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...]
Rear Mount
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...]