Student Objectives:
The student will apply the Mouse Trap Loop Choke from the seated Butterfly position, against a partner with compromised posture, with good technique.
The student will build value for posture while in the top position by understanding how the Loop Choke can be easily applied against broken posture.
Teaching Cues:
Cross Grip
Cover the Head
Elevate the Elbow
Lock and Fall
Lesson: Mouse Trap Loop Choke
The practicing student will start in the seated position with their feet close together and their knees bent, very similar to a Butterfly stretch. The assisting student will assume a kneeling position with their knees on either side of the practicing student’s ankles. Then the assisting student will partially break their own posture by bending at the waist and placing their hands on the floor below the buttocks of the practicing student.
The practicing student will take a Cross Grip on the assisting student’s lapel with the pointer finger making contact with the assisting student’s Collarbone. This would be considered a shallow grip if the student were trying to apply a Cross Collar Choke. Once the grip is secured, the practicing student will use their free hand and place the palm on the back of the assisting student’s head. The Collar Grip and the hand on the back of the head should simultaneously pull down on the collar (to pull out the slack) and the head (to further break the posture of the assisting student). Now that the grips are in place, and the posture is greatly compromised, we are ready to apply the Mouse Trap.
To apply the Mouse Trap, the practicing student will continue to guide the assisting student’s head down while pressing the wrist of the lapel gripping hand into the chest of the assisting student. It is ok to bend the wrist initially while securing the loop of the collar.
To loop the head the practicing student will elevate the elbow of the lapel gripping hand, taking great care to make sure the wrist stays close to the chest and/or under the chest of the assisting student. As the elevation of the elbow breaks the plane of the back of the assisting student’s head, the practicing student will slide their hand off of the back of the head towards their own elbow pit. As the hand slides across the head, the practicing student should make sure that their forearm still covers the back of the head and neck of the assisting student. Once the hand passes into the elbow pit, the practicing student should extend their wrist with their hand and fingers open to lock the forearm in place.
As the Mouse Trap is being applied it should be supported with good body position. The Loop Choke can be diverse in the areas that it is applied from, but when applying it from Butterfly the practicing student should attempt to fall on the side corresponding to the hand that covers the back of the head (the non-choking arm). This will increase the power of the choke, but also allow the practicing student to hook the inside of the assisting student’s knee pit and prevent an easy escape.
Possible Extensions:
Understanding how to escape the Mouse Trap is important. This can be accomplished by unrolling the choke using a short, tight barrel roll in the direction of the choking arm. Obviously this can be difficult to do if the opponent has the legs entangled, but is a viable defense nonetheless. To practice this, have the practicing student take a grip 3-5 inches below the collarbone and apply the choke with a significant amount of slack. Then instruct the practicing student to not fall on their side.
The defense should be initiated by the assisting student. Their hope is to unravel the choke by moving their whole body, first by looking at the choking arm, then falling on their side, then belly up, then on their far side until they come all the way to their knees again. This should initially be done slowly as the movement is counter intuitive and if they turn the wrong way they will choke themselves using their opponent’s Loop Grip.
As the student builds proficiency with the choke defense, the defense should be sped up to develop a timing that can transfer to sparring or competition.
Knowing how to unravel the choke is a great defense but it gives up position. Understanding that good opponents/partners will attempt to roll out gives the practicing student the opportunity to use the defense to advance their position.
To do this, have the student unravel the choke as stated above, and while they are executing the barrel roll, the practicing student should elevate that Butterfly Hook and ride their hook directly into the Mount position. Sometimes, when done quickly, rather than Mount, the practicing student will get Back Control due to the tight quick roll of the assisting student.
Possible Refinements:
If the practicing student does not keep the wrist close to the chest during the entry to this movement, the wrist may trap the jaw when executing the Loop Choke. This can create a jaw crank and be extremely unpleasant for the assisting student as well as possibly injure the jaw. For this reason, it should be emphasized during the instruction and practice that the wrist stays close to the chest.
If the practicing student falls towards the choking arm after looping the head, it will release. Make sure the student is falling the correct way.
It is important to extend the wrist, fingers and palm of the non-choking hand after it clears the back of the elbow pit. Sometimes students want to remain heavy on the back of the head with that hand, but this makes it difficult to elevate the elbow of the choking arm, which is needed to apply choking pressure with the choking arm.
Reference materials:
Teaching Reflections:
How did I do teaching?
What could I do better next time?
Did the student gain proficiency in lesson material?