Mikey Musumeci got together with Bernado Faria to breakdown how he was able to get the fastest submission in an IBJJF world finals. This broke the previous world record of 18 seconds held by Rodrigo Medieiros. This feat even earned Musumeci a Guinness World Record.
Musumeci won his weight category with a straight footlock in Long Beach, California during 2019. The previous record had stood for 20 years and didn’t look like being beaten by anything other than a leglock. Whilst wristlocks are also fast submissions, it’s highly unlikely they will be caught this fast at black belt level, if at all.
Musumeci says he learnt how to finish the footlock properly by constantly teaching it at seminars. Contrary to popular belief, he mentions that you must stop thinking about the achilles when you want to finish the footlock. Instead he says you should be aiming to put pressure on the top side of the foot. By shutting down the muscles of the foot and not allowing the opponent to flex backwards, you have a much higher degree of breaking power in your submission.
The world champion goes on to add that there is really no need to wrap the achilles at all. Your shoulder should be the start of the submission to crush your opponents foot downwards. Your grip around the leg will help you to finish the submission, but is not what truly matters.
