Issue 026

November -0001


Hand positioning


1. Correct - Here the hand is on the neck, digging in a tight grip. The elbow is closed to the body and the wrist hooked in the ‘false-grip’ position.
2. Wrong - the hand is high on the head, and can easily be shrugged off, and the elbow is flared out, removing the line of defence against a leg grab or underhook.

Single collar clubbing drill


1. Pete and Bill both begin the drill in a square wrestling stance. Pete clubs across the back of Bills neck...
2. …and immediately relinquishes his grip, clubbing again with the opposite arm.
3. Bill stays static as Pete moves around clubbing and snapping, ragging on Bills collar. Bill has to work hard to stay balanced. This will train his neck strength, his base and his posture. 
4. If Pete succeeds in snapping Bill down or knocking him off balance, then they will switch sides. 

Snap down to figure-four guillotine choke


1. Pete is working his dirty boxing from the single collar, throwing hooks and uppercuts.
2. As Pete clubs around the back of Bill’s neck, Bill’s balance shifts forward.
3. He snaps hard on the collar, and stepping his hips back, gives Bill the space to fall.

4. Pete passes his right arm across the windpipe, and locks on a figure-four grip. Note that Bills head is kept in the centre to prevent him peeking out to the side as he could in a traditional standing guillotine.
4(b) Note that Pete has taken his hand from the collar and is pushing on the shoulder, simultaneously stretching the neck and crushing the windpipe as he hips in. Bill’s head is trapped under Pete’s chest.

Dirty boxing from the single collar tie up


1. Bill and Pete both have a typical single collar and elbow tie-up.
2. Pete acts first to dominate the otherwise even tie-up. He relinquishes his elbow grip, and sneaks a short upper cut inside Bill’s arm, generating power from the hips and legs, pushing up from the floor. As Peter snaps down simultaneously on the single collar, Bill is unable to roll with the punch, and is forced to eat the full force of the blow.
3. As Bill tries to defend the uppercut, Pete throws short, snappy hooks, then returns to the uppercut, keeping Bill guessing as to which shot is coming next.

4. As Bill starts to pull away from the tie-up, Pete switches his collar tie, throwing the uppercut past the side of the head to collect the collar on the opposite side.
5. Now that Pete has the collar on the other side and has slid his other arm to a bicep tie-up he takes a lateral step, setting Bill up for more punches from the other side, or....
6. Pete snaps him to the mat, first turning him, then using a sharp, explosive whip with the collar and bicep grips, projecting him forwards and down. Pete takes care to keep his elbows in and hips back, so that he doesn’t accidentally snap Bill into a shot on his legs. This is the ideal position to grab a guillotine or front headlock.

7. Bill fights hard to regain his feet and head position to avoid the headlock, but Pete still has the bicep tied up, so as Bill drives up and forward...
8. …Pete has a clear path to a duck-under, or he could shoot a double or a high crotch. Here Pete has elected to duck under and lock up a head and arm triangle.
9. Detail on the head and arm position - Pete squeezes the Mata Leao grip tight, and looks into Bill, ensuring that the elbow can’t swing back and strike the side of his head.

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