Collar Choke System

Mat Manual companion guide to "Two Hands in the Collar: The Cross Choke and Its Family." Print it. The article explains why the first finish most students learn is the one most finish badly. This book rebuilds it: grip-depth standards a partner can judge, finish cards by position, chain entries off mount attacks, defence-first cards paired with every finish, and tap and release standards graded on every card, not assumed.

Name: ______________________________ Dojo: ______________________________ Current belt / grade: ______________ Gi size and collar condition checked: ☐ Yes

BEFORE ANYTHING: SCOPE AND SAFETY — PASS/FAIL ☐ THE TAP RULE. When your partner taps, with a hand, a foot, on the mat, or with their voice, you release at once. Fully. Not by degrees, not after one more second, not after the rep "finishes." A release that lags the tap is a failed rep in this book, whatever the choke did. A student who fails the release standard twice in a session stops choke work for the day. This is pass/fail, not a guideline. ☐ THE RECEIVING RULE. Tap early, before pressure peaks. There is no riding out a choke in this book, no testing how long you can last, no pride round. If you cannot tap with your hands, tap with a foot or your voice, and agree those signals before the first rep. ☐ Pressure builds slowly and evenly on every card. No card in this book is finished with a sudden pull. If a partner goes quiet, stops moving, or does not answer a spoken check, release first and check on them, in that order, every time. ☐ Neck pain, throat pain, dizziness, or a headache after choke rounds ends choke work for the day and is reported to your coach. Hoarseness the next day is reported too. It is information, not weakness. ☐ Chokes are drilled only under your coach's supervision structure. No choke practice outside class settings, no choke practice on anyone who has not signed the agreements in Part 25.

Part 1: The Choke Card

Read the card aloud with your partner before the first session. The rooms where chokes are trained well are the rooms where the tap rule gets said out loud, often, by everyone.