Title: Straight Ankle Lock: Steps, Key Details & Mistakes | DARCE

Canonical: https://darce.app/techniques/bjj/straight-ankle-lock

> Straight Ankle Lock. Trap the foot in your armpit and bridge your hips to attack the Achilles and ankle.

# Straight Ankle Lock

- BJJ
- Leg Locks
- fundamental
- Ashi garami
- 3 steps

Trap the foot in your armpit and bridge your hips to attack the Achilles and ankle. Also known as the Achilles lock or the Botinha. Here is the exact breakdown from the DARCE app: 3 steps, the details that make it work, and the mistakes to avoid.

## When to use it

Use the straight ankle lock from ashi garami when the opponent sits back or tries to pull the foot free. It is often the first leg lock to learn, because the finish is easy to control. Trap the foot in your armpit with the blade of your forearm under the Achilles.

## Step by step

1. 01

   ### Ashi garami

   Control the leg with your knees pinching and the foot lined up to your chest.

2. 02

   ### Trap the foot

   Clamp their foot in your armpit, blade of your forearm under the Achilles, and grip your own lapel or hand.

3. 03

   ### Bridge & finish

   Pinch your knees, fall back and bridge your hips forward to drive the forearm into the Achilles.

## Key details

- Line the foot up centre-chest and trap it tight in the armpit.
- Finish with a hip bridge, not just arm pull.
- Pinch the knees so they cannot spin out or stand.

## Common mistakes

- Letting the foot slide out of the armpit.
- Pulling with the arm and forgetting the hip bridge.
- Loose knees that let them rotate free.

## Common counters

Opponents flex the foot toward the shin and pull it out of the armpit, sit up into you to kill the bridge, or step over your leg and turn out. Loose knees let them spin free. Pinch the knees and bridge the hips, not the arm.

## How to drill it

From ashi garami, trap the foot and finish slowly with a hip bridge while your partner taps early, ten reps on each side. Then do three rounds of one minute where your partner tries to free the foot and you keep the entanglement.

## Related techniques

- [Heel Hook BJJ Control the leg, trap the heel and rotate it to torque the knee. Extremely dangerous, drill with care.](https://darce.app/techniques/bjj/heel-hook)
- [Kneebar BJJ Straighten the leg and bridge your hips against the back of the knee to hyperextend the joint.](https://darce.app/techniques/bjj/kneebar)
- [Toe Hold BJJ Figure-four grip the foot and rotate it to torque the ankle and knee.](https://darce.app/techniques/bjj/toe-hold)

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