When many of us first get started in combat sports we are lured in with the phrase "self-defense," which conjures ideas of how to protect yourself. The reality of most martial arts/combat sports curriculum is that much of our time is spent on offensive tactics, not necessarily a bad idea as the old maxim states "the best defense is a good offense."
Sometimes.
In boxing, throwing a good punch is a fine thing to work on, but not getting hit ain't a bad idea either. But this "a good offense is the best defense" idea goes out the window in grappling, particularly submission grappling.
You can know every submission in the book and top-pin like the baddest SOB in the lumber camp, but I don't care who you are, if your Houdini skills are lacking when even an intermediate player is on your back, our training disparity will show in spades. It is always humbling to watch your good offense fade to tunnel vision as you succumb to a fine rear-naked choke.
It is with correcting this offensive-defensive imbalance in mind that we have re-tooled our introductory grappling curriculum to emphasize defense.
And that defense will start with countering the king of all submissions the rightly respected and duly vaunted rear naked choke or mata leon.
Don't let that use of the word "Introductory" fool you. This re-tool is no basics only/been-there done-that presentation. We have worked hard to stream-line and synthesize a set of operating principles that can be used to counter damn good chokes inside the first week.
If the student keeps working with the drills step-by-step in the interlocking progression that confidence scales higher and higher. The concept being if we begin by raising the intelligence/confidence level of the athlete the combative fearlessness commensurately scales higher and higher as you realize "The more I work the choke-proof drill-sequence the less I have to fear the grappler's vaunted knock-out punch." If you nullify your opponent's A-game you can go to work on your own.
This re-tooling of curriculum will continue through Arm-Bar Proofing, Triangle-Proofing, Guillotine-Proofing, Shoulder-Lock Proofing, Leg-Lock Proofing, and on down the line.
Along the way defensive skills soar, confidence orbits the planet, and the mind can be cleared for inculcating an aggressive offensive game.
And, again, lest anyone think we will simply re-present old material, a good 90% of the choke-proofing is bona fide never shown before and...I will not present it on freebie demo videos. I want to keep this info in-house for RAW Crew Subscription Members Present and Future, in other words-home team advantage and all that jazz.
With that said here's a general template of how some of the Choke-Proofing will progress, be advised that I leave this purposefully sketchy.
- Hand-Fighting-Do's & Don't (Primarily don'ts)
- Safety-Inside the Hooks-In Position
- Escaping Hooks-In
- Escaping the Figure-4 Body-Lock
- Transition Escapes in Response to On-Your-Back Follows
- Double-Underhook/Body-Lock Hooks-In Escapes
- Harness Escapes (This is a must-have as this retention is used by most high-level players.)
- Lost Hand-Fight Safety
- Deep Choke Hooks-In Escapes
- Deep Choke Figure-4 Body-Lock Escapes
- Draped Escapes
The above is just the basic outline of the belly-up series. Following this we will move into ¼ Position Choke Escapes, Flattened Choke Escapes, Hybrid Leg-Retention Escapes (Crab-Rides, Saturday Night Rides, High-Ball Rides, etc.), and we will also address Pre-Hook Jams to kybosh the offense before it starts.
But the Jams will come down the line. We start with fat in the fire moves and move progressively to staying away from the fire to begin with. [We work from worst-position to best-position ala the advice of the great Lou Thesz.]
Trust me, we've put a loooooooot of thought into this Choke-Proofing, and this is all new material, no bridging, no "choke yourself," no wrist-control, no shin-shines, no fresh and saltwater crabs, no nothing that will get you into more danger than you already are with an aggressive skilled opponent on your back. Instead, I believe you'll find wiser stripped-down alternatives with universal principles that may leave you asking "Why the hell didn't you show this earlier?"
[More info on RAW 163.]
