Okay, so I’ve been hearing a lot about this Matthew Maldonado guy in the BJJ world. People keep saying he’s got some slick moves, especially his leg locks. I figured, I’d give his stuff a shot and see what the hype is all about. I’m no black belt, just a regular dude who likes to roll, so this is my experience trying to learn some of his techniques.
First thing I did was search around for some videos. Found some breakdowns of his matches, some instructionals. Started with the basics, just trying to understand his entries into the leg lock positions. The first week was totally just drilling movements.
- I spent like, 30 minutes each session just working on getting into that outside ashi garami position he uses a lot.
- It’s trickier than it looks! I kept messing up the foot placement and my training partners were easily escaping.
My training partners were helpful. Got a lot of feedback.
After a week of that, I tried to actually apply it during live rolling. Oh boy. It did not go well. I got swept, passed, and generally smashed. Felt like I was moving in slow motion compared to the videos. Felt super clumsy.
Hitting Some Roadblocks
I’m not gonna lie, it was frustrating. I was getting tapped out a lot more than usual. It felt like I was sacrificing good positions just to try and force these leg locks that weren’t there. I’m starting to understand why the guys who are good at them are, well, good at them. It’s not just about knowing the move; it’s the timing, the setups, everything.
One older guy, at our gym gave me some tips. He told me to slow down and do less.
So, I went back to drilling, but this time with more focus on the details. I started paying more attention to the grips, the weight distribution, and the little adjustments that make the difference between a sloppy leg lock attempt and a tight *, I focused more on entries from positions I’m already comfortable with, instead of just trying to jump into leg locks from anywhere.
Slowly, things started to click a little bit. I managed to hit a couple of heel hooks in training, but more importantly, I felt like I was understanding the why behind the moves, not just the how. It made practice way more fun. Finally.
I’m still nowhere near as good as Matthew Maldonado, obviously. But I’m definitely improving. I’m getting better at recognizing opportunities for leg locks, and I’m not getting smashed quite as much when I go for them. It’s a long process, but I’m enjoying the journey. It’s like learning a whole new aspect of jiu-jitsu. Still more work to be done.
So, for the common person, it takes a lot of practice. But is cool.
