Over the years I’ve seen all kinds of BJJ instructionals aimed at beginners, mostly claiming that they’ll help them master legal leg locks and teach them safe ways of leg locking, whatever that may mean. Well, trust the folks over at Daisy Fresh to deliver freshness on the subject of BJJ beginners and leg locks.
The Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook The World DVD is an instructional that simply put, teaches beginners how to do heel hooks. There is no safe or legal way mentioned, just the best, most optimal way to finish the submission while not risking losing your position or ending up leg-locked yourself.
Key Takeaways
- A No-Gi BJJ instructional with 2 hours of material spread over 4 parts.
- Simplifies how to attach, hold, and submit people using heel hooks for students of all levels.
- It is particularly useful for beginners or leg lock newbies and is proven to work at the ADCC Trials level.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 9 out of 10.
HEATH PEDIGO AND JACOB COUCH HEEL HOOK DVD AVAILABLE HERE!!!
The Great Equalizer
People tend to award the title of the “great equalizer” to plenty of things in BJJ, but I think it was leg locks that really made it stick. However, while many people assume this refers to all leg looks, the reality is somewhat different. If you see a 115 lb female grappler attempt a kneebar against a 240 lb male partner, you’ll see exactly what I mean.
Now, place the same pair of imaginary grapplers in a heel hook situation, with the female going for the sub, and you get that great equalizer at the price of painful grimaces on the giant male grappler’s face. That is where leg locks excel.
We could change the roles of the grapplers in this example to fit many different narratives – differences in belts, age, and body type are all factors that can be negated using a well-placed heel hook.
The issue is that many gyms still shy away from teaching new students heel hooks, which turns them into useless higher belts. For those who have a shred of common sense and want their students to succeed outside the “these moves are too advanced for beginners” bubble, the Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook The World DVD offers a great blueprint to teach newbies how to heel hook properly.
The Daisy Fresh Crew
Heath Pedigo, a BJJ black belt under Rodrigo Vaghi from the Rickson Gracie lineage, is the man behind the crazy project known as Dasisy Fresh that spread like wildfire through the BJJ World during the pandemic. Heath put together a team of very talented grapplers who lived together, training all day long, and ended up with some incredible performances on the world stage!
Jacob Couch is one of Heath’s students and a prominent member of the Daisy Fresh squad. ‘The Hillbilly Hammer” as he is known, got his black belt from Heath Pedigo in 2022, after becoming a staple name on the No-Gi scene representing the Daisy Fresh team which is actually called the Pedigo Submission Fighting team.
In the Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook The World DVD, both these grappling characters come together to show a curriculum of sorts that they use to teach heel hooks to complete beginners.
Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook The World DVD Review
The Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook The World DVD is a No-Gi installation with 4 volumes, each lasting around the 30-minute mark. This brings the entire running time of the DVD to about 2 hours. There is also a third member of the team, BJJ beginner Casey Marshall who directly demonstrates how easy it is for beginners to understand Heath and Jacob’s way of doing heel hooks.
Part 1 – Attachment
If you’ve ever seen a Daisy Fresh team training session you probably have an idea what you’re in for. There won’t be any long-winded philosophical explanations in this one, as Heath and Jacob cover exactly what you need to get through ADCC open brackets using heel hooks.
The very first volume of the Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook The World DVD covers best practices on attaching yourself to the legs of your opponent. A lot of information goes into explaining the nature of lower body connections and how to ensure your leg entanglement position does not turn into a pass from the opponent.
The direction of sweeps, which is an integral part of every Ashi Garami game also features in this instructional, with Couch and Petigo covering when to opt out of heel hooks and get top position.
Part 2 – Keeping the Ashi
With no heel hook finishes in the first part of the Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook The World DVD, I hoped for some in the following volume. No luck, but I was not disappointed as this part covers what I find to be the most difficult aspect of heel hooking – heel exposure.
The Daisy Fresh crew demonstrates exactly how they do it, which is, safe to say, quite different from the Danaher way. That doesn’t make it less effective, though, it is just easier to master. Chapters include keeping tight control of the legs and never losing the knee line while you’re digging for those heel hook grips.
Part 3 – Submission Combinations
In part 3, the heel hooks come out, but not before the usual gateway leg lock, the ankle lock, makes an all-important appearance. The first submission in the Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook DVD is not a heel hook per se, as the trio of Heth, Jacob, and Casey demonstrate how to use ankle locks to set up really deep heel hooks without having to dig for them directly.
As finishing details for the submission emerge, the focus is on keeping the knee line and ensuring the opponent doesn’t roll. Since rolling out is not just a common, but also an intuitive way out of a heel hook (for those who know what they’re doing), the information provided in this DVD is extremely useful in preventing such actions.
Part 4 – Switching Heel Hooks
As we reach the final portion of the short but exceedingly enjoyable Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook The World DVD, it is all about finishing. My favorite adjustment in terms of highly reliable finishes plays a key role in this volume – heel hook grips.
Nothing is going to skyrocket your success with hell hooks as much as switching grips while finishing. In that regard, Pedigo, COuch, and Marshall go very far in demonstrating the prowess of the butterfly grip, as well as a few more that really make a difference.
They also look at the relationship between outside and sindie heel hooks, and how you can switch without having to change the control you have with the legs too much. WRaping up in style, they show how you set everything they show up when you’re dealing with a standing opponent.
Heel Hooks For Beginners
During my review of the Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook The World DVD, I had to restart this section several times as I went on needless “why aren’t we teaching beginners everything” rants, rather than exploring the practical applications of the material presented in the instructional.
One reason why this instructional stands head and shoulders above others is that Heath and Jacobactaulyl have a beginner doing all the work in this DVD – teammate Casey Marshall, WHile they are demonstrating, explaining, and guiding, it is Casey who does most of the work, directly demonstrating that the material is extremely easy to use for beginners.
On top of that, Heath himself explains that while the material is really “dumbed down” to fit the needs of white and blue belts primarily, even seasoned black belts who have a clunky understanding of heel hooks will find useful information in it. I agree completely with him.
FULL DOWNLOAD: HEATH PEDIGO AND JACOB COUCH HEEL HOOK DVD
Heel Hook The World!
It is easy to start collecting taps on a regular basis from everyone in the gym when you’re armed with a foolproof way of heel-hooking them. With strength and size playing no role at all when heel hooks are concerned the smart and efficient positioning and brutal finishes demonstrated in the Heath Pedigo and Jacob Couch Heel Hook The World DVD are all you need to turn into a high-levle leg locker in a matter of months.
