Leg entanglements allow you to stay a step ahead at all times in guard play: An opponent can hide his upper body from submissions quite well no gi simply by standing up. He can negate whole categories of sweeps by switching between standing and kneeling postures. One thing he can never hide by completely by changing stance is his legs – there is always a way to enter. Once you start threatening the legs your opponent cannot simply ignore it – he has to react. As such you immediately put him in a framework where he is reacting to YOUR game rather than you to his. In combat sports this is a crucial advantage. Here, Garry Tonon ties up the great ADCC champion Vinny Magalhaes in a classic backside 50/50 and puts him under strong pressure despite the big size difference. Learning to dictate the pace and get an opponent into a reactive mindset is a crucial part of guard play – learning to attack legs from everywhere is a great way to do it!
