The Imanari Roll: How One Fighter's Weakness Became Grappling's Most Dangerous Entry

The Imanari roll is a forward rolling entry from standing that threads the attacker's legs around the opponent's lead leg, landing directly in ashi garami — the most dominant leg lock position in grappling — for an immediate heel hook attack. Named after Japanese MMA fighter Masakazu Imanari, who developed the technique around 1998–1999 because he was not skilled enough at wrestling to take opponents down through conventional means, the Imanari roll has become the most analysed and most feared rolling entry in combat sports history. It is the fastest possible path from standing to a fight-ending submission.

The technique works because it bypasses the entire traditional fight sequence. In conventional grappling, a fighter must win the grip fight, execute a takedown, pass the guard, achieve a dominant position, and then apply a submission. The Imanari roll skips every step. From standing distance — the range where strikers feel safest — the attacker drops, rolls, entangles, and attacks the knee in a single motion. When executed correctly, the opponent's leg is trapped before they understand what is happening. When it leads to an inside heel hook, the consequences are catastrophic: torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus with almost no pain warning before the damage is done.

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Masakazu Imanari (今成正和, born 1976) is a Japanese MMA fighter nicknamed Ashikan Judan (足関十段) — "The Grand Master of Leg Submissions." His career spanned PRIDE, DEEP, Shooto, Pancrase, Cage Rage, DREAM, and ONE Championship, with an approximate record of 40–22–2 across more than sixty professional fights. He held the DEEP Bantamweight Championship and won the DEEP Featherweight Championship twice. He also placed second and third in All-Japan Combat Wrestling championships.

Imanari created the rolling entry because he faced a specific problem: he could not wrestle. His takedown ability was poor, and in MMA — a sport that increasingly rewarded wrestling control — this was a serious liability. His solution was to invent a technique that eliminated wrestling from the equation entirely. Rather than fighting for underhooks and double legs, Imanari would roll forward underneath his opponent, thread his legs around theirs, and attack the heel hook from the ground.

The technique was self-taught. Despite widespread assumption, the Imanari roll is not derived from sambo, judo, or any traditional grappling system. Imanari himself has stated that he developed the movement through experimentation, not formal instruction. This makes the Imanari roll one of the rare techniques in martial arts that can be traced to a single inventor working alone.

The Imanari roll is mechanically simple but demands precise timing and total commitment. There is no half-measure version of this technique — hesitation is the primary cause of failure.

The setup: The attacker needs a feint. A naked Imanari roll — one with no preceding misdirection — is easily defended because the opponent can simply step backward or sprawl. Effective setups include a jab feint (making the opponent think a striking exchange is coming), a collar tie reach (suggesting a clinch entry), or a level change (mimicking a wrestling shot). The feint must be convincing enough to freeze the opponent's feet for a fraction of a second.

The grip: The attacker grips the inside of the opponent's lead ankle with the same-side hand. This grip is the anchor — without it, the roll cannot pull the opponent into the entanglement.

The roll: The attacker drops onto the shoulder of the gripping arm and executes a forward shoulder roll aimed at the opponent's lead leg. This is a Granby-style roll — shoulders should be the only body part touching the ground. The roll must be fast enough that inertia carries the attacker through the full rotation before the opponent can react.

The thread: During the roll, the attacker's legs swing around the opponent's standing leg. The near leg goes behind the opponent's leg (hooking the calf or thigh), the far leg goes in front (creating the inside sankaku triangle). When the roll completes, the attacker is seated with the opponent's leg fully entangled between both of theirs.

The finish: The attacker immediately secures the heel in the crook of their elbow and applies a heel hook — rotating the foot to attack the knee ligaments. The entire sequence from feint to heel hook can take less than three seconds.

The danger rating on the Imanari roll is not about the roll itself — it is about what comes after.

The roll lands in inside sankaku (also called the saddle or the honey hole), which is universally recognised as the most dominant leg lock position in grappling. From inside sankaku, the attacker has access to the inside heel hook — the single most dangerous submission in combat sports. The inside heel hook attacks the knee by rotating the tibia relative to the femur, tearing the ACL, MCL, and meniscus. What makes it especially dangerous is the absence of a pain warning: unlike an armbar, where the defender feels increasing pressure and can tap before damage occurs, the heel hook often causes ligament rupture before significant pain registers.

The speed of the Imanari roll entry compounds this danger. In a conventional leg lock attack, the opponent has multiple moments to recognise and defend the threat — during the takedown, during the guard pass, during the positional transition. The Imanari roll compresses all of these into a single explosive movement. By the time the opponent realises they are in an entanglement, the heel hook may already be locked.

This is why the Imanari roll carries a danger rating of 7–8 out of 10 in the Fight Encyclopedia taxonomy. The technique itself is a takedown entry. But it leads directly to a submission that can end careers.

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The Imanari roll entered mainstream consciousness through Ryan Hall's UFC career.

At UFC 232 on December 29, 2018, Hall faced BJ Penn — a former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight champion and one of the most accomplished grapplers in MMA history. In the first round, Hall executed an Imanari roll, threaded his legs around Penn's lead leg, secured a heel hook, and finished the fight. The victory earned Hall the Performance of the Night bonus and demonstrated that the Imanari roll was viable against the highest level of MMA competition.

Hall's variation is notable for its technical refinement. Rather than landing in standard inside sankaku, Hall often over-rotates into the 50/50 position, which gives access to the outside heel hook. This variant adds an extra half-rotation to the roll but provides more control and a different submission angle.

Before Hall, the Danaher Death Squad — particularly Eddie Cummings and Garry Tonon — had already demonstrated the power of rolling leg lock entries in submission grappling competition. From 2014 onward, Cummings and Tonon used Imanari-style entries to dominate EBI (Eddie Bravo Invitational) and ADCC events, finishing opponents with heel hooks from entanglements entered via rolling attacks. John Danaher's systematisation of leg locks — documented in his Leg Lock Anthology instructional series — provided the theoretical framework that turned the Imanari roll from a single fighter's trick into a foundational element of modern grappling strategy.

The Imanari roll is legal in every major combat sport:

• MMA (Unified Rules): Legal — all takedowns are permitted except spiking.
• BJJ (IBJJF): Legal at all belt levels — scored as a takedown (2 points). Note: while the roll itself is legal everywhere, the heel hook it leads to is restricted below brown belt in IBJJF competition.
• ADCC: Legal — scored 2–4 points in the second half of the match. Heel hooks are permitted at all experience levels.
• Judo (IJF): Legal as a takedown technique.
• Wrestling (UWW/NCAA): Legal in freestyle and folkstyle — scored as a takedown (2 points). May face restrictions in Greco-Roman depending on the specific execution.
• Sambo (FIAS): Legal in both sport sambo and combat sambo — all takedowns are permitted.

The universal legality reflects the fact that the Imanari roll is classified as a takedown entry, not a submission. The roll takes the opponent from standing to the ground — what happens after the roll depends on the ruleset.

The Imanari roll has specific weaknesses that experienced fighters exploit:

1. Distance management. The roll requires the attacker to be within ankle-gripping range. Maintaining distance — fighting at the edge of punching range rather than clinch range — denies the initial grip that makes the roll possible.

2. Recognise the feint. The Imanari roll always follows a misdirection. Learning to recognise when an opponent's level change, jab, or collar tie reach is the setup for a roll rather than a genuine attack allows the defender to react before the roll begins.

3. Sprawl and backstep. The moment the attacker drops, sprawling backward removes the target leg from range. The roll requires a stationary or advancing opponent — moving backward breaks the mechanics.

4. Drive weight onto the rolling shoulder. If the defender recognises the roll early enough, driving downward onto the attacker's rolling shoulder stops the rotation entirely. Without completing the roll, the attacker lands in a compromised position.

5. Leg lock defence knowledge. Even when the Imanari roll succeeds, knowledge of ashi garami escapes neutralises the threat. Freeing the knee line, straightening the leg, and working to extract the foot are standard defences that every serious grappler should drill.

The best defence, however, is not being surprised. The Imanari roll's greatest weapon is the element of surprise — when an opponent expects it, the entry success rate drops dramatically.

The Imanari roll is the most famous rolling entry, but it is not the only one. In Fight Encyclopedia's taxonomy, rolling entries form an entire group under the Takedown class:

The Imanari roll is distinguished by its forward trajectory and its landing in the most dominant entanglement. Other rolling entries may land in less advantageous positions, but they can also be easier to execute or harder to anticipate.

The Kani Basami (flying scissors) is a related but distinct technique — a lateral scissor takedown that sweeps the opponent's legs rather than entangling them. While Kani Basami is banned in judo competition due to injury risk, it remains legal in most other combat sports.

The Imanari roll is an advanced technique that requires prerequisite skills before it can be safely and effectively drilled:

Prerequisite 1: Comfort with forward rolling. The shoulder roll must be drilled thousands of times before adding the leg entanglement. Rolling on both sides — not just the dominant side — is essential. Any hesitation or discomfort during the roll telegraphs the attack and creates vulnerability.

Prerequisite 2: Ashi garami knowledge. The roll is only useful if the attacker knows what to do upon landing. Understanding inside sankaku, outside ashi, 50/50, and straight ashi garami — including transitions between them — is necessary before the Imanari roll has practical value.

Prerequisite 3: Heel hook mechanics. Since the roll's primary purpose is to access a heel hook, the attacker must be proficient in heel hook application, including proper elbow positioning, rotation direction, and control of the opponent's hip.

Key training points:

• The feint is everything — drill the jab-to-roll, collar-tie-to-roll, and level-change-to-roll combinations until each is convincing on its own
• Distance must be precise — too far and the ankle grip fails; too close and the roll cannot complete
• Time the roll to the opponent's advance — a forward-stepping opponent provides their lead leg as a target
• Train bail-out options — when the roll misses, you must have a plan: guard pull, scramble to standing, or immediate stand-up
• Study Ryan Hall's UFC footage — his Imanari roll entries against UFC-level opponents remain the gold standard for timing and execution

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Rolling without a feint. A telegraphed Imanari roll is the easiest attack to defend in grappling. Without a preceding misdirection, the opponent simply steps back.

Rolling head-first. The roll must be executed on the shoulder, not the head. Head-first rolling risks serious neck injury and produces a slower, less controlled rotation.

Landing in the wrong position. The roll must end in a specific ashi garami entanglement. Landing in a generic ground position — legs loosely around the opponent — has no value and leaves the attacker in an inferior position.

Not securing the heel immediately. The moment the roll completes, the heel must be trapped. Any delay allows the opponent to extract their leg, stand up, and begin striking or passing.

Attempting from too far away. If the ankle grip cannot be established, the roll will land with no entanglement — leaving the attacker on the ground with the opponent standing above them. In MMA, this is an invitation to ground-and-pound.

The Imanari roll represents a broader shift in martial arts philosophy: the idea that a fighter's weakness can be converted into a weapon. Masakazu Imanari could not wrestle, so he invented a technique that made wrestling irrelevant. He could not close the distance through conventional means, so he created a movement that closed the distance through unconventional ones.

This philosophy — finding a way around the problem rather than through it — has influenced an entire generation of grapplers. The Danaher Death Squad built a competitive dynasty around the leg lock system that the Imanari roll opens. Ryan Hall proved that a specialist could compete at the highest level of MMA by mastering a single entry pathway. Every no-gi grappling tournament today features competitors who use rolling entries as a primary strategy.

The Imanari roll is not a technique for every fighter. It requires advanced skills, precise timing, and the willingness to sacrifice standing position for a ground attack that may fail. But for those who master it, the Imanari roll offers something no other technique can: a direct line from standing distance to the most devastating submission in combat sports, delivered in less time than it takes to throw a combination.

Browse the full Imanari Roll technique entry and its variants in our taxonomy: Imanari Roll and Standard Imanari Roll.

Explore more rolling entries: Rolling Entry, Kani Basami. Or explore the leg lock positions the Imanari roll targets: Leg Entanglement, Inside Sankaku. Browse the full taxonomy at the A-Z techniques index.

What is an Imanari roll? The Imanari roll is a forward rolling entry from standing that threads the attacker's legs around the opponent's lead leg, landing directly in a leg entanglement position (usually inside sankaku or ashi garami) for an immediate heel hook, kneebar, or toe hold attack. It is named after Japanese MMA fighter Masakazu Imanari, who developed the technique around 1998–1999.

Who invented the Imanari roll? Masakazu Imanari (今成正和), a Japanese MMA fighter who competed in PRIDE, DEEP, Shooto, and ONE Championship. He developed the rolling entry because he lacked traditional wrestling skills and needed an alternative way to enter leg lock positions. The technique is self-taught and not derived from sambo or any other traditional system, despite common misconceptions.

Is the Imanari roll legal in MMA? Yes. The Imanari roll is legal under the Unified Rules of MMA and in every major combat sport, including IBJJF (all belt levels), ADCC, judo (IJF), freestyle and folkstyle wrestling, and sambo. It is classified as a takedown entry, and all takedowns are legal in these rulesets (except spiking in MMA).

Is the Imanari roll effective in competition? Yes. Ryan Hall used the Imanari roll to finish BJ Penn at UFC 232 (December 2018) via heel hook in the first round, earning Performance of the Night. Eddie Cummings and Garry Tonon used rolling entries to win multiple EBI and ADCC matches. Masakazu Imanari himself used the technique to win fights across PRIDE, DEEP, and multiple Japanese MMA promotions over a career of sixty-plus professional fights.

How do you defend against the Imanari roll? The primary defence is distance management — staying outside ankle-gripping range. If the roll is initiated, sprawling backward removes the target leg. If the roll succeeds, knowledge of leg lock escapes (freeing the knee line, straightening the leg, extracting the foot) neutralises the submission threat. The most important defence is awareness: the Imanari roll is most dangerous when it is unexpected.

What is the difference between an Imanari roll and a flying scissor takedown? The Imanari roll is a forward rolling entry that entangles the opponent's lead leg. The flying scissor takedown (Kani Basami) is a lateral scissor sweep that cuts the opponent's legs from the side. They lead to similar positions (leg entanglements) but use completely different body mechanics. The Kani Basami is banned in judo; the Imanari roll is legal everywhere.

How long does it take to learn the Imanari roll? The Imanari roll is classified as an advanced technique. The prerequisite skills — comfortable forward rolling, ashi garami knowledge, and heel hook mechanics — typically require at least two to three years of grappling experience. The roll itself can be drilled in isolation, but effective use in sparring requires understanding of timing, distance, feints, and leg lock systems.