Smother Lock

Use your outside arm's bicep and inner elbow area to block your opponent's neck and face, preventing them from getting a deep underhook with their nearside arm. Will Brooks emphasizes also clearing the knee shield to control the position effectively.

Smother chokes are more effective when you interrupt your opponent's flow of oxygen, even if you don't achieve a full tap. Will Brooks explains that cutting off oxygen can cause panic and drain energy, making the finish easier to achieve.

Keep tight pressure with your legs similar to what you'd use for back control while trapping an arm for a rear naked choke, while controlling the top position. This leg pressure makes it very difficult for your opponent to ghost escape.

Your shoulder should drive into your opponent with good cross-base pressure, keeping your forehead pointed straight rather than at an angle. Position your shoulder inside their armpit for optimal control and pressure application.

Smother locks are submission techniques that obstruct an opponent's breathing by covering the nose and mouth with the body — typically the chest, belly, shoulder, or arm — creating a seal that prevents air intake. Unlike chokes and strangles, which target the neck's blood vessels or airway, smother locks work by physically blocking the external breathing passages with body mass.

Smothering techniques have existed in grappling traditions throughout history, though they were rarely codified as formal techniques. In catch wrestling, 'rides' and 'chest pins' that made breathing difficult were standard tactics for breaking an opponent's will and forcing a pin or submission.

IBJJF: разрешён — Legal — no specific prohibition against smothering techniques; IJF: ограничен — Not a standard judo technique — may be considered non-combative if applied wi…; ADCC: разрешён — Legal; Unified MMA: разрешён — Legal; FIAS Sport Sambo: ограничен — Not a recognized sambo technique; FIAS Combat Sambo: разрешён — Legal

Оценка опасности 5/10. Smothers restrict breathing gradually; lower risk than vascular chokes due to slower onset

Стандартная цепочка подготовки: Achieve Controlling Position → Isolate the Neck → Set the Grip → Apply Pressure.

Стандартные контрприёмы: Tuck Chin — protect the neck by lowering the chin to prevent the choke from sinking / Two-on-One Grip Fight — use both hands to strip the choking grip before it locks / Turn Into — rotate toward the choking arm to relieve carotid pressure / Posture Up — straighten the spine and create distance to break the choking angle.

Распространённые варианты: Standard variation (primary grip configuration and finishing angle); Gi variation (using the gi material for grip assistance and control); No-gi variation (adapted grips for submission grappling without the gi); Transition variation (applied during a positional change or scramble).

Smother-type submissions occasionally appear in MMA when heavy top pressure forces tap-outs.

Основные ошибки, на которые стоит обратить внимание: Using excessive weight and force — smother technique is about coverage, not crushing; excessive weight can cause rib … / Attempting smothers from non-dominant positions — smothers require full body control (mount or north-south); partial … / Not sealing both the mouth and nose — a smother that covers only one airway is ineffective; both must be blocked / Holding the smother too long in training — once the point is demonstrated, release; prolonged smothers in training ar….

Smother Lock также известен как Assatsu Waza, Smother Choke, Chest Compression Choke, Breast Smother.