Lachlan Giles - Australian BJJ Black Belt Competitor and Coach

Lachlan Giles is an admired Australian BJJ black belt under John Simon and has also worked extensively with Tyrone Crosse and Thiago Stefanutti. He is well-known for his no-gi success and his heel hook pedigree. Giles is the head coach at Absolute MMA and has been influential in developing exceptional athletes such as Livia Gluchowska (his wife) and Craig Jones. He is also considered the founder of K-Guard and the "outside sankaku" (50/50 or half guard) position. He is an outstanding technical coach and instructor with a PhD in physiotherapy.

Lachlan Giles was born in Victoria on June 17, 1986, in a southeastern state in Australia. Giles started practicing kung fu during his teens, getting inspired by watching Jet Li’s martial arts transmission. About one year into his martial arts training, Giles watched a tape on the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was at once amazed by Royce Gracie‘s jiu-jitsu tactics. Believing this was his best form of self-defense, at the age of fifteen Giles joined a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy, gradually distancing himself from kung fu throughout the following months to focus merely on his fighting.

Giles started his Jiu Jitsu practice with his coach Tyrone Crosse, he advanced him from a white to purple belt. Unfortunately, due to an acute knee injury, Giles had a break from training. Upon his return, the local BJJ academy shifted to a new instructor, John Simon. He promoted Lachlan Giles to brown and black belt in 2012. 

In one of Giles's interviews, he said about his life lessons from BJJ:

Giles started coaching at Renegade MMA in 2013. Quickly progressing as an instructor, he concentrated on coaching at Absolute MMA, a Melbourne City Center (CBD) gym under head coach Thiago Stefanutti. Thiago quickly substantially impacted Lachlan Giles’s BJJ game, awarding him a black belt. Afterward, showing his talents as a jiu-jitsu coach at CBD, they invited Giles to be the instructor when the Absolute MMA association opened a second branch in St Kilda (2014)—an offer accepted by Giles.

He worked with numerous successful grapplers from the St Kilda location, including high-profile athletes such as Livia Gluchowska and Craig Jones.

Giles is an intelligent man. Besides his modest and humble nature, he also holds a PhD in physiotherapy, which he completed in 2016, and has four peer-reviewed publications that focus on patellofemoral pain. As an intellectual athlete, Giles effectively conveys his knowledge clearly and comprehensively. He is one of the top coaches and teachers of the modern era.

Lachlan Giles is an ADCC Bronze Medalist (2017), 3-time ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials Champion, and IBJJF World Championship No-Gi Bronze Medalist. In 2014, he achieved a remarkable accomplishment by sweeping the black belt division at Australia’s prestigious Pan Pacific Championships, winning four gold medals. At this time, Giles’s most outstanding performances were the Kinektic Invitational, where he single-handedly swept the entire opposing team, securing victories through four heel hooks and one armbar, and the 2019 ADCC World Championships. His extraordinary performance shows how much he is prepared for it. He said:

In the 2019 Kinektic Invitational 1 tournament, Giles swept his opponent team, submitting five opponents single-handedly. His first match was against Marcelo Garcia. He used a leg drag pass as a transition and finished the game with an inside heel lock. After that, he defeated three more opponent fighters, Will Weed, Chris Lytle, and Ricco Rodriguez, with the same technique. He submitted one of the opponents, Joe Riggs, with an armbar. This outstanding fight won him a gold medal.

In the 2019 ADCC World Championship, Gordan Ryan submitted Lachlan Giles and won a silver medal. In 2020, Giles posted on Instagram saying, “Those who have won medals while using PEDs should relinquish any accomplishments,” to which Ryan accused him of using steroids. Later on, Giles decided to shut Ryan with a bet. He said:

To date, Ryan hasn’t responded to the challenge.

BJJ athlete, physiotherapy Ph.D., ADCC open weight bronze medalist, and a head coach of Absolute MMA, Giles is the world’s top-class grappler with a professional record of 38 wins and 19 losses since the beginning of his career as a black belt BJJ.

In the 2019 ADCC World Championship, Lachlan Giles won a fight against Kynan Duarte using his signature technique inside heel hock. It was a 10-minute fight, but Giles submitted him 3 minutes into the match. Giles started the game with a leg lock attack, bringing down his opponent by inside heel hock.

In the 2022 ADCC World Championship, an electrifying grappling match occurred between Lachlan Giles and Kade Ruotolo. The match lasts for 10 minutes. At first, Giles practiced his leg enlargements and tried to lock Ruotolo, but unfortunately, Kade Ruotolo used the cross-side armbar technique and won the fight.

In the 2019 ADCC World Championship, a grappling fight was held between Lachlan Giles and Patrick Gaudio. During that 10-minute battle, Giles had an excellent grip on leg locks toward his opponent. He then uses his heel hook position to win the fight. This string of heel hooks made him win the bronze medal in the tournament.

Haisam Rida vs Lachlan Giles. Main event WLF, China

Lachlan Giles - Heel Hooks at ADCC Absolute (Control Jiu-Jitsu Submission of The Week)

The Giant Slayer | Lachlan Giles

【ADCC Asia & Oceania Trial 2019】-76.9kg ラクラン・ジャイルズ

Photo Credit: @lachlan_giles