Firas Zahabi is a black belt under John Danaher and one of the most well-known MMA coaches on the planet, training at Tristar gym, and here we’ll take a look at his recent instructional release, Ashi Infinity. Heel Hooks have been the cause celebre of the style, in ways showcasing the most illustrious claim of Jiu-Jitsu: The smaller, educated person can beat the bigger adversary. Emblematic of this was Lachlan Giles’ storied 2019 Absolute ADCC run against grappling equivalents of David v. Goliath. That being said, Heel Hooks/Leg Entanglements are not among the more intuitive aspects of grappling.
Overview
In Japanese “Ashi” can be translated to leg and in Ashi Infinity that is exactly what Firas Zahabi focuses on, entanglements and submissions. More than that, you will find bridges between the traditional attacks and the nascent details necessary to execute positions such as K Guard and Backside 50/50. Near the latter portion of the instructional, there is also a series of solutions offered for the experienced leglocker to bring wrestlers and judoka into this foreign territory.
Features
Running at slightly over an hour and retailing at $55.00 USD it is entirely worth the investment. As opposed to most instructionals, Ashi Infinity is aided by narration and visual effects to finer display the angulation and position of these techniques, and Firas Zahabi marks himself as out as one of the better instructors out there. Nothing is repeated, so duplicitous details do not interfere with the flow of information and Zahabi moves quickly from one technique to the next.
Who is it For?
Given these positions are not the most intuitive at first, it would be better understood by blue belts and above. Essentially, those that already have some understanding of the leglock meta and the positional exchanges involved. However, even as a white belt it would be worth viewing to understand the principles of grappling and to see how the fundamentals apply with modern/advanced techniques.
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