Cross Ashi Garami

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Cross ashi garami — the saddle, honey hole, 4/11 — is the leg entanglement position where both of the attacker’s legs cross to the same side of the opponent’s leg. The inside heel is exposed. Both the attacker’s legs and hip control the opponent’s leg bilaterally. This is the primary position for the inside heel hook. When the crossed legs close into a full triangle around the near leg, the position upgrades to inside sankaku — tighter still.

Cross ashi is the hardest leg entanglement to escape because it removes the secondary leg as a defensive resource — both the attacker’s legs are across the opponent’s thigh and shin, meaning the free leg cannot be used to push off the attacker’s hip. The bilateral hip control also means the inside heel is exposed with no mechanical barrier between it and the attacker’s grip. The inside heel hook from this position has the shortest injury-to-tap timeline of any submission in grappling. Defence is covered first on this page without exception.

Elevated RiskCross Ashi / Saddle / Inside Sankaku is an elevated risk technique. The inside heel hook from this position attacks the ACL and medial knee structures through rotation. The cross ashi position provides bilateral hip control, meaning the inside heel is exposed with no secondary leg resource for escape. Rotation begins immediately on gripping and reaches structural damage threshold very quickly. Serious injury can occur within a small number of rotational degrees.

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.

Do not train this technique while fatigued or in live rolling without established mat culture.