For many years the guillotine choke was a move the drove me absolutely crazy. I would get caught in it all the time, but could never pull it off myself. I would drill rep after rep, but I couldn’t seem to make all the pieces fall into place. Then my old friend Matt Arroyo, who runs a great Tampa MMA gym, sent me a link to an instructional he recorded. Matt had been taking private lessons with Marcelo Garcia and was learning the ins and outs of MG’s game, including his devastating guillotine choke. After watching the video once I started hitting the choke in live grappling. Following a hand full of drilling sessions it started to become one of my highest percentage chokes. Now this guillotine is a permanent staple at my gym, Precision mixed martial arts, so in a way all my students owe a debt to this Tampa MMA instructor.
The secret to the move is the placement of the elbow. Not only does the elbow high position allow the choker to utilize an insane amount of leverage, it also counters the most common defense by not allowing the opponent to reach their arm over your shoulder. Fortunately, I am yet to have a student throw up on me, unlike Matt in Tampa, FL!
If you live in Tampa and are looking for a great MMA gym then you should definitely check out Matt Arroyo’s school, the top MMA Tampa gym visit http://www.gracietampasouth.com for more info