Why am I having problems with my chokes?

OldManJim

Orange Belt
Joined
Jan 25, 2015
Messages
61
Reaction score
5
If you've been following my posts you know I'm new to Bjj and im a big guy. I've been at Bjj for 3 weeks now and I am taking gi class 2 nights a week and no gi once. Last night in no gi we went over the prayer choke (I think that what it was called) and a guillotine type roll choke when the opponent shoots for the legs and a kind of guillotine under hook choke. I'm sorry I forgot proper terms. Anyway for some reason I have trouble getting the chokes locked in tight or getting the right amount of compression or something. My coach helps me but I get it 2 out of 5 times. One guy in class has no neck and he helps me but it's harder on him lol. Am I just being a frustrated newbie? Are my forearms too big? Am I stressing over nothing? Help! Lol
 

Tony Dismukes

MT Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
7,577
Reaction score
7,611
Location
Lexington, KY
One guy in class has no neck and he helps me but it's harder on him lol.

Yeah, no-neck guys are harder to choke. You can choke them, but it requires more skill and precision.

Are my forearms too big?

Nope.

Am I just being a frustrated newbie?

Am I stressing over nothing?

Yep. You're only 3 weeks in and you're still developing basic awareness of your partners body and your own. The difference between a successful choke and one that fails can often come down to very subtle adjustments and you're still working on gross motor patterns. Give yourself some time and it will all start to make more sense.

In general, the key to making a choke work is not to squeeze harder, it's to get your position and the angle of your pressure right. In the case of blood chokes (what some people call strangles), you need to have pressure occluding the arteries on both sides of the neck. If the choke isn't working, you probably don't have both arteries covered.
 

Buka

Sr. Grandmaster
Staff member
MT Mentor
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
12,952
Reaction score
10,444
Location
Maui
Three weeks? Heck, might take four or five. :)
 

kuniggety

2nd Black Belt
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
795
Reaction score
272
Location
Oahu, Hawaii
I've been doing this for a couple of years now and we will still go over new techniques that I just can't get the hang of in the instructional time of one class. That's with the background of having done similar movements for similar techniques for a couple of years. You've only been doing this a couple of weeks.There's lots of nuances. It's like any other art like painting. With some months of practice you'll get some of the foundational movements (broad strokes) but it's going to take years to learn nuances (fine strokes) and decades to be a master. Just be patient, keep rolling, and it will start coming together.
 

drop bear

Sr. Grandmaster
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
23,337
Reaction score
8,070
Guillotine chokes are not really intuitive. You think you should try to pull a guys head off their shoulders. But instead you want to compress the head into the body.
 

Brian R. VanCise

MT Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 9, 2004
Messages
27,758
Reaction score
1,520
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
As Tony mentioned it definitely is position and angle. Get those down and chokes become really easy. It is not about muscling your way through the choke. With Gi chokes make sure you get your hands positioned deep. Your new so just make sure you learn the correct steps and repeat them often, correctly! Time and practice will help you during this process.
 

Latest Discussions

Top