When attacking with ashi garami – make your first movement hip to hip: The single most common cause of failure for all submission attacks is too much space between the points of connection between your body and your opponent's – leg locking from ashi garami is no exception. I always counsel my students when attacking with ashi garami based leg locks – make your first movement a scoot of your hips to your opponent's hips – everything else comes after this. NO OTHER adjustment OR COMPENSATION YOU CAN MAKE CAN ATONE FOR FAILURE TO close DISTANCE AND CONNECT PROPERLY – so make that your first priority. Here, Garry Tonon has done a fine job of getting close and staying close despite strong resistance. This makes all subsequent actions towards a break easier and more efficient – resulting in a perfect lock and victory.
