Cross collar choke
From OTMWiki
The cross collar choke (also called a front lapel choke) is a choke hold commonly performed in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo.
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Application of the Cross Collar Choke
In order to perform this choke, the two combatants should be facing each other. The one applying the choke slides his first grip palm up along his or her opponents opposite collar. Care should be taken that the wrist is straight and that the "blade" of the forearm is pressed against the carotid artery (the thumb should be pointing towards the opponents head). A grip is made on the collar which should be taut. The second arm slide underneath the first grip and should provide an identical grip to the first. The attacker then brings his forearms together, pulling his arms tighter across his own body to complete the choke.
Contrary to the name, the strangulation is not caused by the pressure from the collar on the neck, but rather the pressing of the forearms into the carotid arteries on both side of the neck. Holding the lapel acts as a handle so that leverage may be gained in performing this choke. The choke is most common with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo because the durability of the collar in the gi uniform will allow multiple applications of the choke. The choke can be effective with almost any clothing on the opponents torso, including jackets and shirts, although the application of the choke may ruin the article of clothing in question.
As with any blood strangulation choke, unconsciousness can be rendered in anywhere from 3 to 10 seconds once the choke is properly applied.
The most common positions to perform the cross collar choke are from the guard or from the mount. A less common, but still effective position that the choke can applied from is the standing position.
A common mistake beginning grapplers might make is to try to perform the choke from inside their opponent's guard. It is difficult to gain the leverage from this position in order to be effective with this maneuver, and worse still it often leaves the attacker especially vunerable to an armlock attack from the person in the guard.
Reverse Grip
A cross collar choke may also be applied with an overhand grip. THe first underhanded grip is made in the same way as in the standard cross collar choke. The second grip is made over the first grip, with the attacker using the blade of his forearm on the pinky side to against the carotid artery holding unto whatever material is convenient on his opponent to ensure the forearms are pressed tightly into the neck. The choke is completed by the application pressure from the forearms against the next, pulling the arms back tightly against the attackers body.
Defense against the Cross Collar Choke
The main defense against the cross collar choke is to not let your opponent establish the proper grips in the first place. Since both grips must be in place, the defender must take care to fend off the attackers hands, especially after the first grip has been established.
Once the proper grips have been established, it is much more difficult to defend against the choke. The defender must somehow loosen the grips established by the attacker, and remove the pressure from his arteries to a less vunerable position. As the choke often depends on the attack drawing his arms back, the last resort would be to grab and elbow and prevent the motion of the arms.
Great care must be exercised when defending this choke, as unconsciousness can set in quickly. This choke is often the most common to see students being choked out from as it is easy to misjudge how much time there is left to defend against it.
History of the Cross Collar Choke
The cross collar choke was a favorite of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu founder Helio Gracie, who used it to choke his opponent judo vice champion Kato unconscious. The cross collar choke was one that Helio would practice every day, he even tied gi material to a wooden plank to strengthen his grip across the wood.
There is a story of how after a world championships of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition, many of the top black belt medalists were attending a seminar with Rickson Gracie the following day. The first technique Rickson began to demonstrate was the cross collar choke. The attendees were not too happy to the point of being insulted, after all, the cross collar choke is among the most basic of attacks and often show to first day students! Hearing their grumbling, Rickson laid on the mat and challenged any of the black belts present to get a cross collar choke on him. One by one they all mounted Rickson, but none of them were able to tap him out! So afterwards all of the humbled black belts were practicing the cross collar chokes under Rickson's supervision as if they were first day students. (This may or may not have been the same day in which Rickson tapped out at least 20 black belts in a row in a single sparring session).
