When you’re attacking with the Rear NakedChoke (aka the RNC) you’ve got to have answers for when your opponent buries his chin in his own chest to hide his neck. Here’s a simple trick that Erik Paulson recently showed to me to get your opponent to lift his chin so you can sink the Rear Naked Choke properly. (And here’s a link to the original 10 minute tutorial on the RNC) Give it a try. … [Read more...]
Rear Mount
How Marcelo Garcia Defeats Larger, Stronger Opponents
There's nothing quite like watching a smaller, lighter, weaker person use their technique to defeat a bigger, heavier, stronger opponent. And when it comes to tapping out bigger, stronger, heavier opponents there's nobody quite like Marcelo Garcia. Not only is he a four time world BJJ champion and three time ADCC champion in his weight class, but he's often fought in the absolute division … [Read more...]
Marcelo Garcia Chokes Me Out Repeatedly
Marcelo Garcia is maybe the very best person in the world at attacking the turtle position. But before I tell you how I know this first hand, I should point out that as you get better you'll run into the turtle position more often. This is because when you're pinned by an advanced player it's pretty damn hard to put them back into your guard. And the other main escape option is to go to … [Read more...]
Two Rear Mount Secrets
Usually getting better at something like the Rear Mount in grappling is a slow process, requiring thousands of repetitions and many hours on the mat to master a technique. But sometimes transformations occur overnight! In the video below I share two 'secrets' that will double the effectiveness of your rear mount. These tweaks will make it much harder for your opponent to escape, and leave … [Read more...]
Submission Grappling Choke
Here is a modern way of applying the Rear Naked Choke, which had it's origins in Classical Japanese Ju-Jutsu. (This technique is from the Submission Grappling vs. Classical Ju-Jutsu article on Grapplearts.com) Stephan controls his opponent with the butterfly guard. He grips his opponent’s triceps with his right hand… … and pulls him forward while simultaneously moving his … [Read more...]
Finishing the Rear Naked Choke
Grappling is usually a refined and elegant martial art. But you can't always use sophistication and leverage to get what you want... Let's look at question that was recently forwarded to me, and see why sometimes you need to go lowbrow! Q: "I have a quick question on the Rear Naked Choke (RNC). I have come across a few guys who are excellent at tucking their chin well into the crook of my … [Read more...]
A Roadmap for the Rear Naked Choke
The Rear Naked Choke, or RNC, is one of those fundamental techniques. Choking someone from rearmount is an incredibly effective and efficient tool in the jiu-jitsu arsenal, but I only acquired it relatively late in my grappling career. Instructions on how to do the RNC are in the first martial arts books I bought when I was 12 years old. I also learned how to do it in Judo class at about the … [Read more...]
The Fundamental Rear Mount
In the last tip we talked about how you should (mostly) avoid crossing your ankles while rear mounted on your opponent. This week I just want to go over some fundamental tips that may help you maintain rear mount on an opponent trying to escape. … [Read more...]
Rear Mount – Crossing your Feet
The rear mount is arguably the most dominant position in grappling. When you have rear mount you can apply some very powerful chokes and locks. In MMA or self defense you can administer severe punishment without your opponent having the ability to strike you back. … [Read more...]
A Roadmap for Grappling
When an uninitiated person sees grappling in action for the first time it seems very chaotic and confusing. There are limbs and bodies all over the place and then, all of a sudden and for ‘no reason’ someone taps out. This can be a very intimidating activity for beginners to launch themselves into. … [Read more...]
How to Squeeze With The Rear Naked Choke
The so-called rear naked choke (also known as “hadaka-jime” in Japanese) is one of the most powerful submissions in grappling. Properly applied, this choke should give your opponent no way out except to tap or go to sleep. When using this choke I often think about the angles at which I am applying pressure. Keeping these angles in mind has made my rear naked choke much more powerful: First … [Read more...]