I had a real epiphany as we went over lower lapel chokes today in my BJJ class. There are so many variations to try.
You have 4 lapels (2 of yours and 2 of his)
- They can be wrapped to the left or right of the face.
- His lapels can be wrapped over or behind his armpit or around his lower arms.
- They can be gripped with your left or right hand.
- The lapels can be used for just about any choke you can think of including straight collar chokes, baseball bat chokes and Ezekiel style chokes etc.
- The lapels can be used to trap O's arms to set up other submissions that do not require lapels e.g. triangle choke, armbar, wristlock.
- You can use them from the back, the side, KOTB, guard or even from inside your opponent's guard.
If you're going for a lapel choke, try to pull out the lapel surreptiously or feint another attack so your opponent doesn't realise your intentions until it's too late. Also, be aware that your lapels can be used against you if you take them out of your belt.
When practicing these chokes, it's a very good idea to think about how your opponent is likely to defend and how you can re-counter his defence. For example, if he grabs your arm to stop your collar choke from KOTB, you may be able to pull his arm across his body and trap it to set him up for an armbar.
For beginners, there are plenty of instructionals out there on the internet to give you ideas and start you off. Once you have a few chokes down, try experimenting with each of the positions and see what you can come up with!
The lower lapels can be used in other ways too. You can wrap up your opponent's arm when in guard to secure the arm for an armbar, or you can wrap up an arm to help you pass your opponent's guard. A sneaky one is to wrap O's arm from side control and apply a wristlock.
Some online choke tutorials.
Series from the guard
Youtube
Side control, opponent's near lapel
Guard, opponent's lapel
Back, your lapel
Back, your other lapel
Grapplearts
Andreh Anderson's Ninja choke
Shaolin choke
Lockflow
Basic head and arm control from side
Jacare own lapel choke from side
Aesopian's site
Lapel Ezekiel from mount
MMALibrary
Chicken wing from back
Half guard pass
