Cross Ashi Garami

Position
Also known as:
Saddle Honey Hole Inside Sankaku 411 Honeyhole 4-11 Cross Ashi

Cross ashi garami, better known as the saddle, the 411, the honey hole, or inside sankaku, is the most dominant leg entanglement in grappling. Your legs form a triangle around one of the opponent's legs while your inside leg threads across their hip line, and from that configuration the strongest leg attack in the sport, the inside heel hook, reaches its highest percentage. Whatever name your gym uses, this is the position the modern leg game is built around.

Quick Reference

Key principles

  • · The cross-body triangle lock formed by your legs prevents the opponent from pulling their trapped leg free and controls hip rotation.
  • · Your inside leg must cross over the opponent's body to hook behind their far-side hip or thigh, creating the 'cross' configuration that distinguishes this from standard ashi garami.
  • · Pinching your knees tightly together isolates the trapped knee joint and limits their ability to hitchhike or clear your legs.
  • · Control the opponent's far hip to prevent them from turning into you, which is the primary escape pathway.
  • · Keep your hips close to their trapped knee to maximize leverage on any subsequent heel hook or kneebar attack.

Execution

  1. 1 Thread your inside leg across the opponent's hip line so your foot hooks behind their far thigh or hip.
  2. 2 Place your outside leg over your inside ankle and lock a triangle (figure-four) with your legs around their trapped leg.
  3. 3 Squeeze your knees together tightly, pinching their leg between your thighs while keeping your hips close to their knee.
  4. 4 Control their trapped foot by cupping the heel or gripping the toes to prevent them from spinning or straightening the leg.
  5. 5 From this stabilized position, select your attack—inside heel hook, outside heel hook, kneebar, or calf slicer—based on foot exposure and their defensive reactions.

Common mistakes

  • × Failing to get the inside leg deep enough across the opponent's hip, allowing them to pummel their leg free or turn away easily.
  • × Leaving excessive space between your hips and the opponent's knee, which reduces control and gives them room to straighten their leg and escape.
  • × Neglecting to control the far hip or thigh, letting the opponent rotate toward you to flatten and begin standard saddle escapes.

Attacks & transitions

Offense available from Cross Ashi Garami.

Inside Heel Hook submission
4 less common
Kneebar submission Outside Heel Hook submission Calf Slicer submission Z-lock submission

Escapes & defense

Getting out of Cross Ashi Garami, or shutting it down.

Ashi Garami Escape escape

How you get here

Techniques that land in Cross Ashi Garami.

Heel Hook submission Imanari Roll transition Kani Basami takedown SLX To Saddle transition Saddle Defense escape Saddle Entry From Top transition X-guard To Ashi Transition transition

Ashi Garami Family

Ashi Garami

50-50 Guard

Backside 50-50

Inside Ashi Garami

Outside Ashi Garami

Ashi Garami Escape