Outside Heel Slip

Defensive principles against an outside Ashi Garami heel hook begin with understanding the importance of control points on the leg: one above the knee and one below. The most controlling outside Ashi Garami has the outside leg crossing over the top leg, which protects the inside foot and makes it difficult for the opponent to unwind.

To defend against an outside heel hook:

1. Recognize the lower control is a heel hook and the upper control is the crossed legs, which prevent spinning. The focus should be on moving forward, not spinning.
2. Visualize a line from your ankle to your hip. Your goal is to get your knee outside of this line to be safe from the heel hook.
3. When your knee is inside this line, you're at risk of injury. Moving your knee outside this line is the first step to safety.
4. Perform a heel slip by curling your toes as if picking something up and then pointing them like a ballerina. Push and pull repeatedly to slide your heel in, keeping your knee outside the line.
5. If your knee slips back inside the line, stop and reposition it outside before continuing.
6. In practice, no hands are used, but in a real situation, any grip can assist in getting the knee outside the line—grab the arm, knee, head, or other arm.
7. Once the knee is safely outside, curl the toes and push into the opponent's armpit, then turn out, allowing the heel to slip over their forearm.
8. It may take several attempts, but as long as the knee remains outside the line, you have time to safely execute the heel slip.

This defensive movement addresses many heel hooking mechanics with a simple motion, allowing you to transition from defense to offense.