped leg
- Create space through hip movement before attempting leg removal
- Stay calm and methodical to avoid panic reactions that worsen position
Prerequisites
- Opponent has established inside ashi garami position on one leg
- Your trapped leg is controlled between opponent’s legs
- Opponent maintains grip on your trapped leg or foot
- You have awareness of submission threats (heel hook, toe hold, ankle lock)
- Upper body frames are established to control distance
- Hip positioning allows defensive mobility
Execution Steps
- Establish defensive posture: Immediately sit up and create upper body frames using both hands posted on opponent’s hips or knees. Keep your trapped leg’s toes pointed away from opponent and maintain foot flexion to protect against immediate submission. Control the distance to prevent opponent from securing tighter grips or advancing position. (Timing: Immediate upon recognizing entanglement)
- Address grip fighting: Use your hands to fight opponent’s grips on your trapped leg. If opponent has heel control, use both hands to break the grip by pulling opponent’s hands apart at the thumbs. Maintain constant pressure against opponent’s grips while establishing your own control on their legs or gi. (Timing: Before attempting positional changes)
- Create hip angle: Rotate your hips away from the opponent while maintaining upper body frames. This hip rotation reduces the opponent’s leverage for leg attacks and creates space for your trapped leg to move. Keep your free leg positioned to post and generate additional space if needed. (Timing: After establishing frames and grip control)
- Clear the bottom leg: Use your free leg to step over or push down on opponent’s bottom leg (the leg that is under your trapped leg). This is critical as the bottom leg provides the foundation for their ashi garami control. Push or kick the bottom leg away while maintaining hip angle and frames to prevent opponent from recomposing. (Timing: Once sufficient space is created)
- Clear the top leg: After removing the bottom leg threat, address the top leg by either pushing it down toward the mat or stepping over it with your free leg. Maintain constant pressure and control as you clear this second leg, ensuring opponent cannot re-establish the entanglement or triangle their legs around yours. (Timing: Immediately after clearing bottom leg)
- Extract trapped leg: With both of opponent’s legs cleared, pull your trapped leg straight back and away from opponent’s control. Keep your knee pointing upward and foot flexed as you extract. Immediately establish distance by creating space between you and opponent, either coming to standing position or establishing a guard position. (Timing: Final extraction after both legs cleared)
- Secure safe position: Once leg is extracted, immediately stand up or establish a defensive guard position. Do not remain in range where opponent can re-enter on the legs. Create distance using frames and footwork, then reassess and decide whether to re-engage or maintain distance. (Timing: Immediately post-extraction)
Opponent Counters
- Opponent transitions to inside sankaku or saddle as you attempt to clear legs (Effectiveness: High) - Your Response: Abandon the extraction attempt and immediately defend the more dangerous position by addressing the new leg configuration. Focus on preventing the back step or leg triangle from completing.
- Opponent secures heel hook grip during escape attempt (Effectiveness: High) - Your Response: Stop all movement and immediately address the heel control with both hands. Break the grip before continuing the escape, as movement with heel control can result in injury.
- Opponent uses their free leg to hook your hip or control your upper body (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Maintain frames and create additional space before continuing leg clearance. May need to address the upper body control first before returning to leg extraction sequence.
- Opponent switches to kneebar attack as you create space (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Recognize the transition early and rotate your trapped leg’s knee away from opponent’s chest while maintaining frames. Keep the leg bent to reduce kneebar leverage.
- Opponent establishes strong cross grip on your pants or ankle (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Use two-on-one grip fighting to break the cross grip before attempting extraction. May need to use your free leg to push opponent’s controlling arm away.
Test Your Knowledge
Q1: Why must you clear the opponent’s bottom leg before the top leg during the ashi garami escape? A: The bottom leg provides the foundational structure for the opponent’s ashi garami control and creates the primary barrier preventing your leg from extracting. If you attempt to clear the top leg first, the bottom leg can still maintain the entanglement and the opponent can easily recompose their position. Clearing the bottom leg first removes the structural foundation, making the top leg much easier to address and preventing the opponent from maintaining control.
Q2: What is the primary danger of straightening your trapped leg during an ashi garami escape attempt? A: Straightening the trapped leg creates a direct line of force that makes heel hooks, kneebars, and ankle locks significantly more effective and dangerous. The straight leg provides optimal leverage for the opponent’s submissions and dramatically increases injury risk, particularly to the knee ligaments and ankle. Keeping the leg slightly bent reduces submission leverage and maintains your ability to defend against attacks while working the escape. Only extend the leg during final extraction when the opponent’s legs are completely cleared.
Q3: How does maintaining upper body frames contribute to the success of the ashi garami escape? A: Upper body frames control the distance between you and your opponent, preventing them from tightening their grip on your trapped leg and limiting their ability to generate rotational power for submissions. Frames also prevent you from falling to your back, which would give the opponent superior angles and make advancing to more dangerous positions easier. Additionally, frames provide the base stability needed to execute hip movements and leg clearing actions effectively. Without frames, the opponent can collapse the space and nullify your escape attempts.
Q4: What should you do immediately after successfully extracting your leg from ashi garami and why? A: Immediately create distance by standing up or establishing a defensive guard position, and do not remain seated in range of the opponent’s legs. This is critical because remaining close after extraction allows the opponent to immediately re-enter on your legs and re-establish the entanglement, negating all the work of the escape. Creating distance ensures the opponent cannot quickly re-engage and gives you time to reassess the situation and choose your next strategic move from a position of safety.
Q5: Why is grip fighting considered a priority before attempting major positional changes during the ashi garami escape? A: Strong grips from the opponent on your trapped leg, particularly heel control or ankle grips, provide the mechanical advantage necessary to maintain the position and finish submissions. If you attempt to clear legs or extract while the opponent maintains powerful grips, your movements will be nullified and may even assist the opponent in tightening their control or securing submissions. Breaking grips first removes the opponent’s primary control mechanism and makes the subsequent clearing and extraction steps significantly more effective. This follows the principle of addressing the most direct threats before attempting to improve position.
Q6: How should you modify your escape approach if the opponent transitions to inside sankaku or saddle during your escape attempt? A: You must immediately abandon the standard ashi garami escape sequence and address the more dangerous position. Inside sankaku and saddle provide superior control and more dangerous submission options than standard ashi garami. Continuing with the original escape plan will fail and potentially lead to immediate submission. Instead, focus on preventing the position from fully establishing by addressing the new leg configuration, controlling the opponent’s free leg, and defending against the back step or leg triangle completion. Only after neutralizing the immediate threat can you return to systematic leg extraction.
Safety Considerations
Ashi garami escapes must be practiced with controlled, deliberate movements to prevent knee and ankle injuries. Never make explosive or jerking motions with the trapped leg, as the entanglement creates mechanical disadvantage that can cause self-inflicted ligament damage. Training partners should agree on clear tap protocols and release submissions immediately upon tap. When drilling, the bottom person should maintain moderate resistance that allows technique development without risking injury. Always protect the heel by keeping toes pointed away from opponent and foot flexed. If heel control is secured during live training, stop all movement and address the grip before continuing. Beginners should drill this escape extensively at slow speed with cooperative partners before attempting against resistance. Never practice this escape while fatigued to the point where body control is compromised.
Position Integration
The ashi garami escape is a critical defensive skill within the modern leg lock game, serving as the primary counter to one of the most common leg entanglement positions in no-gi grappling. This escape fits into the broader framework of leg lock defense, which emphasizes systematic clearing of opponent’s legs, grip fighting, and creating extraction angles. Understanding this escape is foundational before learning defenses against more complex entanglements like inside sankaku, saddle, or outside ashi garami, as the fundamental principles of leg clearing and hip positioning carry forward to these variations. The escape also integrates with guard recovery systems, as successful extraction often leads to re-establishing seated guard or standing positions. Competent execution of this escape allows practitioners to engage in modern leg lock exchanges with confidence, knowing they possess the defensive skills necessary to escape when entanglements occur. This technique is essential for both leg lock specialists who must defend against their own game and for traditional position-focused grapplers who need to navigate the leg entanglement phase safely.
Expert Insights
- Danaher System: The ashi garami escape exemplifies a fundamental principle of defensive grappling: you must address control points in hierarchical order based on their structural significance. The bottom leg provides the foundation upon which all ashi garami control rests - it is the load-bearing element of the entanglement. Attempting to clear the top leg first is biomechanically inefficient because the bottom leg can still maintain the core structure of the position. This is analogous to trying to demolish a building by removing the roof before the supporting columns. Students must understand that defensive sequences are not arbitrary - they follow mechanical logic. The systematic nature of this escape teaches broader lessons about how to approach all entanglement defenses: identify the structural foundation, remove it methodically, then address secondary controls. The grip fighting component cannot be overstated. Grips represent the transmission of force from the opponent’s body to yours. Superior grip configuration allows inferior positions to maintain control, while broken grips render even structurally sound positions vulnerable. In ashi garami escapes, the battle over heel control is paramount. The heel provides the fulcrum for rotational attacks and must be protected through grip fighting and positional awareness. This escape rewards patience and systematic execution over athleticism and explosiveness.
- Gordon Ryan: In high-level competition, the ashi garami escape is a race against time and opponent advancement. You need to recognize immediately whether your opponent is a leg lock specialist or an opportunistic attacker, because this determines how much time you have to work the escape. Against elite leg lockers like Craig Jones or Garry Tonon, you have maybe two to three seconds before they advance to saddle or secure a dangerous heel hook grip. This means your escape must be rehearsed to the point of instinct - you cannot afford to think through steps. My approach emphasizes aggressive grip fighting from the first moment of entanglement. I use both hands to break heel control immediately, even if it means temporarily sacrificing some defensive framing. Without heel control, most opponents cannot finish efficiently, buying me the time to execute the systematic clearing sequence. I also focus on hip positioning to make saddle entries difficult. By keeping my hips turned away and maintaining frames, I force opponents to work harder for advancements, creating windows for escape. In competition, I’ve found that the standing extraction variation works extremely well against opponents who commit heavily to the bottom leg position. If I can establish vertical base, I can use my bodyweight to collapse their structure and extract quickly. The key competitive insight is this: defensive success in leg entanglements comes from making the position uncomfortable and unprofitable for your opponent, forcing them to abandon it rather than waiting to perfectly execute every step of the escape.
- Eddie Bravo: The traditional ashi garami escape works, but in 10th Planet system we also explore some unconventional options that keep opponents guessing. One technique we use is the inverted approach - instead of always trying to extract backward, sometimes we commit forward over the trapped leg with a rolling motion. This completely changes the angle and can break stubborn grips through momentum rather than pure strength. It’s not the highest percentage move, but it’s a valid tool when conventional escapes are being shut down. The other thing we emphasize is staying dangerous even while defending. From ashi garami, before fully escaping, we look for heel hook entries on the opponent’s exposed leg. This creates a dilemma for them - finish their attack quickly or defend their own leg. That split-second hesitation can be the window you need to complete the escape. We also integrate the escape into our overall leg entanglement game. Students learn that ashi garami escape and ashi garami entry use similar movements in reverse. Understanding the entry helps you defend it better. In training, we do specific sparring starting from ashi garami where both people can attack or escape. This live problem-solving develops the creativity and adaptability needed when perfect technical execution isn’t available. The reality is leg entanglements are chaotic and dynamic - having multiple escape paths and the ability to improvise is just as important as knowing the fundamental technique.