Originally Posted by
Mike Nall
Genuinely curious and trying to have an honest discussion. I can see how the inside sankaku/411 'could' be done while turning their knee inwards, but ideally it should turn their knee outwards. So if I have your right leg trapped, my left knee should be flaring outside and to the left, pointing your right knee outwards to your right/my left. Also, unless I'm reading you wrong, it sounds like for you the inside (inverted) heel hook isn't as strong a finish as the outside heel hook? I think the inside heel hook has a lot of advantages. The inside of the foot is longer and flat, and easier to catch in your armpit. The outside of the foot is shorter (heel to pinky toe is shorter than heel to big toe) and the foot slopes as it gets to the pinky toe. This can make digging for the outside heel hook more difficult and easier for the foot to slip.
The rest of your post is solid and I agree with those points as well. The thing with the 50/50 is that it's a skill based position. It's a neutral position so whoever is better from there is going to win. This was fine when people didn't know the leg game as well as they do now. These days I think it's way more risky to go to the 50/50 for the reasons that you mentioned. It turns into way more of a shootout situation to see who is faster on the draw. The inside heel hook is great but I prefer the /inside sankaku/411 for the inside heel hook because I can keep all of my feet pretty safe.
In my eyes the biggest advantage to the outside heel hook is that there's much more pain in the foot/ankle before the break travels to the knee. So your training partners have more time to tap. The inside heel hook pressure travels to the knee faster, and I'd make a strong case that it's the most powerful joint lock in the whole game.