So normally when I think of leg locks I either am thinking of an Achilles lock or an ankle lock. Last Wednesday’s class was a little weird at the end. One of the brown belts showed the 3-sided choke, and that lead to a round of “have you seen this one”. Well we started in an arm bars and Sensei showed a leg bar – which is just weird – you basically end up with your weight on your shoulders and your chin buried in your navel.
Sensei did not teach the move – just showed us (on me) twice. However I think this is what was happening. It felt like he stepped over my leg, hooked the ankle and sat back pretty much like you would setting an arm bar. Just like you need to be careful sitting into the technique with an arm bar so you don’t blow the elbow, Sensei was similarly carful to keep things loose enough while sitting into so he did not blow my knee. He could have easily torqued against my knee and blown it any time he wanted to, but the bar seems to be a pin pulling straight down the V formed by your thighs. The result is stacking the pinned person on their shoulders.