“The best BJJ fighter of them all is the one who has the most fun on a mat,” teaches Renzo Gracie. Indeed, if you don’t feel pleasure in wearing the gi, you may be the strongest, most skilled of them all, but it’s unlikely you will be the best. A lesson as simple as it is powerful: only love of the job can bring perfection. And that is evident right at the start of the video we’re looking at today. In a good mood, Renzo captures his students’ attention before explaining the secrets of the perfect grip when trying to choke an opponent.

Renzo draws attention to the correct way to control the first hand that advances against his opponent’s collar. If the fit isn’t right and deep enough, it’s not even worth it to keep going; after all, the opponent will be able to posture and easily resist the squeeze, while you waste energy and strength — not to mention the wear on your grips.

“Many fighters have the habit of pulling the lapel, thinking that way the other hand will go in easily and deep, next to the neck,” he says. “I recommend the opposite. Instead of pulling the lapel, I push it to the side, opening up plenty of room for the other hand to go in.”

That is how Renzo achieves the perfect grip. With that powerful control as a starting point, he assures: “It doesn’t matter where the second hand will grab the opponent’s gi. No matter how bad the grip from the second hand may be, the choke will be efficient. What really matters is the perfection of the initial control.”

From now on, resort to this nugget of knowledge when it’s time to risk a choke in your training, thus refining the adjustments on your tourniquet. “Seek the perfect grip with the first hand whenever you’re going to choke, whether you’re on the mount, the half-guard, the knee-on-belly,” he advises. “You will quickly notice that your finishing ability will be much greater.”

GMA member team Choke BJJ, under black belt João Pedro Santos competed recently at the Danish Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

The event was held on February 11th-12th at the the city of Hillerød.

It is the largest and most important competion in Denmark, organized annually by Professor Shimon Mochizuki.

The event brought together over 300 competitors from Scandinavian countries.

Choke had 23 students from Copenhagen and Århus and conquered 18 medals, being nine golds.

The team also secured three absolute divisions.

The highlight performances were by Tajs Kolman (2 golds), Anne Buch Møller (2 golds), Christian Vester (2 golds), Sabine Reinsch (1 Silver and 1 Bronze) and Christian Storm (1 Gold).

For more info, go to ChokeAcademy.com.

“Some of our students took part in the Helsingborg Open of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on Saturday, Feb 13th. The Choke Team won four medals in the event: three golds and one silver. Michael Pedersen (Brown 76kg), Peter Månsson (Blue 76kg Junior) and Alexander Carlsson (White 76kg Junior) won their divisions, whereas Emil Mattsson got second place in his (Blue 69kg Junior).”

JP (far right) and his students in Helsingborg

Besides the medalists, Santos also congratulated the effort of his students: “It’s worth mentioning the efforts of Martin Mellemkjær, Simon Månsson, Gabriel Jacobsson and Nicolaj Garde, who was one of the favorites to win his division (Purple 88kg) but injured his knee in an accidental fall in the first seconds of the first match.”

For more info, go to chokeacademy.com.