# Why am I having problems with my chokes?



## OldManJim (Feb 18, 2016)

If you've been following my posts you know I'm new to Bjj and im a big guy. I've been at Bjj for 3 weeks now and I am taking gi class 2 nights a week and no gi once. Last night in no gi we went over the prayer choke (I think that what it was called) and a guillotine type roll choke when the opponent shoots for the legs and a kind of guillotine under hook choke. I'm sorry I forgot proper terms. Anyway for some reason I have trouble getting the chokes locked in tight or getting the right amount of compression or something. My coach helps me but I get it 2 out of 5 times. One guy in class has no neck and he helps me but it's harder on him lol. Am I just being a frustrated newbie? Are my forearms too big? Am I stressing over nothing? Help! Lol


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## Tony Dismukes (Feb 18, 2016)

OldManJim said:


> One guy in class has no neck and he helps me but it's harder on him lol.



Yeah, no-neck guys are harder to choke. You _can_ choke them, but it requires more skill and precision.



OldManJim said:


> Are my forearms too big?



Nope.



OldManJim said:


> Am I just being a frustrated newbie?





OldManJim said:


> Am I stressing over nothing?



Yep. You're only 3 weeks in and you're still developing basic awareness of your partners body and your own. The difference between a successful choke and one that fails can often come down to very subtle adjustments and you're still working on gross motor patterns. Give yourself some time and it will all start to make more sense.

In general, the key to making a choke work is not to squeeze harder, it's to get your position and the angle of your pressure right. In the case of blood chokes (what some people call strangles), you need to have pressure occluding the arteries on both sides of the neck. If the choke isn't working, you probably don't have both arteries covered.


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## Buka (Feb 18, 2016)

Three weeks? Heck, might take four or five.


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## kuniggety (Feb 18, 2016)

I've been doing this for a couple of years now and we will still go over new techniques that I just can't get the hang of in the instructional time of one class. That's with the background of having done similar movements for similar techniques for a couple of years. You've only been doing this a couple of weeks.There's lots of nuances. It's like any other art like painting. With some months of practice you'll get some of the foundational movements (broad strokes) but it's going to take years to learn nuances (fine strokes) and decades to be a master. Just be patient, keep rolling, and it will start coming together.


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## drop bear (Feb 18, 2016)

Guillotine chokes are not really intuitive. You think you should try to pull a guys head off their shoulders. But instead you want to compress the head into the body.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Feb 19, 2016)

As Tony mentioned it definitely is position and angle.  Get those down and chokes become really easy.  It is not about muscling your way through the choke.  With Gi chokes make sure you get your hands* positioned deep*.  Your new so just make sure you learn the correct steps and repeat them often, correctly!  Time and practice will help you during this process.


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