So, my favorite threads on sherdog are the ones where people who are really smart talk a lot about the stuff I'm stupid with. I come to you, dear reader, searching for tips on the north south choke. Set ups, details, personal tips/tricks, whatever you north/south chokers have.
I suck total balls at this choke, and I wish it to be otherwise. I have many problems with it; keeping people from coming up while I work for the choke, people tucking their chin leading to a face crush rather than a choke, keeping them flat rather than letting them turn on their side, setting it up such that they don't see it coming a mile away, I mean the list goes on. Any help ya'll can give me is much appreciated.
Whew. Buckle up. I don't want I'm about to type, but I'm going in!
The North/South choke is most often used by Marcelo Garcia. Along with the Guillotine and the RNC, it is one of the only 3 naked/arm chokes that he does. It's also interesting to note that he does them all with his right arm, every time. The info here is info I have picked up from training with people who have learned the choke from him, MGinaction, his GracieMag article on the choke, Jeff Monson, and my own experiences:
To understand why you are crushing their chin, it's very important to understand how you are setting up the choke. In general, there are two basic ways to set up the N/S choke: from side control, and from north/south. For people that are just starting off, it is better to set up the choke from side control, and rotating your body into the choke. If you are already in north/south, you have to drop onto them while simultaneously catching their head and dropping the point of your shoulder in between their chest and chin before they can tuck, which takes a degree of comfort with the choke that most don't have right away.
If you have side control, and their feet are down to your left and their head is to your right, this is where we will start. It is important before you attempt the submission that your left hand stays on the near side of their body, blocking their left hip. Now when you drop for the choke, they cannot turn into you, and the only way they can turn is away, which will make the choke easier for you. Keeping chest-to-chest pressure, you need to swim your hand over and around their head, finishing so your arm is wrapped around their head with your palm facing the sky. The outside of your forearm should be along the floor behind their head. THIS IS where most people actually make their opponent tuck the chin. They do this by squeezing too early. At this point, you want to keep your right choking arm relaxed, and at the white belt level, your partner should not even feel a threat.
Just mechanically, if you squeeze right after you go around their head, your flexing motion will cause their chin to touch their chest. Then, when you bail off to the side to sprawl and finish, their chin is already tucked. Don't do this.
Keep your arm relaxed, and back-step with your left leg, like you are doing a reverse scarf hold. This will give you the space to connect your hands in a gable grip. You don't have to gable grip, but I prefer it, and many others do too. As soon as your hands are together you sprawl, making sure the front of your shoulder in over their throat. This is a BLOOD choke, but pressure on the throat cannot hurt (you at least lol). As soon as you sprawl you should begin to squeeze, and through the rest of the steps, continue squeezing.
Now that you are sprawled, with the gable grip around their neck, I would recommend NOT watching what Marcelo Garcia does with his head when you finish the choke. His squeeze is so powerful that he can rest his head on the opponent's chest and still get the choke. Hell, Marcelo now has a "Inverted N/S choke" where he finishes the choke off his back! Let someone put you in a N/S choke, you wrap your arm around their neck, and have a race to see who taps first. Unless you're Marcelo, the guy on top is getting the tap first.
Anyways, for beginning N/S chokers, place your FOREHEAD ON THE FLOOR! Continue to press your hips down into the mat and inch backwards with your hips. This inching motion will open the space between their chin and chest.
A very important point on the squeeze: As with most blood chokes done with the arms, you are not choking them by flexing your arms, NOR are you choking them by dropping your shoulder onto their throat. By all means do both of those, but the real squeeze comes from flexing the lat muscle. If you want to lift weights for a better N/S choke, do lat pull downs and bent rows. Also, when you drop your shoulder, make sure it's not dropping on his upper chest. it's an easy mistake to make. Drop it on the throat.
I made the mistake Monday night of catching a good grappler in a deep N/S choke. I was so excited to land it after a month of surgery recovery that I just squeezed my arms dry, and usually it still would be enough to finish because the choke was so deep. This guy rode it out, and it was because I was not squeezing with my back, arms, shoulder, while sprawling wide and dropping my hips and head to the floor.
The key to this sub is getting as low as a snake to the ground. You want to bury yourself into the floor.
An alternate entry if you do not feel comfortable kicking your left leg back to post on it to connect the hands is this: Just push off of their hip with your left hands and walk your legs like a clock until you are in line with their head, then connect your hands. This setup is better for beginners (I feel) because it;s not as dynamic, and you stay low the whole time, hence less room for error.
Here are 2 videos: 1 of Marcelo Garcia teaching the choke. The 2nd video is Marcelo transitioning to the Guillotine off a N/S choke escape. It is vital to remember to relationship between the N/S choke and the Guillotine. If one escapes one of the two, transition to the other.
Notice at 1:37 how he is keeping his choking arm relaxed.
Skip to 1:55 to see Marcelo catch the Guillotine as K-Taro escapes the N/S choke. Notice how he has to escape to his right and come up to his knees because his left escape path is blocked. Marcelo has amazing foresight, and gets his elbow lift Guillotine before K-Taro gets up. Marcelo even gets his leg in front of K-Taro's right shoulder at 2:00. The tap is instant!
