In the pre-YouTube era, jiu jitsu academies had very demarcated styles and we could often tell an athlete’s lineage without looking at his gi patch work. Tournaments were as much of a proving ground as they were a chance to study different positions and the technical advances made in the sport.
Those days are gone. YouTube and social media have tore down the wall of mysticism that surrounded that era. With more regular tournaments than ever before, and instant access to live broadcasts across the globe, this free-trade of techniques has allowed for jiu jitsu’s technical expansion at a tremendous pace over the past 6 to 7 years. One athlete becomes popular applying one move and before we know it, another one has picked up where he left off and evolved the position in a different direction, stretching techniques to the limits of one’s imagination.
This exchange of information has led to many jiu jitsu developments, one of those has been the “Single Leg X-Guard” to “Toe Hold” submission. The Single Leg X was made famous by the extraordinary Marcelo Garcia, and the particular footlock from that position has been produced in the Fight Zone Copacabana laboratory (Checkmat).
The position was often used by two of the team’s most well known figures while competing as brown belts, Jackson Sousa and Thiago Sá Fortes but it had yet to make its appearance in the black belt division. This has now changed.
Both Thiago and Jackson have now entered their 2nd year as black belts, cementing their status as top contenders in their respective divisions. Having added the experience necessary to make it at the highest level in this sport, both athletes have returned to their old “reliable” position and have been collecting some feet since the 2nd semester of 2015. Among the victims of this deadly combo, you see big names such as Joshua Hinger, Gabriel Arges and Max Campos (to name a few).
Check out below the sequence of this beautiful Single Leg X Toe Hold (position starts at 2:50):
