Lachlan Giles's ADCC Heel Hook Run: How a Smaller Man Beat Giants
Lachlan Giles heel-hooked his way to ADCC 2019 absolute bronze, submitting three much larger men. A breakdown of the inside heel hook, the 50/50 system, and the analytical mind behind the run.
The Run That Rewired Jiu-Jitsu
Every so often a single performance changes how an entire sport thinks. At the 2019 ADCC World Championship, a soft-spoken Australian coach with a PhD in physiotherapy produced one of those performances. Lachlan Giles -- a middleweight who had been eliminated from his own weight class in the first round -- entered the open-weight absolute division and proceeded to heel-hook three of the biggest, most decorated grapplers in the field. He left Anaheim with an absolute bronze medal, a viral highlight reel, and a permanent place in the sport's history.
The run mattered because of what it proved. For decades, the absolute division was the domain of giants -- the place where the biggest, strongest grapplers imposed their size on everyone else. Giles, giving up as much as 40 or 50 pounds in each match, showed that a well-built leg-lock system could erase that size advantage entirely. He didn't out-muscle anyone. He attacked the one part of the body where leverage beats mass: the legs. In doing so, he helped push the inside heel hook and the 50/50 guard from niche specialist tools into the mainstream of modern no-gi grappling.
The Scientist Who Heel-Hooked Giants
Lachlan Sven McDonald Giles was born on June 17, 1986, in Melbourne, Australia. His path into martial arts was a familiar one for his generation: inspired first by Jet Li's films, then redirected entirely after watching Royce Gracie's jiu-jitsu at the first UFC. He joined a BJJ academy at fifteen and never looked back. He earned his black belt from John Simon in 2012, having been developed earlier by coaches Tyrone Crosse and, later, Thiago Stefanutti at Absolute MMA in Melbourne.
What sets Giles apart from most elite grapplers is how he thinks. Alongside his competitive career he completed a PhD in physiotherapy in 2016, publishing peer-reviewed research on knee pain -- the kind of academic rigor that shows up directly in how he teaches and competes. He approaches grappling like a researcher: isolating variables, testing mechanics, and building systems from first principles rather than copying what works for bigger, more athletic competitors. As the head instructor at Absolute MMA St Kilda, he became one of the most respected coaches in the sport, guiding athletes including a young Craig Jones, whom he promoted to black belt in 2016.
Did You Know: Giles's analytical reputation is so strong that his free YouTube match breakdowns are studied by competitors worldwide. He built an online learning platform and released detailed instructionals -- most famously "The Leg Lock Anthology: 50/50" -- that turned the exact system he used at ADCC 2019 into a teachable, step-by-step method. Few athletes have ever documented a competition game this thoroughly.
ADCC 2019: A David-and-Goliath Heel Hook Run
The story is best told through the bracket. At ADCC 2019, Giles first competed in the under-77kg division, where he lost his opening match to the elite gi specialist Lucas Lepri on points, 3-0. For most competitors, that would have been the end of the trip. But Giles had also entered the absolute division -- the open-weight bracket with no size limit -- and that is where his weekend became legendary.
In the first round he drew Kaynan Duarte, a rising heavyweight who would go on to win his own weight class that very tournament. Giles attacked the legs, secured the inside heel hook, and finished him. In the quarterfinals he met Patrick Gaudio, a powerful IBJJF heavyweight medalist -- and again, inside heel hook, tap. His run was finally stopped in the semifinal by Gordon Ryan, the best no-gi grappler in the world, who took his back and finished with a rear-naked choke. But Giles wasn't done. In the bronze-medal match he faced Mahamed Aly, an ultra-heavyweight world champion who outweighed him by a massive margin -- and submitted him, too, with an inside heel hook.
Three of the biggest names in the division, three inside heel hooks, one bronze medal. The numbers underline how singular the achievement was: across his documented career, roughly 67% of Giles's wins come by submission, and the inside heel hook is by far his most frequent finish. ADCC 2019 was that specialty applied on the sport's biggest stage, against exactly the opponents it was designed to neutralize.
Highlights of Lachlan Giles's ADCC 2019 absolute run -- three inside heel hook finishes against Kaynan Duarte, Patrick Gaudio, and Mahamed Aly on the way to bronze.
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The Inside Heel Hook
The weapon at the center of the run was the inside heel hook -- a leg lock that attacks the knee by rotating the heel, generating torque the opponent cannot muscle out of. Unlike a choke or armbar, a heel hook does not depend on overpowering anyone. It depends on control of the leg and rotation of the foot, which means a smaller athlete with superior position can finish a much larger one. That is precisely why the technique was the great equalizer in Giles's absolute run.
The mechanics that Giles emphasizes are control-first. Before any rotation, the attacker must immobilize the leg -- pinning the knee line so the opponent cannot spin or stand to defend -- and trap the foot securely against the body. Only then does the heel get exposed and the rotation applied, slowly and with control. Giles is unusually rigorous about safety, both for training partners and for the attacker's own credibility: because heel hooks attack the knee with no pain warning before damage, they must be drilled with control and released the instant a partner taps.
Safety First: Heel hooks injure the knee ligaments with little or no warning -- there is often no painful "stretch" phase before something tears. Only train them in a gym that permits them, with partners who know how to tap early, and apply rotation slowly. The submission comes from control and torque, never from a fast yank. Respect the tap instantly. Giles's own instructional content leads with setup and safety for exactly this reason.
Inside Heel Hook (Control-First)
From a leg entanglement such as 50/50 or the saddle (inside sankaku), first kill the opponent's mobility: control the knee line so they cannot rotate, stand, or hide the foot. Secure their heel by trapping the foot tight to your chest or armpit, with your forearm blade under the heel rather than across the toes. Maintain a strong connection between their leg and your torso so there is no slack. To finish, rotate the heel by turning your whole upper body -- not just your arms -- toward the toes, applying torque to the knee slowly and progressively. Control is the submission; speed is the injury. Release the instant your partner taps.
Demonstrated by Lachlan Giles
Lachlan Giles breaks down the setup and -- crucially -- the safety of the inside heel hook.
The 50/50 System
A heel hook is only as good as the position you attack it from, and Giles's position of choice is the 50/50 guard -- and specifically its more aggressive variant, the backside 50/50. In 50/50, both grapplers have their legs symmetrically entangled, each with one leg threaded between the other's. For years this position was considered a neutral stalemate. Giles and his contemporaries turned it into one of the most dangerous attacking platforms in no-gi, because the leg configuration gives the attacker access to the inside heel hook while limiting the opponent's counters.
The "backside" refinement is what makes the system so high-percentage. By rotating to the back side of the opponent's leg -- shifting his hips so he faces the sole of their foot -- Giles dramatically improves his finishing angle while reducing the opponent's ability to attack back or escape. From there the leg entanglement becomes a controlling position in its own right, not just a scramble. This connected approach -- entry to control to finish -- is what separated Giles's game from the wild leg-reaping of earlier eras and made it reliable enough to use against world champions. It is the modern face of the broader leg-lock revolution in no-gi grappling.
Backside 50/50 Entry
From standard 50/50, where your legs are symmetrically entangled with your opponent's, work to rotate toward the back side of their trapped leg -- turning your hips so you face the sole of their foot rather than sitting square. As you rotate, keep their knee line controlled so they cannot follow you or stand. The backside position improves your heel-hook finishing angle and limits their ability to counter-attack your legs. Treat it as a control position first: settle, eliminate their movement, and only then expose the heel and apply rotation. The goal is a position you own, not a scramble you're hoping to win.
Demonstrated by Lachlan Giles
Lachlan Giles demonstrates how to get to the backside 50/50 -- the controlling position behind his ADCC heel hook run.
Why Leg Locks Suit the Smaller Grappler
The deeper lesson of Giles's run is strategic, not just technical. Leg locks are uniquely valuable for smaller, weaker, or older grapplers because they invert the usual physics of grappling. In the upper-body game, size and strength help enormously -- a bigger opponent can stack your guard, flatten you, and muscle through your frames. But a leg entanglement neutralizes much of that advantage. Once you control the leg and isolate the heel, the opponent's extra fifty pounds of upper-body mass does very little to save the knee.
This is why Giles's ADCC performance resonated so widely with everyday practitioners. He was not a freak athlete overpowering people; he was a normal-sized human using better mechanics and a smarter position to beat bigger ones. For the recreational grappler who will always be giving up size to someone in the room, that is an enormously hopeful message -- and a practical one. A reliable leg-lock game is one of the few ways to genuinely close the gap against a larger, stronger training partner.
Study Drill: Spend two weeks living in 50/50 during positional sparring. Start every round already in the entanglement and work only on (1) controlling the knee line so your partner can't rotate or stand, and (2) getting to the backside position before you ever reach for the heel. Track how often you can establish control versus how often you get scrambled. Most failed heel hooks are failures of control and position, not of the finish itself -- fix the position and the submission takes care of itself.
The Coach and the Analyst
Giles's influence on jiu-jitsu extends far beyond his own matches. He is, arguably, more important to the sport as a teacher and analyst than as a competitor -- and that is saying something given the ADCC run. His instructional series, particularly "The Leg Lock Anthology: 50/50" and his half-guard passing material, are among the most respected systematic breakdowns available, precisely because they reflect his researcher's mindset: every technique is justified mechanically, every position connected to the next.
His free match-analysis videos have shaped how a generation of competitors watches and studies grappling. Rather than simply showing techniques, Giles explains why things work -- the angles, the leverage, the decision points -- in plain, careful language. That coaching ability is part of the same story as the ADCC run: a person who understands grappling deeply enough to systematize it can both execute it against giants and transmit it to others. The proof is in his students, including Craig Jones, who became one of the most dangerous leg-lockers in the world under Giles's guidance before going on to his own elite career.
How to Study Lachlan Giles
The good news for students of Giles's game is that he may be the single most accessible elite instructor in grappling. Start with his free YouTube content -- his heel-hook and 50/50 breakdowns, and his match analyses -- because they teach you not just the techniques but his entire way of thinking about leverage and control. Watch his ADCC 2019 matches alongside the instructional content, and you will see the exact concepts he teaches applied under maximum pressure against the best in the world.
When you study Giles, focus on control before finish. The most common mistake beginners make with leg locks is reaching for the heel before they have eliminated the opponent's ability to escape. Giles's entire system is built the other way around: establish the entanglement, kill the knee line, get to the backside angle, and only then apply rotation. Contrast his methodical, control-first approach with the foundational leg-lock framework that reshaped no-gi, and you'll understand how the modern leg game became both safer and more effective.
Key Takeaway
Lachlan Giles's ADCC 2019 run proved that mechanics and systems can beat size. He didn't overpower three giants -- he controlled their legs and attacked the one joint where leverage defeats mass. For any smaller, older, or weaker grappler, the lesson is clear: a disciplined, control-first leg-lock game built around the inside heel hook and the 50/50 position is one of the great equalizers in jiu-jitsu. Learn the control first, respect the safety always, and the finish follows.
Ready to Build Your Own Leg Lock Game?
Lachlan Giles showed the entire sport that you don't need to be the biggest athlete in the room to beat the biggest athlete in the room -- you need a better system. Whether you're drilling your first 50/50 entry or refining your heel-hook control, the path is the same one he took: study the mechanics, prioritize control over the finish, train safely, and apply your specialty relentlessly.
Start tracking your leg-lock entries, your control positions, and your submission success rate in sparring. Download Rollbook to log your training sessions, see which positions are actually working for you, and build the kind of methodical, system-driven game that made Lachlan Giles one of the most influential grapplers of his generation.
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