Lachlan Giles is an Australian who is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Known as being a great teacher with the likes of Craig Jones and Livia Giles under his belt, he also made history in 2019 when he achieved a bronze medal at ADCC. During this historic run in the absolutes category, Giles managed to submit Kaynan Duarte, Patrick Gaudio, and Mahamed Aly all by inside heel hook.
With this done, he helped shine a light on the effectiveness of heel hooks from the 50/50 position, whilst also proving that you could still defeat bigger opponents with the correct gameplan and strategy. Here’s a list of interesting facts about Lachlan Giles.
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What age did Lachlan Giles start BJJ?
Lachlan Giles began training BJJ at the age of 15 years old. He had a previous background in traditional martial arts with stuff like Kung Fu before making the switch to BJJ. Remember, this would have been in the early 2000s, when BJJ was still very alien in Australia.
Put another way, this is why Giles has pioneer status within the Australian-BJJ community. He may not have been the first to do it, but he was certainly one of the biggest names whilst BJJ began to grow in his country. Interestingly, starting at age 15 also shows that he started training later in life which is inspiring to those who don’t start as youngsters.
How tall is Lachlan Giles?
Apparently, Lachlan Giles stands around 5’6 feet tall. This means that he’s not exactly tall by any means. However, in BJJ this build is actually ideal by many standards. From a defensive standpoint, it can make you tougher to submit or stall whilst offering many of the same offensive moves that other body-types have on offer.
Who trained Lachlan Giles & gave him his black belt?
Lachlan Giles was awarded his black belt in 2012 by John Simon. At the time, there would have been very few black belts living in Australia so John Simon should be applauded for helping the discipline blossom. Not too long after getting his black belt, Giles started teaching himself in St. Kilda – where he still teaches today.
It should also be noted that Giles didn’t train under John Simon until he got his purple belt. Due to a bad knee injury, Giles actually had to stop training for a while, which is where John Simon stepped in after his return.
Is Lachlan Giles a doctor?
Lachlan Giles has a PhD in physiotherapy. Therefore, within some circles, you could call Lachlan Giles a doctor. He has actually spoken on the topic and given his expert advice on injuries which he obviously has expertise on.
For instance, in the past – Giles has talked about heel hook injuries and the biomechanics of ligament damage caused by such submissions. As it happens, Lachlan isn’t the only BJJ black belt who has a PhD in physiotherapy.
What game does Lachlan Giles play?
Like many of his contemporaries, Lachlan Giles doesn’t really train in the gi and is suited towards no gi BJJ these days. Because of this, his game reflects this. For the most part, his main submission is the heel hook which he specializes in, particularly from the 50/50 position.
Not only this but he also plays a half guard game, K Guard, and uses pressure passing whilst on top. Generally, though, Giles is best known for his leg lock techniques.
If you’re a fan of Lachlan Giles then check out his chokes DVD here.
