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The Monson or North/South choke is one of my favorite chokes to pull off. It is very sneaky, when you transition from side control to north/south as opposed to working for it from North/South.

This choke works like a charm when used in conjunction with the Front Naked Choke. Typically, people will leg thread or try to roll to their stomach and/or turtle up. They basically beg you for the FNC.

Please feel free to post any ideas, experiences, or addition of any kind!

In Competition:

Eric Schafer w/ Details:

Video w/ Details in Text:

Rubber Guard:

Interview:

Now when I work my underhook from Butterfly Guard I tend to, and have been taught, to do a sweep you just need one underhook. Yet what I’ve gathered from Marcelo Garcia is that if you can get both in the percentage to sweep someone becomes much greater.”

Marcelo has a very fluid game and has a lot of routes. I think having double underhooks means he can move out the side doors, giving him two clear routes as opposed to one with an over/under.

“Now in my experience getting double under’s from BG helps but it doesnt feel as easy to sweep someone like that. It feels easier to have one deep underhook and then block the other person’s arm. Am I missing something? Is having both underhooks in that much greater? Just a couple of question I was thinking about. I feel comfortable in my passing with 1 underhook, but if it’s easier with both in I’d like to know how to utilize it, also from BG.”

I personally don’t like it, because if your double under bear hug isn’t HIGH, he’s going to post and you have to have a “follow up sweep game” based on expecting that post. Not that much a big deal, but I prefer to be a bit more pro-active.

“Also do double underhooks help in passing guard? Usually I’ve been taught to have one deep hook in across the body from where you’re passing.”

I think it’s more about not having him take your back. If you land in someone’s guard and have underhooks, you have and ignored his legs and hips and therefore, skipped a step in your guard passing progression.

“Does that mean that if I can get both in while in someone’s half-guard, it should be easier to pass?”

Half-guard or half-mount is a whole ‘nother animal.

Im curious as to the forum’s thoughts about improving in BJJ. The most obvious thing is mat time, but i guess how that mat time is used is also very important. So, how much of a 2 hr class should be devoted to rolling, drilling positions (basically rolling but from spots you might not normally be in), technique(practice against a willing opponent), physical training (breakfalls, up downs etc…)

ok, so that was about in class, what about out of class. do you write down weaknesses and strengths? how about some analysis of how you felt when rolling (ex: i should have kept my elbows in, i should have maintained position, or i should have opened up my game, taken more risks)

Sounds to me you are an important crossroad. Sounds like you are on the precipice of a evolutionary growth spurt!

You ask about workout structure. We break down in our Gym, this basic format:

Warm-Up, Practice, Scrimmage

Each has a variety of subcategories, which I won’t bore or burden you with….do bore and burden share the same etymology?!

This format is an INDIVIDUAL thing. If you walk into the Gym and saw everyone warming up or practicing, you wouldn’t see anyone doing the same thing, even from one day to the next. It depends on WHERE they are and WHO they are and WHAT they are trying to accomplish.

Each area has it’s principles to follow, and if those principles are understood and being followed, each individual will come up with the perfect, appropriate and ideal exercises and drills that are most conducive to skill transfer.

It’s a good general format for ANY sport.

Though each aspect is just as important as the others, it’s in the practice and drilling that skill transfer is promoted best. The scrimmaging or sparring has skill transfer, but you are primarily focusing on performance and competitive qualities. Practice is where you are drilling skillsets. Your quality of practice (curriculum, instruction, partners, environment) will determine the amount of positive skill transfer.

How much time should you devote to each? Well, that answer is an individual answer AND it should change from workout to workout or week to week or month to month, dependent on what YOU are trying to accomplish. What do YOU need to work on, develop, improve, refine, sharpen, etc.?

However, I think the ratio should be somewhere around 20-30 minutes for a warm-up, 45 minutes+ for practice and 15 minutes minimum for scrimmaging as a GENERAL rule. If you are new, training for a competition, injured, or focusing training on one area you will be changing that ratio.

If you are going to spend any time working on body mechanics or dry runs or what you call “technique against a willing opponent”, I would do that during the solo training, warm-up or breaking for a minute during practice if you are having difficulty, but only for a minute.

Practice should be all about progressive resistance and not dry runs, you should have worked out the bugs on your mechanics at other times.

WHAT to work on? It comes down to accurately evaluating your game and where you are at. Getting as much feedback from your coaches and training partners to even out your own biased feedback. Use this to determine where your focus should be and what areas you should be spending time on. In addition to working on your strengths and weakness, don’t forget to work on your FAVORITES to. What you LOVE to do. While it is important to raise the worst part of your game, and improve what you are already good at, it’s equally important to be enjoying yourself.

PERSONALLY, I have found having a general idea what to work on when I show up is a good idea, but be “instinctive” and allow yourself to move from one area to the next. Let the workout “breathe” if you know what I mean. Be flexible. It’s not unusual for me to show up with a general thing to work on and end up starting with it, but moving into completely unrelated areas. Those are some of the best workouts.

Home practice or solo practice is IMO underrated in it’s importance. Not just visualization, daydreaming while shadow-fighting, but working various bags, GPP and SPP alike. You will begin to notice immediate improvements.

Finishing every workout with even just a few minutes, getting feedback from EVERYONE…beginner’s, newbies, coaches, partners, observers, etc. will work wonders for your perpetual evaluation. Having your camera rolling, for video footage is also a fantastic tool. You will learn to cringe and gloat watching yourself!!