My son, who is nine months old as of this writing, has incredible control over his feet. He uses them as much as his hands. He grabs things with his feet, extends them away, and pulls them up to his hands as he rolls to his back to get all four of his extremities on the object. It’s awesome, and reminds me how useful the lower half of our body is when looking to gain control over something.

With Brazilian Jiu Jitsu this is especially true. We roll to our backs in order to bring our feet and legs into the mix. Just as we often use two hands to gain control of a single arm, the legs add two more control points to help us reach a goal. For BJJ practitioners, this is often a skill that has to be relearned, after years of covering up these awesome tools with shoes.

Taking a look at the attached roll between me and Elijah, which was filmed at EvolveAll Martial Arts and Training Studio, located in Arlington Virginia, you can see how important the use of the feet are. We are using the instep or top of our feet as hooks to hang on, lift, or pull in. We are using the knee as a frame to manage distance. We are using the bottoms of our feet to push away and to create openings. They are just as imprtant, if not more important, than the use of our hands in this particular roll.

I encourage all martial arts and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners to explore the use of our lower body when looking to improve your control. Trim your nails and get to pushing and pulling! Happy Training!