Video: Learn Garry Tonon’s Heel Hook From Butterfly Guard

Longtime Danaher Death Squad representative Garry Tonon is one of the most exciting grapplers in all of jiu-jitsu and a fast-rising undefeated MMA fighter. More than just a high-paced submission hunter, Tonon is an expert leg locker. In a recent video with Bernardo Faria as a part of Tonon’s new leg lock instructional, Tonon demonstrates how to enter the legs and finish a heel hook from the butterfly guard.

As you see in the video above, Tonon uses the non-lifting leg from the butterfly guard to help invert his body underneath his opponent. Once inverted, he begins attacking his opponent’s leg, ultimately finishing the inside heel hook from the cross ashi garami position, a trademark of the Danaher Death Squad.

The key to finishing a good heel hook, says Tonon, is not only pushing his hips into his opponent’s knee, but also dropping his body weight on the knee to amplify the breaking force.

“I always lift my hip off the ground, if I can…” he said. “Now it’s the weight of my hips falling down onto my training partner.

Garry Tonon is a veteran of elite submission-only and no-gi competitions. He is a four-time ADCC veteran and a 2019 ADCC bronze medalist. He holds wins over the likes of Dante Leon, Davi Ramos, Renato Canuto, and Vagner Rocha. In MMA, Tonon is a perfect 6-0 with three submission victories.