The cross collar choke from mount is one of the very first chokes that you learn in BJJ.
And it works well against beginners who have no idea how to defend with their hands…
But as soon as people start getting all defensive and defending their collars it starts getting hard to get your own hands in deep enough. And a shallow grip makes it hard to generate enough power against the neck to actually choke the guy.
(Not to mention that your opponent usually bridges you over and you end up on the bottom.)
So why is it that Roger Gracie can finish just about everyone with the cross choke from mount? Including world class black belts who surely know how to defend their collars, bridge their way out of mount, plus are fairly tough too?
If you want to see a few examples of Roger taking the mount and choking someone from there watch from 1:22 to 2:00 in the highlight video below.
So how does Roger do it?
What’s his secret to finishing the choke without losing the position?
In our new short video Rob Biernacki shows some adjustments for this choke he’s learned by watching Roger choke out tons of black belts in competitions. One of these adjustment (the ‘falling forward’ modification) was so powerful that it just about put me to sleep onscreen.
The video about putting black belts to sleep with the cross collar choke from mount is below:
P.S. If you like how Rob teaches make sure to check out his instruction in the Back Attacks Formula, which is a systematic approach to taking the back, staying on the back, and choking your opponent out from the back. This has helped a LOT of people, and it will probably help you too.