So I just returned from the movie theater, and let me tell you. My. Mind. Has. Been. Blown.
Enough to over use the periods in a trendy, ungrammatical way, something I almost never do. To put it in non-nerd terms, imagine your brain after seeing The Matrix for the first time.
Yes.
Whoa.
That type of mind-blow.
Anyway, there is this scene where gravity in the dream world has broken down and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Arthur) has have a bad-ass anti-grav fight in a hotel hallway (pictured above). As the title suggests, there is a choke out via the cobra choke. The cool thing is we just practiced this choke up at the U of U MMA class last week! Fortuitous, right?
The cool thing is that there is an awesome transition from an arm triangle attempt. Imagine you just can’t finish the arm triangle – it happens. Instead of losing a really nice dominant position, you just reach around the head and grab the wrist, then feed your hand through his arm to grab your own forearm.
Now to finish, pull your opponents wrist towards the back of his head to snug up things, but don’t roll them over. The real umph is dropping your elbow towards the ground across the neck. As long as the arm holding your own arm is anchored, you’ll be surprised how quickly cutting your forearm down forces the tap. Like I said, too much pulling the opponent’s wrist behind the head actually sabotages your choking. I think that this error comes out from guys who do gi jujitsu, because this choke is a lot like a scissor collar choke.
Remember though, the one arm (at least IMO) does the choking and the other stabilizes.
Here’s a vid showing a guy pulling off the cobra choke from the guard.
If you want more instruction on it, pick up a copy of Karo Parisyan’s book about Judo in MMA.
Tags: chokes, inception, Karo Parisyan, mma in the media, No Gi, submissions
If you’re just getting into MMA, here are a few titles you’ll probably want to put into library.
First and foremost – BJ Penn’s book, The MMA book of knowledge. If you were only going to buy one book, this should be it.
It covers the most basic MMA moves – punches, takedowns, elementary grappling, and some ground and pound. It’s a great book, and if you’ll only buy one book, get this one. It’s not quite a MMA Bible – since it doesn’t have any instruction on MMA kicking – but it’s close. I’ve personally had a lot of fun with this one.
Second, I’d suggest Randy Couture’s, Wrestling for fighting.
This book doesn’t pretend to be everything to everybody – it’s a no-nonsense book about wrestling for fighting.
Third, I’d suggest the Title Boxing instruction series. Boxers know how to punch, and the guys who do the Title videos know their stuff. The first time I watched them, I was blown away at how useful they were. The whole DVD set is pretty big – 25 videos in total. If you can spare to pick up all of them, buy the complete set at a discount. Personally, I’d pick two or three you think would be most useful. For starters check out Fundamentals of boxing, How to hit the heavy bag, and Attacking and punching at angles.
Fourth, you should have a solid Jujitsu book. If you are already grappling at a dojo, buy a book that compliments the style you’re learning, or an encyclopedic type refrence. Unlike striking, where you can get some decent initial proficiency from a book by training by yourself, a jujitsu book can only augment what you’re doing on the mat. With that in mind, here are a few books I have liked -more in the beginner to intermediate range. I have yet to find a book that replaces face-to-face introductory
For a more traditional, beginning introduction to Jujitsu, I think Gene Simco’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Basics is nice. It’s a very inexpensive book DVD combo – cheaper than many stand alone books. Be warned though, this is just Gi Jujitsu.
Brazilian Jujitsu Submission Grappling, by Royler Gracie, is especially great for mma’ers. Great No-Gi stuff.
Karo Parisyan’s Judo for MMA isn’t 100% judo – it’s a little bit like BJ Penn’s book. It’s got great value to help you transition in and out of your judo and jujitsu. Click through the pick and find the table of contents – it’s a packed with awesome stuff. This is one of my personal favorites.
Tags: BJ Penn, Books, guides, Karo Parisyan, mma library, Randy Couture, Resources, Royler Gracie