Developing Grippy Feet

Often, when grappling with someone who’s skilled, you might notice that they don’t just tie you up with their hands, their arms and their legs… they use their feet.  The really impressive (and somewhat disturbing) effect of this is that it feels like they are grabbing you with their feet.  They’ll hook your legs with a foot and pull your leg off at a funny angle, making it nearly impossible for you to use the captured leg.  They’ll hook under your arm with a foot and “grab” your back and flip you over.  So long as you’re able to get over the fact that they’re picking you apart, it’s pretty cool stuff.

The solution to this (of course) is to steal it.  Learn how to use your feet like hooks.  Learn how to use them to grip and tie up your partner.  One great place to start with this idea is when you’ve got your partner’s back and you’re going for a choke.  Almost everyone who has done some grappling knows the (doom filled) feeling of having someone behind them putting on a choke.  And again, almost everyone who has experienced this (doom filled) feeling knows that it often involves the “choker” using their feet as hooks to stop any escape.

So today we drilled putting each other in this terrible position and then playing from there.  We focused on using the feet (and calves/shins) to prevent our partner from escaping.  I *think* it’s a solid introduction to the idea of developing grippy feet.

Thanks as always to the crew from Alive MMA for the material.