The half guard is a good method in attacking a number of leg lock positions. A variety of these are heel hooks, achilles locks, kneebars and toe holds. Today we will be focusing on the toe hold, though all of the submissions flow from similar entries. The entries are often used by the likes of Craig Jones where he elevates his opponents to get under the legs and start attacking. Similarly, World Champion Marcus Buchecha has also used similar methods to attack his opponent’s legs from the half guard.
Table of Contents
Entry into the Toe hold position
To enter the toe hold position you need to start from the Z guard, knee shield position. This involves having an active frame against your opponent’s upper body to stop them from crushing you. With this set up you can begin entering the position. The first step is to bring your outside foot inwards to create a half-butterfly guard. This means you still have the bottom leg entangled with the outside leg acting as an active butterfly hook
The next step is to get your far hand into your opponent’s armpit. Simultaneously you then want to kick them away from you with the butterfly hook and push their armpit in the same direction. This should generate enough force for the opponent to move to the side of your body. If the opponent doesn’t react then they would fall and get swept, which is unlikely even for a beginner.
The likelihood is that the opponent uses their hand to base on the mat to defend the sweep. In doing so their weight is now distributed onto the far side of their body. This means the opponent’s near leg is now much lighter and weighs less. With this achieved you can then start attacking the toehold.
Whilst this entry is legitimate, there is also a gi variation that is equally as successful. The idea with this method is not to grab both arms under the leg. Instead, you make a deep grip on the collar with your far arm. Next, you place your knee on your hand and bring your knee towards the opposite direction.
This will move the opponent due to the weight of your leg being so heavy. From there, you can attack the leg as you usually would. One benefit of this method is that you avoid getting caught with a crossface. With this in mind, the gi entry is arguably safer from a defensive point of view.
Finishing the toehold submission
To finish the submission you want to get the figure four toehold grip on the opponent’s foot. Remember to try and cover their toes and keep the Kimura grip as tight to their foot as possible to make the submission more controlled and painful. If the grip is loose then the submission will not be as controlled or as damaging as if it were a tight grip. When gripping the foot remember to avoid the opponent’s cross face too. In doing this you want to duck your head low into their leg and avoid their upper body.
Whilst doing this you want to keep both legs wrapped around your opponents leg to keep good control. The finishing step is to bend the foot back towards the opponent’s buttocks. This creates a tight submission that should finish the opponent and result in a tap.
Always remember that when finishing the toehold, it is not just about pushing the toes inwards to the body, you must also place a large emphasis on bringing the opponent’s heel towards yourself. This will force the hold to come on much faster as it is more technical.
Using the toehold to sweep
Against experienced opponents, they may defend by trying to cross face and attempt a backstep. Ideally, you would have finished the submission before they have time to react, but this is not always realistic. Sometimes if the opponent is too stubborn and not tapping, you may have to accept the sweep as opposed to the submission which does happen in BJJ.
To sweep the opponent you should use your inside foot to hook behind the opponent’s far knee. Your outside foot should hook around the opponent’s far foot. This means when they backstep you keep contact with their leg and can follow them.
To complete the sweep you should follow their backstep whilst keeping active hooks on their far leg. After this, you should keep one hand wrapped around their toes and release your other hand to post. Pushing the toes inwards means they can stand properly and you can use the other hand to come up. With this done you should end in the top open guard and if you keep the toe grip pushed into the opponent, you can even control the opponent and get to side control from there.
Summary
Overall the toehold from bottom half guard is an effective way to submit or sweep the opponent. It works by elevating the opponent upwards to gain access to their legs. It is also useful to deploy against stronger opponents who cannot use muscle to defend their legs. Not only this, but the move can be used to attack straight ankle locks and heel hooks so it is a good position to master for various rule sets.
Sometimes, one negative of Z guard is that it is difficult to attack stronger opponents from there. However, with the addition of the toe hold to your game, it means submissions are easier to attack. This is because even if an opponent is strong, it doesn’t matter as much when going for lower body submissions. Because of this, the toehold from Z guard is something to consider if you are a half guard player to begin with.
