Saddle foot lock defence

Saddle foot lock defence is the descriptive name for defending the Mikey lock — naming the position it is hunted from and the structure it actually attacks.

Etymology. “Saddle” is the common no-gi term for cross-ashi, the entanglement this comes from. “Foot lock” names what the grip loads: the wedge sits on the foot, driving the heel bone with the lower palm while the attacker’s neck acts as the fulcrum. The name matters because the same position also produces heel hooks, and the two need the same early answer but present completely differently once the grip closes.

Mechanics. Two structures load at once — the ankle and the Achilles directly, and the knee through a slight outward turn. What makes it hard to defend is travel: a heel hook needs the heel to move a long way before anything loads, and that movement is the warning defenders learn to read. This grip moves the heel from beside the attacker’s shoulder to beside their head. The approach that normally announces a leg attack never happens, and there is no grip to hand-fight.

Cross-reference. The early answer is the same heel discipline that defends the inside heel hook, because the lace is built off the same exposure. For the attack, see Mikey Lock; full defensive coverage on Mikey Lock Escape.