The biggest secret to sinking a choke

I’ll get straight to it. I won’t take you to a page and show you a video because that’s not necessary.

After all, the biggest secret to winning via choke can be explained through a way of thinking, an attitude, and not a specific technique.

The biggest secret to sinking a choke is…

… To keep the pressure up.

That’s right – just keep the pressure up.

Naturally, the instinct to finish must always accompany you.

Another very important aspect is to do the grips correctly, adjust them BEFORE starting to apply that pressure.

But, once they’re adjusted, you must maintain the pressure in a constant way, until your opponent succumbs.

Watch a snake capturing a rat. The rodent cannot breathe.

It sounds simple, but most students are under the illusion that they will have one explosion of force and get it. That’s not the spirit.

The spirit is: once you believe in the grips, you must be prepared to keep up the pressure, unwavering – for minutes if necessary.

Trust this thought, and I assure you: you will submit nine out of ten people.

Know what’s best about this choke philosophy?

It’s that it applies to many areas of your life. Nearly all of them, really.

Thanks to you, we have had enormous success with the course “Mastering BJJ,” with over 10,000 students from 92 countries in under six months, and thousands of positive testimonials and evaluations.

That course offers you an all-embracing vision of BJJ, with a library for reference that will always be there and which you can access whenever you want.

But one question has bothered me since we launched the course:

Just like with the choke, it’s not enough to have anger (or the will to finish); it’s not enough to have the technique (the most efficient way to apply the grips). If you don’t keep up the pressure, you will reach only a limited percentage of submissions.

That is, good as the techniques may be, what is most important is for you to keep constantly learning.

So we designed a teaching system that works as a partner.

A good partner is that one who is always there to give you a hand when you need it.

I proudly announce, to you before anyone else, the launch of the Renzo Gracie Online Academy.

How does it work?

Every Sunday, we will make available our weekly suggestion, with lessons about a theme, suggestions for working on fundamentals, and tips on quality of life.

With that, we will help you organize your week. Every week you will be surprised by our new content and use that as motivation to go to the gym and practice.

And, of course, you will have access to the previous weeks in case you want to revisit a certain theme.

After thinking a lot, we have arrived at this formula, which will keep you, consequently, on your path towards evolution. But how? By helping you keep the flame alive, much like the pressure for that choke.

The first week of the program is on, and it carries Closed Guard Attacks (with many chokes, by the way). I show one position then my cousin Rolles Gracie carries on with his favorites.

Check it out at Gallerr, and let me know what you think.