I say that it is the quintessential jiu jitsu finish because it incorporates all of the key aspects of jiu jitsu. It is effective for a smaller person against a larger adversary because you engage them where they are weakest and you are strongest (i.e., from behind). It is effective as an attack because chokes are by far the most efficient way to finish a fight. The choke out is to jiu jitsu what the ippon is to judo and the knockout is to striking arts—except for the fact that the choke is far more efficient. As Helio once said, nobody can grow muscles to protect their neck! A fighter may tolerate a broken arm from an armlock (Jacare did in his fight against Roger Gracie). A fighter may have an iron chin (such as Mark Hunt) and be incredibly difficult to knock out. But if you collapse the arteries delivering blood to the brain, there isn’t any room for discussion. Enter the sandman.
So that’s part of what’s great about Marcelo Garcia.
Here are a couple of observations that I think have been prevented me from taking better advantage of this position:
1. You must attack the neck: I make the same mistake when trying to triangle choke people. You don’t want any shoulder in your choke. The more shoulder you have in your choke, the harder it will be to get the finish.
I had a Eureka moment the other day watching Cesar Gracie explain the triangle choke as a counter to what I used to call the David Loiseau way of passing the guard—i.e., jamming the points of your elbows into the inner thighs of the guy on the bottom. Cesar has the guard guy lift the leg that will be choking the guy straight back first, THEN swinging it down almost like an axe kick against the side of the neck. You don’t bring it straight over because you’re likely to get too much shoulder. By bringing it straight back and THEN over and straight down, you are likely to get as close to the neck as possible.
Something similar is at work with the “harness” grip that Marcelo uses to get such great mata leao positioning. You want to bring that choking arm over the shoulder, but AS CLOSE TO THE NECK AS POSSIBLE. Thinking about it this morning, I was saying to myself that if you could rotate your shoulder over so that your arm could swing perfectly up and down that would be ideal. Another way of thinking about it is that the “clasp” that locks the harness should be right by the guy’s heart. The only way you can get the clasp that deep is if your over-reaching arm is close to the guy’s neck. Otherwise your arm won’t reach and the clasp will be closer to the middle of his chest—or worse.
That side of the choke will ultimately be delivered by your bicep. Not your forearm, not the crook of your elbow, but by the pressure of your bicep pushing against the artery on that side of the guy’s neck. Remember that you want to be able to reach around his neck and over the back of the guy’s OTHER shoulder and dig your fingertips into the ridge right behind his trapezium.
Do the Marcelo/Taco Bell “good to go” hand swim to get the other hand behind the neck. And as with all chokes, once in position: SQUEEZE THE ELBOWS/KNEES TOGETHER AND TOWARD YOU.
2. The other Marcelo tip is much smaller, but is worth noting. If you have flexible hips, then it is easier to put hooks in and keep them there. It is also easier to get those hooks higher up on the thighs, where they can be easier to grab, but harder to remove. Besides, any time he is using his hands to fight your hooks, you should be able to more effectively attack his neck. So let’s work those hip openers and glute stretches!
