Achilles Squeeze
We all have an Achilles heel; it's our Achilles tendon. The Achilles tendon runs the
length of the lower leg. A tough cord like tissue coupled with nerves that cause the leg
and foot to work in harmony. A common submission is to attack that tendon with the blades
of the arm. Uke will often give Tori an opportunity to lock this hold on out of the guard.
Tori controls Uke's leg then wraps the leg with an arm and using a palm to palm or lever
grip drives the blades of the wrist into the tendon. Specifically Tori needs to
target Uke's leg between the bottom of the calve muscle and above the ankle. Tori must use
his legs to keep Uke stretched out. You can either scissors one leg, or use your inside
leg to stretch Uke's other leg. With Uke stretched out; arch your hips to bring more
pressure to bear.
It is critical that you have good control over your opponents leg. Ideally you
have the leg controled and also bent in several different direction. The more
unnatural of a position you can hold that leg in the more vunurable you make that leg and
the more likely you are to gain a submission. Truth be told most poeple do this hold
incorrectly and while they are able to cause pain they will not be able to generate enough
pressure to get a submission over a tough player. Note that most experienced players
only tap when threatened by potential injury. The way most people do an achillies
lock there is little or no threat on injury. However done correctly with solid leg
control and in a position where you can use you hips to power the lock this hold is a true
hook and the threat of serious, even permant injury is very real and immediete.
One part of getting the leg in the right posisiton is putting a bend in the ankle that
will make the tendon more vunurable.
Make sure you have Uke's toes pointing towards the wall. If Uke can keep his feet
pointing towards the ceiling they will remain relatively safe. To force Uke's
feet flat you need to use your back and shoulders. A twisting action will help point
the toes towards the wall which will stretch Ukes leg out; making him vulnerable.
Wrong |
Notice Uke's foot is pointing towards the ceiling. A
strong man can still cause pain here - but not enough to make a tough guy submit.
Also from this position Uke can push his leg forward to lessen the hold's effectiveness |
Pointing to Pain |
Here the toes are pointing to the wall. In this
position the tendons are stretches and far more vulnerable then when the toes point up.
This is the principle of unnatural position. In this position you have
effectively removed Uke's leg strength and ability to resist the hold. Also twisting
sideways will add even more bend. |
To fight this hold Uke will need to sit up and push his foot into Tori and towards the
floor. Don't try to pull your leg away as this will simply move the pressure closer to
your ankle where you are more vulnerable. This is counter intuitive (as is much or
grappling) - but pulling away will just make things worse. Since Tori has your foot;
pulling your leg clear away will be nearly impossible. If you push into Tori you might be
able to move the hold up towards the calve where you will have more muscle to resist. As
you push try to grab hold of Tori; his arm, gi, head - anything will do. If Tori makes a
mistake and falls on his back with out strong leg control you can rock onto Tori and take
a mount. If you can get a grip you will need to keep pushing and force the hold high up on
the leg which will diminish the techniques effectiveness. As Tori tries to re-adjust you
will then have a chance to escape the hold. Another common tactic to fight an Achilles
lock is to grab one of your own. This can distract Tori and may cause him to abandon his
hold. It will also tie up Tori's leg and will prevent him from bringing pressure to bear.
The same technique can be applied cross body or with Uke turned to his belly. The
principle is simple cut the blades of the arm into the back of Uke's leg, I can not stress
the blades enough. Without the blades cutting into Uke’s leg this is nothing more
then a poorly placed hug. You have to have hard sharp bone against the tendon to cause
sufficient pain to get a tap. Note that different people have different pain thresholds.
Some guys will not give up to an Achilles no matter what thinking it is just pain and will
not cause injury; but that is not true. Extreme pressure for extended periods of time will
cause spasms, cramps and potentially tears in the tendons and ligaments that run along the
foot and ankle. Such tears will take months to heal correctly and will limit a players
ability to play, practice, lift and walk without pain. Futhermore when really locked on
well a master will be able to twist the ankle and can cause sprains, strains and breaks.
The moral of the story is: if your caught – TAP OUT.
One other trick with the blades is that I won’t apply then until I’ve got Uke
in a good position. Most tough guys will resists this technique – fighting through
the first seconds of pain. If you keep the flat of your arm on Uke while applying the
technique there will not be much pain. Uke who was expecting a lot of pain is geared to
fight through it. With the first few seconds of the hold past Uke will begin to think
– "this isn’t so bad." At that moment you twist your wrists and cut
his foot off. I also wait until I’ve got Uke’s foot pointed towards the wall. If
Uke has his toes pointed at the ceiling it will be far easier to resist the technique. Use
your back and arm muscles to bend Uke’s foot – point it towards the wall. This
will stretch the tendon and make Uke more vulnerable. Once you have the foot do not try to
rush the hold. Take your time and do it right.
Note - Thus far I have only talked about arm placement and body
manipulation. But I have not yet talked about how you get into the hold. There
is no end to how you get this lock. The most important thing to remeber is the
princible of Isolate, weaken and overwhelm.
Here is a few variations of the Achllies.
Follow this link to see more set ups and
applications.
Achllies Lock Counters
Wrapping Ankle
Locks
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