Z-lock

Key principles

• · The Z shape is the mechanism: their leg is folded at the knee and rotated as a unit, so the torque loads the knee and hip rather than the foot.
• · Control both ends of the fold — the ankle and the knee line — or the rotation escapes through whichever end is loose.
• · It is as much a control position as a finish: a locked Z ends their offense and their leg-pummeling while all of your leg attacks remain available.
• · Rotation is applied with the whole body turning around the trapped leg, not by pushing on the foot.
• · It pairs naturally with cross ashi: opponents defending the inside heel hook by bending and turning the leg often fold themselves into the Z.

Execution

1. 1 From cross ashi or an adjacent entanglement, capture their leg as it bends — often as they defend a heel hook by folding and turning away.
2. 2 Fix the fold: trap the ankle to your body while your legs pin their knee line so the leg holds its Z shape.
3. 3 Remove slack by drawing the folded leg tight to your chest and hips.
4. 4 Rotate your whole body around the fold, torquing the knee and hip line.
5. 5 Finish the rotation for the tap, or hold the lock as control and pass off to the kneebar, toe hold, or heel hook as they defend.