Choke Etiquette

[SpikeLeeRoth]

I am relatively new to BJJ, I'm a strong guy and in good shape.

Whenever I take someone's back, and go for a RNC, I really work hard to slide under the chin, if that doesn't work, I keep working for it, sliding different arms in, pulling an arm down and going in again etc before applying the "squeeze".

However I find alot of people, if not most at my gym, are content to get the arm across the jaw/face and squeeze without having their arm under the chin. The same for guillotines, infact most chokes.

It's obviously very uncomfortable and usually results in a tap. I'm unclear on the etiquette here. Personally, I find it very annoying, and if I escape, I just want to punish the guy straight back.

I mentioned before, I'm a strong guy, and in good shape, I would have no problem tapping people from this at all, other than I'd feel personally uncomfortable doing it to someone else.

Could someone clear this up for me? Should I be attacking and aiming to tap people, or should I be working for the perfect position.

I'm sure this is a problem many more experiences BJJ practitioners have faced, and would welcome some input.

[Mike Nall]

Work to perfect your chokes. If you get the occasinal face crank tap, okay, but you want to get good at strangling them.

Also, it's RNC not RNK.

Good post man. More people need to think this way

[Rob Cavinii]

But how do you know they are not going for a face crank?Maybe you should communicate with the person your rolling with instead of punishing them.Are we not there to learn from each other and Should you not try to utilize all your tools?

[Jason Hyatt]

I concur; good post.

My feeling is, you practice for a reason and if you're not going to practice the technique properly why waste your time? If it's a competition all bets are off. If a face-crank gets the tap, good job. In class, though, I'll either keep working for the choke or bail and go to Spiderweb or the Truck. I want to learn how to execute the technique properly and if I can't get it then I'll go to something I CAN get properly. Otherwise it feels like missing the point of practice entirely. I find the same thing with Kimuras and Americanas. Yeah, you can just torque somebody's arm and get a tap some of the time but that misses point too. The reps only count if they're good quality reps. Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Beyond that, my training partners are my partners. Many of them I consider good friends. That's just a dick move to do to your friend to just mash his face for no reason other than to make him tap. Your not practicing anything by doing that; you're just trying to score a tap. For what? It's practice. Taps don't count in practice, so what did you gain? You proved you can hurt your friend enough to make him tap.

[Mike Dewitt Jr]

It always frustrates me when guys will just drive their forearm into my throat from guard or like you said face crank me and it just makes me want to put them to sleep, but you are right make them tap to something that will make them go unconscious not a sub that takes a good amount of pain tolerance to escape.

[Will Thaxton]

you treat others the way you want to be treated on the mat.

[einstein]

i have no etiquette. ask someone

[Matthew Stuart]

I'm not sure I agree. I think it's important to be reminded that the dick moves are there. If a guy taps me by crushing my jaw or if he exposes my neck using his knuckles, I won't complain. If someone's going to do it in a comp then I'd like to be familiar with it. And I'd like my friends to know it's there too.

Having said that, I've never rolled with someone with the intention of using poor technique or hurting them and I always try to put a sub on properly.

[Cookie Monster]

dont go 100% if there jaw is hanging open other than that
SQUEEZE!!!!!

[Art "ART OF WAR" Belarde]

Just depends on who you roll with. I wouldn't do that to my partners but some people feel they have something to prove. So feel free to smash back. I think it is a little disrespectful to go that rout.