Anaconda Choke

This always happens when I don’t write notes about the lesson within twenty four hours, and that is I forget most of what went on. This is therefore just a quick synopsis with some photos to fill out the page somewhat.

The two throws we practised tonight were Sode-Tsurikomi-goshi and Morote eri-seoi-nage.

The first throw (Sode-Tsurikomi-goshi ) is one that I have practised before at Yoshin Ryu but on that occasion I struggled with it, although to be fair my Uke that day was Przemek who is a lot heavier than me. Tonight I was paired with Meho who is roughly the same height and weight as me and therefore a lot easier for me to get under his hips to make this throw work. Stewart did mention that you could always add in a reaping movement with your leg if Uke gets stuck on your back.
The version of this throw on the BJA website isn't that clear, the one below is a bit easier to follow.

Morote eri-seoi-nage is another throw that I’ve not liked in the past but it felt a lot easier again tonight.

Big Stuart went on to show us the Anaconda choke that Phil Davis used to submit Wagner Prado in his recent UFC fight. An anaconda choke, or Kata-gatame as it would be refered to in Judo, is an arm triangle from the front headlock position. Tori threads his or her arm under Uke’s neck and through the armpit, and grasps the biceps of the opposing arm.

                                                                        With Gi

without Gi

Tori then attempts to pin Uke onto the trapped shoulder so as to better interrupt the flow of blood, all the while applying pressure with the grasped biceps. Tori may accomplish this by rolling Uke over the untrapped shoulder, (known as a gator roll) and use the momentum to turn Uke onto his or her trapped shoulder.

 I’ve personally not seen the Anaconda style of this technique used in Judo but have seen it many times when watching MMA. It may have something to do with the fact that the gi in Judo can be a lot thicker than BJJ gis generally are and therefore grabbing your bicep may not be possible. Still it was a nice technique to learn and use against those Judoka’s who like to turtle.

Here is a link to a video of this technique.