Lately, there seems to be unrest around the globe, we have riots throughout the world including those in the BJJ motherland. Some marketing moron thought it would be good idea to photograph Justin Beiber molesting the Stanley Cup, Prince gets himself Gracie Blue Belt, and Anderson Silva enters the matrix and never leaves due to Chris Wideman unplugging his phone. What is this world coming to? Sometimes I just want to hold onto the moment and look for some semblance of calm - Lock it down if you will... hi-hat, snare.
The lockdown, as named by Mr. Eddie Bravo, is a little utilized technique in grappling which can have great effects. Most grapplers look at the lockdown as a position where you crank uncontrollably on your opponents calf or the place where you hold on for dear life - afraid to let go and get passed. Those are indeed some uses of the position and as annoying as the lockdown can be to the top man, if used properly the lockdown can be used to submit, sweep and transition in a variety of ways.
But for most grapplers the last thing we want is to stay stuck in the same position for five minutes, unless your competing and just happened to find yourself in 50/50.
The lockdown's origins come by way of Japan so why not take a trip back to Judo and learn how to break and pass the lockdown. Take a look at this technique brought to us by I love Judo Magazine.