A submission hold meant to wear an opponent down rather than to actually decide a match, the Lotus Lock is a relatively often used hold in professional female wrestling. It looks spectacular, and there are various ways to make it more punishing for the victim and possibly even more spectacular for the viewer.

The lotus lock can be applied from several positions. The standard situation is when the victim is sitting on the mat (ring floor) with the attacker behind her. The attacker then pulls the victim’s arms backward and wraps her legs around them pulling back on them with her arms and squeezing with her legs in the same time. Extreme discomfort can be caused to the victim, although most women wrestlers are more than flexible enough to ride out a Lotus Lock without surrendering.

The attacker can choose to rock backward from the sitting position in which she applies the hold, pulling the victim backwards as well over her. She can also elect to force the victim face down onto the mat and apply the lotus lock sitting on her back, possibly rubbing a foot into her face too to make it that much more uncomfortable.

Possible escape: as long as your opponent doesn’t switch the lotus lock into something more dangerous, all you have to do is wait till she releases you. You can also attempt to wiggle or power your way out of the hold but since you have to part her legs using your arms, that’s not going to be easy.

Rating: while the Lotus Lock is a hold which takes up little energy on the part of the attacker to maintain, the strain it places on most victims is just not enough. It is used to wear opponents down rather than to bring a conclusion to the match. The fact that it is spectacular means that it will be used in pro matches quite often.  The attacker also has quite a few options available to continue on from a locked in Lotus Lock.