Ashi Garami Toe Hold
The toe hold from ashi garami, mutual ashi and outside sankaku in no-gi — the outside-line toe hold, and why the space it needs makes it a top-side attack.
Adapted from InGrappling, Ashi Garami Toe Hold. System Games did not invent this curriculum.
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The toe hold taken from the outside line — ashi garami and single leg X, mutual ashi, and outside sankaku. Same figure-four, same rotation and extension, taken from beside the leg rather than from inside it.
The outside line gives the toe hold something the inside line does not: room. The figure-four needs space to crunch up into, and an attacker sitting outside the knee line has it. That is why the toe hold is described as a top-side ashi attack more often than a saddle attack.
It sits alongside the outside heel hook and the ankle lock as one of three things an outside entanglement offers, and it is the one most often taken when the defender has done a good job of hiding the heel.
Elevated RiskAshi Garami Toe Hold is an elevated risk technique. Internal rotation plus plantarflexion loading the ankle and the small bones of the foot. Faster than an ankle lock and with less warning — the toe hold finishes before many defenders have decided to tap. Serious injury can occur Short. The outside position does not lengthen the clock the way it does for the heel hook, because the toe hold is a grip attack rather than a knee attack..
If you are new to this technique: read this section before anything else. Understanding the danger is part of understanding the technique.
The person applying the technique is responsible for releasing immediately.
Communicate before drilling. Know your partner's experience level with this position.