Most arm locks used in mixed martial arts come from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which got them from Judo. Most leg locks in use came from Russian Sambo. However, one hold is so dangerous, it is forbidden in both, even in the most expert level competition – the Heel Hook.
As the name indicates, it came from the tradition of real, professional wrestling in the West. The pro wrestling term for a real match is a shoot, and a term for a real concession hold is a hook.
The heel hook is the among the most potentially injurious. However, it is considered mainly to be a sportive technique. However, YouTube user MyMucks used it in a street fight.
“This guy cheap shoted me after his friend got his ass kicked by me,” he wrote. “But i felt bad that his face was so ugly, so i didn’t smash his face in.”
In the video, one guy gets a single leg takedown. The man on bottom attempts to upkick. Top man then tries a standing heel hook, before falling back for a more orthodox application. The losing man taps, and the tap is honored, pretty much.
The heel is so dangerous for two reasons. One, a fully applied heel hook can tear the ACL, MCL, and meniscus. Counter intuitively, a heel hook is extremely dangerous because it is not painful, right up until injury occurs.
And arm hurts a little when it is applied a little, and it is hurts a lot when it is applied a lot, and it hurts like your arm got ripped off it is applied fully. However, in the heat of competition, a heel hook can barely be felt. Even when injury occurs, it is often experienced more as a noise than as a sensation.
Imagine the sound of several popsicle sticks snapping in very rapid succession. That is what a heel hook sounds like. Sometimes the injured party, still warm, thinks it is possible that they are ok, and may be able to roll again in a few moments.
However, when the body cools down, the pain ramps up, and up, and up. Then surgery is required, a with a replacement ligament from a different place on the body, or from a cadaver. Real training is not possible for six months.
Therefore, in any context but a professional MMA fight or a street situation in which you face serious injury, if you apply a heel hook, apply it gently. It is not worth doing it hard. And if you get caught in a heel hook – tap immediately. Do not wait for it to hurt.
Next, the same guy uses a Kimura in a street fight…
In this video is of the same guy, and was apparently shot on the same day, unless the makes a habit of getting in street fights while wearing the identical t-shirt, belt, and tee shirt.
It is presumably the street fight referenced in the top video.
This time, instead of a leg lock, the man defends himself with a Kimura, an attack on the shoulder and/or elbow. It happened when instead of taking the other man down, he is himself driven to the ground. Following the principles of BJJ, he then controlled the larger man’s hip from bottom, keeping himself safe, until the opponent makes a mistake.
If they are not trained, they always make a mistake.
The technique gets its name from October 23, 1951, when Helio Gracie challenged the greatest Judoka of all time, Masahiko Kimura. Kimura broke Gracie’s arm, and since then, it is has been known as a “Kimura.” Given that it is named for a Judoka, and the move has a long history in Judo, calling it by its real name might be appropriate too. In Judo it is called Ude Garami, whether the attacked arm is up (think a waiter holding a tray by the shoulder) or the arm is down (sort of like someone putting their hand in a pocket. When the arm is up, the hold is referred to as an Americana in BJJ, although sometimes the term Kimura is used for both arm up and arm down.
