Key Takeaways
- A No-Gi BJJ DVD explaining how Owen Jones sets up, adjusts, and uses his X Lock system.
- Features fundamental principles, positional details, entries from different guards, and precise finishing guidelines.
- Explains the role of the X lock in the Ashi Garami system and offers easy ways to connect the positional dots.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 8 out of 10.
X LOCK OWEN JONES DVD GET HERE
Every now and again, a new, or better said, hybrid, Ahsi Garami option appears and claims to be the next revolutionary thing in leg locks. I tend to be suspicious of these claims and prefer to see grapplers showcase their Ashi innovations before they offer instructionals.
A great example of this is Lachlan Giles, who beat several huge giants at the ADCC with his distal 50/50 system before offering any information about it. Owen Jones has followed the same path with the X Lock Owen Jones DVD. Given that he is still a brown belt and barely over 20, I expect this system to grow and evolve as Owen does. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, check out the review:
Building Leg Entanglement Systems
If you take a look at any of the leg locking systems built by great leg lockers, such as Danaher, Dean Lister, or Lachlan Giles, you’ll notice that each one of them found a centerpiece to work with.
It may be a position (Lachlan’s 50/50 or Danaher’s Inside Senkaku) or a submission (Lister’s heel hooks and Caio Terra’s ankle lock, for example). Whatever the focus point, all great systems start with a centerpiece. Whether you opt for control or a finish for your main role is entirely up to you.
There is also another way forward. You could hybridize both of the focus areas mentioned above, and develop a finish dependent on a simple, but super-effective position. Mikey Musumeci did it, and so has Owen Jones. The X Lock Owen Jones DVD holds the blueprint to the latter’s leg locking system.
Apex Predator Owen Jones
Not many people stay loyal to their parent academies, especially in the pro competitor circles. Similarly to baseball and football, athletes change teams, trying to compete as much as possible, and earn as much as they can in the process.
Several big-name teams are the target for everyone, so it’s no wonder that Apex Jiu-Jitsu product Owen Jones ended up polishing his trade with the B-Team, and occasionally, team Los Badidos from the UK. Still, when he gets on the mats, Jones to this day only represents his parents’ Apex Jiu-Jitsu Academy and his first coach, David Cartwright-Khoza.
Currently a brown belt (although not for long), Owen is one of the youngest participants in the 2024 ADCC World Championship at the age of 21. He won the European No-Gi championship at purple belt and placed first in the 2023 ADCC European Trials.
The former rugby player, originally from London, has been keeping the BJJ world on their toes, with explosive performances that have already tamed some big black belt names. Namely, he already has victories over Robert Degle, Ashley Williams, and Gabriel Sousa, to mention a few.
With roughly a 60% submission rate in his pro matches so far, Owen has built a reputation as a submission hunter for himself, particularly in the leg-locking domain. With two holds and ankle locks both featuring in his box of tricks, the X Lock Owen Jones DVD offers something modern and different to leg lockers.
Detailed X Lock Owen Jones DVD Review
The X Lock Leg Entanglement System Owen Jones DVD contains two volumes, each just under an hour, covering everything you need to know about one of the best leg locking positions in modern BJJ:
Part 1 – X Lock Essentials & Guard Entries
The X lock, as per the X Lock Owen Jones DVD, refers to the leg configuration of the Ashi Jones uses to finish ankle locks, rather than a submission itself. For anyone who has seen him fight, this is not a surprise.
Crossing the legs in an X-like fashion in Ashi is a dangerous game to play, but not one without benefits. Owen has seemingly figured out a way to reduce some of the risks through carefully crafted leg positioning in the Ashi. He outlines the key differences between different versions of the position that he uses, most notably the shallow and deep X lock.
I appreciated that he shares his thoughts on when to bail out on the X lock, and even when to skip over using it, depending on key aspects of a leg lock exchange. That said, he also outlines when you can capitalize on using it, and then follows up with a bunch of entries, featuring DLR, shin-to-shin, and X-guard.
Part 2 – Finishing And Transitions
Part two extends the X Lock game into transitions, mostly focusing on how to traverse through different Ashi Garami positions while still using the X configuration to boost your ankle lock finishing options.
This second and final part of the Owen Jones X Lock DVD offers connections with the Outside Ashi, Butterfly Ashi, and Y-guard. Jones builds a closed-loop system here that revolves around X lock availability from any of these positions, and vice versa.
IN the second part of the DVD, he also goes over the details of finishing mechanics, extending the submission option way past just the classic ankle lock. Aoki locks (currently all the jazz) feature heavily, but Owen also covers some interesting options in the Tren Lock, Deca Lock, and his take on setting up the outside heel hook.
‘For When Letting Go Was Never Your Strong Suit’
The key thing about becoming a leg locker is finding an Ashi position that suits your style of Jiu-Jitsu, your body type, and your overall game. Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of people pull off different Ashi Garami games at the highest levels, while other high-level grapplers failed to replicate them.
This doesn’t mean that there’s not a hierarchy in the world of Ashi Garami – it just means that there is no silver bullet in BJJ, and whatever you do, you need to work for it. Owen found the X lock to be his main position, just like Eddie Cummings made the Honeyhole his playground, Geo Martinez rose to infamy with Truck attacks, and Mikey Musumeci came up with his own submission from an Ashi Garami variation.
These are just a few examples of how developing a sticky Ashi leads to a high-level leg locking game. That said, the one thing all these grapplers I mentioned above have in common is that they all went through multiple Ashi combinations before settling, or coming up, with their own.
So, to shorten the learning curve, pick up the X Lock Owen Jones DVD and start experimenting with crossed legs from the Ashi Garami. Who knows, it may inspire you to come up with the next big thing in leg locking that will bear your name.
DOWNLOAD HERE: X LOCK OVEN JONES DVD
Faster, Tighter, Lethal Ankle Locks
I’ve always been more of a fan of heel hooks, but having a strong ankle lock game never hurts. In fact, these days, with people savvy to heel hooks, following up with a tight ankle lock is my go-to leg lock finish. So, if your ankle locks are lacking in tightness, pressure, and positioning, check out the X Lock Owen Jones DVD. It holds plenty of answers for all levels of BJJ leg lockers.
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