Introduction: We, at FitLifeandTravel have recently added a sport spotlight series to our fitness lifestyle blog. Here we will bring to you stories and information related to various sports and experiences with respect to attending athletic games and other types of events. Some articles are provided by guest blog authors and bloggers. This spotlight series is for informational purposes only.

Athletic Moves and Techniques

The art of BJJ is all about acquiring submission through grappling. Unlike boxing and other forms of combat-based training, its main focus is to control the body of the opponent and build a strategy that is powerful enough that you can control the body of your opponent easily. While acquiring submission fighters use so many different locks and chokes that help them control the body of their opponent. Some of the chokes are so dangerous that the wrong use of them can damage the health and body of the opponent, so it is very important to make sure that without proper practice you are not using these styles. The main focus of the choke is usually on pushing on the neck and blocking the blood flow, since the neck is a very sensitive part, and this can impact the overall health and become very painful. As a result, the opponent loses his grip over everything else, and within a few minutes, he either faints or admits the defeat.

Strong Man Hold

Among some of the most famous chokes is guillotine chokes. The name of these chokes was very interestingly derived from the execution-style that was used in the previous century. This choker style is usually regarded as the strong man choke and fighters usually see this as a one-off move choke style that can make the opponent paralyzed.

If we look a little bit at the history, we will see that Marcelo Garcia and his rise in the world of MMA has greatly impressed people. One of the main tricks that he used was guillotine choke and he further managed to perfect this style by modifying it slightly. Now the technique that we use in BJJ is the refined technique that was used by Marcelo. With its effectiveness, it became a popular addition to the BJJ techniques and now you will see almost everyone using this in all kinds of grappling environments no matter if it is just BJJ or MMA.

A Little Bit About the History of Guillotine

If we try to dive into the history of the choke, we will see that it has been in the game for quite a long and we can’t seem to track back the one person who invested this idea. However, if we trace back the roots, we will see that there is a very evident existence of Mae Hadaka Jime or front naked choke. Similarly, the early catch wrestling style also has evidence of choking styles. If we see the wrestling styles of the first Olympics that were held in ancient Greece, we will see people using these chokes. Now, if we dive into the use of guillotine choke specifically, we will see that it has also been part of grappling martial arts for a very long time. Famous names, like Bruce Lee when came into mainstream media, put a light on the use of these chokes and now we see almost everyone using these chokes. If we watch Bruce Lee’s famous movie “Way of the Dragon;” we will be able to pinpoint the use of these chokes.

What Is The Technique Of Guillotine Choke?

Now let’s dive into the practice of Guillotine Choke and we will see how to perfectly execute it. Start from the grip where you need to hold the head and you should make sure you are holding it properly. Your arm position should be right on point and you must form a choke, for finishing you need to use your palms and you must also perfect your grip. Once you are done with that, now you need to see the position that you will be holding. Usually, this choking style initiates from the bottom, with a closed guard, half guard, or open guard.

Every style has its perk, if we see why these styles are popular we will see that with open guards there is a good chance of attacking from other places as well. Now, you need to adjust the angle because without proper use of angle, you might choke the opponent too much that the blood will be blocked or too little that he will be able to escape your grip.

The Angle

A simple rule of thumb is to just grip the elbow or at least try to grip the elbow, this will help your choking arm to form a grip and you need to keep that on one side of the hip as well. The angle is very important for other variants of the guillotine choke as well. Once you have perfected the angle, now you can see the force. Try to ensure that the force you apply is good enough and you are not just pulling the neck but rather squeezing it.

The next step is to tack the opponent and this means you need to put a strain on the chest and this will cause the compression. You must also be able to handle the arm so that the resistance is low. This is the basic of guillotine choke and if you have perfected it, you can now use various ways to switch it up or make variants by adjusting position or just swinging the angle a little bit.

Now that we are done with perfecting our choking style, we will see the various types of guillotine choke. There are mainly four types and each is a little different. Some require full force, others require the group of hand and eventually, there are a few that require a different style of angle. To help the beginner learn about these styles, we have listed these types along with a few videos that can help you understand them better.

The Guillotine Arm Style

As we see how this style becomes popular, we will see the name of Renzo Garcia; who was the one behind perfecting that style. As the name indicates, it requires a little effort from the grappling of the arm so it can be a little complicated as well.

Marcelo Garcia Closed Guard Style

This is a very famous style and we have seen this pretty much everywhere. You need to make sure your tight high elbow is placed just like in the style of Garcia as you are choking your opponent. This is quite common and easy so almost everyone knows guillotine by this style of choking.

10 Finger Guillotine

This style is also known as “chin strap” and you can use it just by using the same armpit on top of the head reference point and then cup the chin with the right hand. Now use this grip and put more pressure with the other hand and drive it up and a little bit in. You do not have to do this with full speed so just keep track of your movement and attack only when required.

Rear Naked-Choke Style

A rear-naked choke is usually taken as a variant of the guillotine choke. When you use the opponent rushing, try to get on the top of the head and then shoot your arm deeper. You need to grab the opponent via your arm and then go to the other side of the head where you can secure the grip on their neck, but this should be done from the front. Now, you need to secure this grip by putting your right elbow in line with the chin of your opponent and this will put pressure on the neck, blocking the blood.

Closing

We hope you enjoyed this very detailed information on a specific style athletic move that is practiced primarily within the mixed martial arts athletics sports industry. Article provided by BornTough.com.