When thinking about the straight ankle lock, most people are typically taught the entry from the single leg X position. This is a standard form of ashi garami which involves wrapping one leg of yours on the inside of the opponent’s leg, with your other leg on the inside. Often this is taught to newcomers because it’s relatively easy to get a simple grasp on. However, the Caio Terra ankle lock isn’t nearly as common.
Perhaps a big reason for this is that it is more complicated to set up and maybe confusing to beginners. Having said this, the Caio Terra lock is awesome and arguably more dangerous than the standard single leg X achilles lock. Below we will give a step-by-step breakdown as to how to enter and finish the Caio Terra ankle lock. With this in your arsenal, your de la riva position will be more aggressive than ever and people will fear standing against you if they know you can hit the submission.
Table of Contents
Setting up the Caio Terra ankle lock
The initial set up to the Caio Terra ankle lock is probably the hardest part and is what puts most people off. In brief, if you can master this then everything else will fall into place. Think about the start of the move as the fundamentals, without this done correctly, you will struggle with the rest of the move.
To begin with, you want to start in a regular de la riva position. This means holding their near ankle with your leg wrapped around theirs and with your far foot posted on their far hip. Normally, this involves being off at an angle as you don’t want to be straight on to your opponent because you can get your guard crushed easier from here.
The first step is to actually turn and face your opponent directly. As said above, this isn’t taught when thinking about the de la riva as it can be a negative. If the opponent stuffs your leg then they can enter the ‘headquarters’ position and start passing. However, you should face them directly to set up the correct ankle grip. When facing them, you may also need to do a small butt scoot towards them to close the distance and get closer to the ankle.
In brief, these two movements are crucial, otherwise you will not be able to create the ankle lock grip. This is the main thing that beginners get wrong, they either try to get the lock from the original de la riva angle, or try it when facing the opponent but being too far away. Basically, you need to get close to the opponent so you can get a standard ankle lock grip with your arm.
This will mean your de la riva leg wrap isn’t twisted around the opponent’s leg as much. Instead it will be parallel to their leg and falling off to the side. The next step is to then move your other leg inside, behind the opponent’s far knee. This will act as a hook when sweeping the opponent, but also it hides your leg. If you face your opponent directly with your far leg hanging out, the opponent can easily leg drag or start stacking you to pass. However, if your far leg is hidden then you are safe from passes.
How to sweep from the Caio Terra ankle lock
With this set up, you are now ready to sweep the opponent. Even if you have no reason to attempt the ankle lock, you can instead use this position to sweep the opponent and come on top. This is similar to a single leg X sweep. Whilst you can opt to finish the submission, you can alternatively let go and decide to come on top. This is the same here, but it’s arguably easier to get on top after the de la riva sweep.
Anyway, to create the sweep you should do two things. The first is to use your far leg as a hook. Here you should pull the leg towards you to off-balance the opponent. This will also stop the opponent from backstepping to escape the position. The second thing to do relies on your other leg. This is the more aggressive leg of the two that will create the sweep.
Here, you should chop down with your calf muscle on their shin. This should put enough pressure on the opponent’s leg to force the sweep. If not, then you should place your calf on the opponent’s kneecap. With this done, when pushing down it will feel like a kneebar and force them to accept the sweep. Ideally, you want to sweep without putting the calf on the knee. Whilst this is fine, the idea is to keep the leg lower on the shin to stop the opponent from grabbing it and stopping the sweep.
How to finish the Caio Terra ankle lock
Ideally, the ankle lock can finish the opponent whilst they’re still standing. This is possible and it may feel like their shin could snap due to pressure. However, even with good technique, most people will fall before tapping. From here, it is essential to wrap your calf under the opponent’s leg. This is key for control and means the opponent can’t unwrap your leg. If they do this, your calf will no longer put pressure on the shin which takes off pressure from their ankle. This means that the ankle lock would no longer work as without pressure on the ankle, it is pointless.
Once the leg is hidden correctly, you should then finish it as a regular ankle lock. This means grabbing around the tendons and not the muscle, otherwise, it may not tap as many people due to the muscle being less painful than the tendons. After this, you can kick the far leg over to the near hip and push away.
Whilst pushing down with your calf muscle on the leg, you should simultaneously bridge upwards with the ankle lock grip. This pushes the leg in the opposite direction of the foot which creates immense pressure and pain. At this point, you should get the submission due to the pressure and control on the foot of the opponent.
How to defend the Caio Terra ankle lock
One benefit of knowing the mechanics of a submission is that you’re more likely to understand how to defend it. As has been touched upon, a lot of this depends on the intial de la riva hook. For example, if you get swept to the floor by the sweep, then you must immediately remove the hook and push the leg upwards to relieve pressure. If you are put to the floor and the opponent hides the hook deep underneath your leg, then it may be too late to remove the hook which means the submission is over and you should tap.
Whilst this is one method, there are others. For instance, when the opponent is setting up the move from the bottom, you can also push down on the far hook and back step. This can be risky as it can open up toeholds as well as back takes. Nonetheless, if you are very paranoid about the initial foot lock then it can be an issue. Alternatively if you manage to stuff the far hook inside your legs then squatting to you knees is often a good route to shutting down sweeps from your opponent.
Is the Caio Terra ankle lock legal?
The Caio Terra lock is a really good, unusual ankle lock that is often forgotten about when looking at leg locks. Not only this, but one benefit is that it’s IBJJF legal at all belts, so even at white belt it can be used. One issue with this though, is that there are a couple of internet videos and stories of confused referees that show the submission resulting in a DQ. However, as it’s now more common than ever, this confusion is becoming less and less frequent.
As well, it can be used in both no gi and in the gi with no crossover issues. Perhaps the main issue with this move is that the initial set up can be tough to get down. Typically, students may give up at this point as it may take longer to learn when compared to more basic moves.
A way around this is by constant drilling and troubleshooting when looking at the position. However, once learned it is easy enough to set up and you should give it ago. Put another way, if it’s good enough for Caio Terra who is one of the greats, then it’s good enough for anyone to venture into if it catches your interest.
