Saddle Calf Slicer
The calf slicer from the saddle in no-gi — the wedge is already there, and hiding the heel is what completes it. The attack a correct heel hook defence hands over.
Adapted from the original page. Grappling.Games did not write this. Sources.
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The calf slicer taken from cross ashi. The saddle has already put your shin across the back of the opponent’s leg — the wedge the submission needs is not something you build, it is what the entanglement is made of. What you add is the flexion: their heel driven toward their own backside, compressing the calf against your shin.
The thing worth understanding about this version is where it comes from. Hiding the heel is what completes it. A defender answering the inside heel hook correctly bends the knee and brings the heel in toward their body — and that is precisely the sharply bent leg the calf slicer requires. The correct defence to the primary attack builds the secondary one.
It is one more item in an already crowded position. From the saddle the defender is simultaneously answering the inside heel hook, the Mikey lock, the toe hold and the kneebar; the calf slicer is the option that opens when they solve the heel and leave the knee bent.
Elevated RiskSaddle Calf Slicer is an elevated risk technique. Compression of the calf muscle against a rigid wedge, with the knee loaded in deep flexion behind it. Muscle and connective tissue take the compression first and the posterior knee structures take the flexion, so damage is diffuse rather than localised to one ligament — which is exactly why defenders ride it. Serious injury can occur Slower to arrive than the inside heel hook that shares this position, and that difference is the trap rather than a margin. Compression injuries do not announce a moment of failure..
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.