Jacob Couch (a.k.a. Hillbilly Hammer) managed to make his false reap entry work against Gordon Ryan at Who’s Number One a while ago.
Although Jacob didn’t get a heel hook finish, he did get to the saddle position via his false reap entry. What Jacob did against Gordon is worth noting and studying if you are interested in learning how to use the false reap against someone who doesn’t run away from it.
If you’ve been playing with the false reap, you might have run into this problem — your opponent tries to smash you instead of retreating, and this pressure makes it difficult for you to set up your false reap. This is precisely the situation Jacob was in.
What did Jacob do? Let’s find out in this post.
Take a look at this sequence first (from around 3:40).
1. Jacob initiates his false reap sequence from the half butterfly position. Setting up the false reap from the half butterfly is a brilliant idea because you can easily switch from the butterfly hook to the false reaping hook, compared to when you set the false reap from the reverse de la riva, where you will need to pummel your outside leg in and your opponent will most likely try to block it.
2. From this position, Jacob lifts Gordon using the butterfly hook.
3. Now that Jacob has created space, he hugs Gordon’s right leg.
4. He brings his left leg over Gordon’s thigh, creating a false reap situation. The way Jacob hugs Gordon’s leg is one of the important details Jacob talks about. I’ll elaborate on this point later.
5. People who are unfamiliar with heel hooks and the false reap often try to retreat and run away when they are put into this situation Gordon is in. But Gordon knows what to do — instead of retreating, he pushes Jacob’s head and shin area to make it difficult for Jacob to get on with his false reap entry.
6. Fighting against Gordon’s pressure is not productive here. So, Jacob changes his angle a bit by moving his bottom leg. Essentially, he is moving to his left side.
7. Due to the angle change, Jacob can now sit up. The way he sits up is like doing a twisting crunch. He’s also using his elbow as a post to assist the sit up.
8. Jacob keeps going with the motion and manages to lift Gordon’s right leg. He does this by raising his hips, using the right side of his body as posts.
9. As soon as Gordon gives away enough space, Jacob removes his bottom leg from the inside space of Gordon’s right leg and brings it behind this leg to enter into the saddle position.
10. Jacob reaches the saddle position.
Gordon hides his heel right away and eventually gets away from Jacob’s leg entanglements, but as I mentioned before, how Jacob gets to the saddle via his false reap entry is noteworthy.
There’s a video posted by Lachlan Giles where Lachlan and Jacob discuss leg locks. In it, Jacob shares some key details about what he did against Gordon.
As I understand it, Jacob wants to keep his opponent’s knee pinned to the center of his chest. This gives Jacob greater control and makes it difficult for his opponent to dive over and grab hold of Jacob’s head, which often happens when you use a gable grip to control your opponent’s knee. He achieves this knee and chest connection by bringing his outside arm’s elbow behind his opponent’s knee and his hand on his own bicep on the other side. So, essentially, he is “rear-naked choking” his opponent’s knee.
Another important detail is how Jacob managed to lift Gordon’s leg and create an opening for the saddle from the smashed position. According to Jacob, he used mechanics similar to how you would finish a fundamental butterfly sweep. For a more detailed explanation and demonstration, check out the video from the 11:26 mark.
If you are getting into the false reap and find it difficult to make it work against people who deal with it correctly by creating pressure against you, try implementing Jacob’s solution and see how it works for you.