turtle

I like this idea of skipping the back hooks and going directly into the bow and arrow choke. I often look for it when my opponent is on their side, as in Emily Kwok’s video that I linked on the previous bow and arrow post, but I’ve never thought to force it while their back was still on the mat.

I was looking for an example of performing the choke from back control where both players are on their side. It seems more common in my experience to be on the side, but many of the demonstrations show the attack from a seated, center position. I’m a bit puzzled by the following video from Lachlan Giles. As he’s demonstrating elbow and head position, he briefly falls onto his control arm side, with the choking arm on top. He shows first the consequence of losing the head position, but then shows a quick switch into the bow and arrow choke when the head position is maintained correctly. Following that, he demonstrates a bow and arrow sequence from the opposite side, with the choking arm on the mat side and describes that side as “easier.” Perhaps you notice, as I did, that this “easier” side requires several steps and requires some movement to free your bottom leg compared to the nearly instant transition from the traditional “weak” side. I understand the preference for ukes to escape on that side. It’s easier to win the head positioning and scrape them off your back. With the choking arm on the mat side, there’s more opportunity to reset the back position even if they beat the hooks. However, if the desired destination is a successful bow and arrow choke, it feels easier to me to use good head positioning and the leverage of my legs on the top arm choking side. It’s a simple turn on that side. If the bottom hook was any good, it’s already in position for the choke. Maybe at higher levels the head positioning is that much harder to win? Danaher’s bunch seems to like that side though.

What about the turtle? Get ’em with a bow and arrow there, too: