Mad's Martial Musings : Rehabing the Guillotine
Those of you who have all been watching The Ultimate Fighter have probably been wondering :
And you are totally right to ask this.
Those of you who are wasting you time on that other show, "House", probably don't even know what the guillotine is. Fear not, I'm here to e'splain it to you.
The Guillotine is a choke applied when you and your opponent are squared off facing each other. Generally you push his head down, wrap your arm over and around his neck, secure the hold with your other hand, and then either pull to a closed guard or stand your opponent up to get the submission. You can get the guillotine from the guard, you can get it from standing, and you can get it from just about anywhere in between.
It seems like a great technique, but it's got some weaknesses. Those weaknesses however are not where the responsibility for 99% of blown guillotines lies.
Lets look at what we've seen on TUF so far :
What's the problem here? Why do supposablely seasoned fighters like Rob and Melvin keep going back to a technique that costs them energy and position and gets them nothing?
The problem starts because the guillotine seems so simple. So simple that you don't even really pay attention when your instructors teach it to you. There's no reason to: it's simple and it's easy and you get it all the time when you're wrestling. Of course you're not tapping people with/getting tapped by the guillotine because you're a good wrestler doing good techniques on the mat. The guillotine works for you and on you because you're a beginner wrestling other beginners. You and your opponent fumble around for a while, eventually one of you gets the guillotine, cranks and someone taps.
Once you've wrestled for a while you start to use your head and neck like a 3rd arm. You get used to bearing weight with your neck. You get used to people pulling on your head. You get used to people crushing, squeezing, and twisting your neck. These sensations become business as usual and you start being able to beat the guillotine.
You also start wrestling a better class of opponent. This is where your troubles start. Your better opponents are used to beating the guillotine. They have a whole collection of moves based on the fact that they can beat your guillotine. While you are wasting valuable strength and wind on a guillotine that's doomed to fail, they are getting something useful done - like passing your guard, pulling you back into their guard, or getting a takedown.
If you're smart you start learning those guillotine counters. But if you're really paying attention you take an even more important step. You stop using the guillotine! Seems obvious, but I think it's an important step in a wrestler's development and a hard one for a lot of wrestlers to take. Wrestling is chaotic and there is a significant amount of comfort to be found in a hold like the guillotine simply because it slows things down and makes it seem like you have some control. But you don't have control, and feeling like you have control when you don't will usually get you tapped.
Of course the same thing happens with other techniques as well. I can't count the number of times someone passed my guard and I tried in vain to block their hip and pull back into guard when I should have just curled up, got the underhook, gone belly down, turtled, and looked for a double leg sweep. In both cases you're just holding on the a futile hope instead of going with the flow and trusting the skills you have been taught.
How does the saying go? "When I was a child I fought as a child ... but when I became a man I put away foolish things."
Welcome to Guillotine-aholics anonymous. The first step is "Stop using the guillotine." The second step is "Stop using the guillotine." The third step is "See steps one and two."
It's a shame that Melvin and Rob did not learn this lesson before their fights on TUF. I would say it's surprising as well, but it's not. Both of them where successfully highschool/collage wrestlers with the physical attributes that suit a MMA fighter. In the ring they are physically impressive but technically immature. An unfortunate combination that sets MMA fighters back by a decade or so.
Anyhooo ... back to the guillotine. Quit using it for long enough and eventually one of your instructors will teach it to you again. This time you will realize that you never really knew it to begin with :
A few days later someone will try to drive his head into your armpit and sit back to pull you into guard. You'll get some space, push his head into the center of your chest, get the correct grip, and start to crank. He'll do all the correct defenses (because you don't wrestle chumps any more) but it will not matter. You'll stand him up and he'll tap.
Welcome to the mat.
Why the fuck do these yahoos keep using the guillotine choke? It never works.
And you are totally right to ask this.
Those of you who are wasting you time on that other show, "House", probably don't even know what the guillotine is. Fear not, I'm here to e'splain it to you.
The Guillotine is a choke applied when you and your opponent are squared off facing each other. Generally you push his head down, wrap your arm over and around his neck, secure the hold with your other hand, and then either pull to a closed guard or stand your opponent up to get the submission. You can get the guillotine from the guard, you can get it from standing, and you can get it from just about anywhere in between.
It seems like a great technique, but it's got some weaknesses. Those weaknesses however are not where the responsibility for 99% of blown guillotines lies.
Lets look at what we've seen on TUF so far :
Episode 2: Melvin vrs. Josh: Melvin tries the guillotine over and over and over from every conceivable position. Josh escapes every one of them and usually improves his position in the process.
Episode 3: Rob catches Brad in a guillotine. Brad escapes. Rob catches Brad in another guillotine and pulls so hard that he tears his own biceps. Brad hardly notices. While Rob is busy thinking "Oh dear! My arm. My arm." Brad catches him in the weakest, slowest, most pathetic triangle ever and taps him out.
What's the problem here? Why do supposablely seasoned fighters like Rob and Melvin keep going back to a technique that costs them energy and position and gets them nothing?
The problem starts because the guillotine seems so simple. So simple that you don't even really pay attention when your instructors teach it to you. There's no reason to: it's simple and it's easy and you get it all the time when you're wrestling. Of course you're not tapping people with/getting tapped by the guillotine because you're a good wrestler doing good techniques on the mat. The guillotine works for you and on you because you're a beginner wrestling other beginners. You and your opponent fumble around for a while, eventually one of you gets the guillotine, cranks and someone taps.
Once you've wrestled for a while you start to use your head and neck like a 3rd arm. You get used to bearing weight with your neck. You get used to people pulling on your head. You get used to people crushing, squeezing, and twisting your neck. These sensations become business as usual and you start being able to beat the guillotine.
You also start wrestling a better class of opponent. This is where your troubles start. Your better opponents are used to beating the guillotine. They have a whole collection of moves based on the fact that they can beat your guillotine. While you are wasting valuable strength and wind on a guillotine that's doomed to fail, they are getting something useful done - like passing your guard, pulling you back into their guard, or getting a takedown.
If you're smart you start learning those guillotine counters. But if you're really paying attention you take an even more important step. You stop using the guillotine! Seems obvious, but I think it's an important step in a wrestler's development and a hard one for a lot of wrestlers to take. Wrestling is chaotic and there is a significant amount of comfort to be found in a hold like the guillotine simply because it slows things down and makes it seem like you have some control. But you don't have control, and feeling like you have control when you don't will usually get you tapped.
Of course the same thing happens with other techniques as well. I can't count the number of times someone passed my guard and I tried in vain to block their hip and pull back into guard when I should have just curled up, got the underhook, gone belly down, turtled, and looked for a double leg sweep. In both cases you're just holding on the a futile hope instead of going with the flow and trusting the skills you have been taught.
How does the saying go? "When I was a child I fought as a child ... but when I became a man I put away foolish things."
Welcome to Guillotine-aholics anonymous. The first step is "Stop using the guillotine." The second step is "Stop using the guillotine." The third step is "See steps one and two."
It's a shame that Melvin and Rob did not learn this lesson before their fights on TUF. I would say it's surprising as well, but it's not. Both of them where successfully highschool/collage wrestlers with the physical attributes that suit a MMA fighter. In the ring they are physically impressive but technically immature. An unfortunate combination that sets MMA fighters back by a decade or so.
Anyhooo ... back to the guillotine. Quit using it for long enough and eventually one of your instructors will teach it to you again. This time you will realize that you never really knew it to begin with :
1. You hip out, get some space. You can't do the guillotine when someone is right on top of you.
2. The opponent's head goes in the center of your chest. Not in your armpit. This increases the force you can put on the choke by a factor of 10 or so.
3. Your elbow points strait down, giving you a shot at blocking both of your opponents carotid arteries. Nighty night.
4. The opponents head stays in the center of your chest. No matter what!
A few days later someone will try to drive his head into your armpit and sit back to pull you into guard. You'll get some space, push his head into the center of your chest, get the correct grip, and start to crank. He'll do all the correct defenses (because you don't wrestle chumps any more) but it will not matter. You'll stand him up and he'll tap.
Welcome to the mat.
posted by mad science at 3:15 PM
1 Comments:
This is fascinating stuff. I had no idea that using one's head as a 3rd arm had such a practical application!
Oh, and House gets out of the guillotine hold ALL OF THE TIME.
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