Leg Knot

Position
Also known as:
Game Over

The leg knot — known in Russian sambo as the "game over" position — is a double-leg entanglement in which one of the opponent's ankles is pinned under your armpit while your legs weave over their trapped leg and through to hook their opposite shin, tying both of their legs together. Harder to enter than single-leg entanglements, it repays the work with control of both legs at once and the full menu of leg submissions.

Quick Reference

Key principles

  • · Both legs are the prize: the weave connects their two legs through your own, so neither leg can post, pummel, or run — the escapes that empty ordinary ashi positions are gone.
  • · The armpit-pinned ankle is the anchor; keep it glued to your ribs or the knot unwinds from that end.
  • · Your top leg threads over their trapped leg and back underneath to hook the far shin — the weave, not squeezing, is what holds the knot.
  • · With both legs tied, breaking mechanics come free: straight ankle, toe hold, kneebar, and heel hook variations all launch without repositioning.
  • · Enter from transitions — leg drags, 50/50 scrambles, and failed single-leg-X exchanges — when their second leg drifts within reach.

Execution

  1. 1 From a leg-entanglement scramble, pin one of their ankles under your armpit and hug it to your side.
  2. 2 Thread your near leg over their trapped leg and back underneath it.
  3. 3 Continue the thread until your foot hooks their opposite shin, connecting their two legs through your weave.
  4. 4 Pinch the structure tight — their legs are now tied to each other.
  5. 5 Attack from the knot: straight ankle or toe hold on the pinned foot, or unwind deliberately into kneebar and heel hook finishes.

Common mistakes

  • × Settling for a single-leg configuration and calling it a knot — without the far-shin hook it is just ashi garami with worse angles.
  • × Letting the pinned ankle slide out of the armpit while weaving, which unties everything you built.
  • × Camping in the control without attacking, giving a flexible opponent time to methodically untangle both legs.

Attacks & transitions

Offense available from Leg Knot.

Inside Heel Hook submission
5 less common
Heel Hook submission Inside Ashi Entry transition Kneebar submission Straight Ankle Lock submission Toe Hold submission