10/05/2017 - Teaching | Side Control | Baseball Bat Choke (Gi Tail)

Teaching #661
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 10/05/2017

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Sep 23, 2016 at 12:00am PDT

Tonight I went through the the gi tail baseball bat choke, something I first encountered on Roy Dean’s excellent Purple Belt Requirements. Start in standard side control, one hand under their head, heavy cross-face. With your other hand, pull out their far lapel, feeding that under their head to your cross facing hand. Secure the grip with your cross-facing hand, palm down. Straighten that arm firmly, so that your forearm is pressing into their neck.

The tricky part is bringing in your second hand. You need to get your hand on top of the other, holding the gi tail like a baseball bat (hence the name of the choke). To do so, your second arm has to thread inside your opponent's arm, as you have to get your second arm pressed against the other side of their neck for the choke. Angle the elbow of your second arm inwards, towards your first arm.

Put your knee on their belly to stop them escaping, then apply the choke by twisting inwards. This should make your arms press firmly into both sides of their neck: your first arm stays fairly static, it's the weight dropping through the second elbow that applies most of the choke. Be careful you are pressing into the sides of the neck, not the windpipe. If you need more leverage, try rotating around to a north south type position, putting your head on their chest.
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Teaching Notes: I tried teaching this as a follow-up to the gi tail choke I taught earlier in the week, which does work. However, using your own lapel makes it tricky due to having to reach inside your gi, without a lot of wriggle room. Next time, I'll stick to teaching it based on pulling out their far gi lapel rather than your own. That way you don't have to fight past your own gi.

Two other things to keep in mind are that some people find that kind of grip can be hard on the wrist: I suggested switching to a standard baseball bat choke (where you grab their collars), but I'm not sure that makes it especially easier on the wrist. Finally, it's worth emphasising the rotation as an important part of the choke. Some people were staying quite static and relying on the arm squeeze, whereas this choke really needs that spin to achieve decent leverage. Not that it's impossible to get with just the arms if you cut in enough, but rotating is more efficient.