A Look At Jiu-Jitsu's Newest Submissions: The RuotoloTine, Abe Lock, & More
A Look At Jiu-Jitsu's Newest Submissions: The RuotoloTine, Abe Lock, & More
There's been a rise of new submission holds in grappling & jiu-jitsu that have been raising a lot of eyes and getting a lot of taps
One of the most exciting aspects of submission grappling is how quickly a new technique can pop up and begin to spread, sparking trends and new metas that are constantly evolving. Grapplings minds are constantly trying to keep a look out for these new trends and how they can benefit.
In no-gi grappling, a lot of these evolutions are submission-based. Everyone loves to see the finish and athletes are constantly pushing boundaries on new ways to lock up limbs and strangle people. Sometimes they are evolving the setups, like how to hand fight into a rear naked choke better or a new way to flow into an armbar, but sometimes it can be a whole new move. In the last few years we have seen submissions like the Aoki lock and buggy choke rise to some form of prominence.
Now though, new holds are starting to bubble up and - importantly - are working at the elite levels of the sport. Certain moves may work well when there's a marked skill disparity, but if you can take a technique and apply it against a talented black belt - you've really proven its worth.
The Ruotolo-Tine
The Ruotolo-Tine was the inspiration for the article, because of how useful and powerful this move is showing to be. BOTH Kade and Tye Ruotolo recently used this move to submit top-level competition in ONE Championship and have now made themselves known for it by naming it after themeselves.
The Ruotolo-Tine is a back attack that sets up similar to an arm triangle, where the arm snakes in under the shoulder and locks around the back of the head. The setup is similar to the rear ezekiel in the gi and the rotation that you create with the arm helps ratchet up the potential strangulation effect. What makes this so helpful is that it bypasses one of the hardest parts of attacking the back - the hand fight.
Back control or back mount is widely accepted as the strongest position in grappling and the rear naked choke is king from there - but as the game keeps going, people's defensive hand fighting to prevent submissions has become very good. Back attackers learn how to trap arms, penetrate under the jawbone, and finish with various tricks on the RNC but now this offers a new path. Rather than going over the near shoulder, now you go under the far shoulder - creating two opposite angles to attack from and giving your opponent way more to worry about.
ONE wasn't the first place we've seen this tricky variation from the back. Looking back at the last ADCC, Tye was already busting this out - submitting Pedro Marinho with it in the absolute. Kade used it to submit Kieran Kichuk at East Coast Trials. Now, it's spreading out from there - keen-eyed fans will remember Dante Leon using a rear arm triangle to win his WNO lightweight title against Ethan Crelinsten. We even saw William Tackett use it in a previous ADCC Trials, but he interestingly used it to set up his rear naked finish.
All these athletes certainly have a lot of horsepower to make this submission easier, but the strategy is still one that grappling fans of all levels can benefit from.
The Thunder Lock
Speaking of back attacks, the thunder lock is continuing to gain popularity as grapplers realize how valuable this move is. It's a shoulder lock that has popped up as an answer to the evolution of grappling meta. As people became better at defensive hand fighting when someone is on their back, the elbows often drift up - especially to help prevent hand trapping. As they do, they become vulnerable to a half-nelson style stretch, creating submission pressure on the shoulder, neck, & lat muscle that has gotten taps in several notable matchups.
The most recent big example was likely ADCC Trials champion Elijah Dorsey at WNO 22, who used the thunder lock to submit his preliminary opponent Ivan Herrera. We see Max Hanson, world ranked at 155lbs and a West Coast Trials placewinner, using this often in the regional circuit. The first example that caught people's eyes was when 10th Planet's Luis Quinones tapped the very tough Frank Rosenthal in the performance that gave the move its name.
Luis broke down the move for us, get a better look at what the thunder lock is and how to properly apply it with Luis's help.
The newest leg lock on the scene is the Abe Lock, a toe hold variation that people are setting up from the interesting new position of reverse closed guard. This funky position has always popped up once in a while through the years, gi and no-gi, but almost always as a result of a scramble or some kind of unusual counter that ended up in reverse closed. Now, we are seeing top level grapplers chase that spot as a way to untangle and attack legs.
While there are some slick transitions available from reverse closed to more common leg attacks like the backside heel hook, the "Abe Lock" is now really beginning to catch on. Named for Team New Wave's Abe La Montagne, who has been regularly using this in competition for the most recent few years, this is a toe hold variation where (instead of figure-fouring the arms) you lace both hands to the end of the foot as a way to jack up your leverage. It's a wicked grip that forces the leg into a bent position and cranks the foot stronger than a traditional toe hold. Another exciting young grappler who has been very effective with this series is Owen Jones, who used it during his ADCC European Trials win.
The toe hold and Abe Lock aren't the only move we are seeing from a reverse closed guard - if you go back to the 2023 IBJJF Worlds, the black belt men's absolute finals, Victor Hugo used a reverse closed guard variation to win with a kneebar. By untying and crossing the legs, he created some incredible pressure - all while staying locked lower around the thighs to restrict movement.
