In the grappling world, different trends of techniques come and go. One of the most talked about now is an old smother choke called the "Mother's Milk" submission. This article breaks down everything about this submission, from who invented the move to how to execute it.
The inspiration for this article came from a recent Instagram post from Erik Paulson. Erik is a catch wrestling legend and a BJJ black belt under Rigan Machado. In his recent IG video, Paulson went over the history of the Mother’s Milk submission.
Let's delve into the details of this controversial yet effective technique.
What is the Mother's Milk Submission?
The Mother's Milk is an old smother technique from Catch Wrestling, that works by preventing the opponent from breathing. As you can see, it can work. In seriousness though, it’s a technique that works best on someone who is gassed, smaller, and less skilled. Further, the sheer stupidity of it is fun. Not wrist-locking-an Aikido-black-belt fun, but still, it’s fun.
He stated that the legendary martial arts icon Judo Gene LeBell showed him the technique that inspired this move. Judo Gene showed Erik a neck crank variation back in 1994. Around a year or so later, Paulson started tweaking the neck crank into a choke. He changed his hand placement to turn the submission into a smother choke. When Erik’s training partners asked him the technique’s name, he said it was the Mother’s Milk.
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The catch wrestling master named this technique because it looks similar to a breastfeeding mother. Paulson also developed another variation of this technique from kesa gatame of the scarf hold side-control. Today, the technique has started to gain popularity and more grapplers with a pressure style are using the Mother’s Milk submission.
Kesa Gatame Side-Control
Executing the Mother's Milk Submission
There are a few variations of the Mother's Milk submission. Here are the primary methods to apply this choke.
Mother's Milk Submission From The Mount
Doing this submission from the mount is pretty straightforward. Your first step is to hook your arm around your partner’s head. Make sure to keep your palm up after hooking around the head. Your other hand is going to rewrap around the head and grab above your elbow. From here, drop your chest onto your opponent’s face and squeeze. It’s a miserable sub to get caught in that smothers and suffocates you at the same time.
Mother's Milk From Side-Control
Paulson also created another variation of Mother’s Milk from side-control, which is the variation gaining popularity. The technique starts from a kesa gatame side-control, also called scarf hold side-control. Your first step in this variation is to pull your partner’s head down to the mat. Naturally, your partner is going to turn their head and attempt to bridge. When they do this, you’re going to do the same steps as the original variation from the mount. Hook your arms under your partner’s head(palms up) and drop your chest on their face. For the finish, squeeze until they tap. Below is the creator of the move demonstrating his submission from both the mount and side-control.
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Here is a summary in a table:
| Position | Steps |
|---|---|
| Mount |
|
| Side-Control (Kesa Gatame) |
|
How to Defend the Mother's Milk
This smother choke is an absolutely miserable move that you never want to be caught in. The best advice we can give to defend it is to get on your side and defend. Your teammate will need you flat on your back to finish this submission. Also, remember basic defense to protect your neck at all times and try to create space.
Body Type and Effectiveness
Anyone can do the Mother’s Milk submission, but the bigger you are, the more pressure you can deliver. This is a great move to add to your game if you play a heavy-pressure game. It isn’t the most friendly move and it might piss a training partner off, but it’s effective. Go drill the move and try not to smash your partner’s nose too badly when applying the pressure.
Legality and Controversy
Smothering is under controversial debate on whether this should be practiced or not. Various tournaments legalize smothering after illegalizing it. If you are in your academy, rolling with your partner, he will not like to be smothered. Each academy has its own rules. But smothering is banned by the majority of academies and governing bodies and is considered a cowardly act. Even if it is allowed in your gym, you will not be appreciated for this submission.
IBJJF is considered the major organization that works to organize BJJ tournaments. Various tournaments follow the rules and regulations of IBJJF. In IBJJF NoGi Pans, Oliver Taza was disqualified due to controlling his opponent with smothering. In Pans NoGi 2021, Oliver Taza was against Rodrigo Gortari. He controlled him from the back and covered his mouth with his hand.
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According to EBI rules, smothering was considered legal initially. Vagner Rocha won various matches by using the smothering choke, famous as the python trap. But a few years ago, Eddie Bravo expressed his dislikeness toward smothering techniques.
According to the rules and regulations of ADCC, placing hands, knees, or elbows on the mouth is completely illegal. This is a clear statement that ADCC rules also illegalized the smothering choke.
Smothering is not considered legal according to the rules and regulations of various tournaments. Python trap and mother milk choke are the most viewed smothering chokes in various tournaments. Vagner Rocha is a 6th-degree Black Belt who submitted his opponent with a python trap more than one time. Smothering is a completely illegal submission technique. IBJJF has also categorized it as illegal. Various smothers made submissions in history with smothering. Vagner Rocha submitted various opponents with this choke.
David Lee submitted his opponent Thomas Hytten in the HEAT SPORTS 25 by using this technique. In the main event of Heat Sports 2 on December 7, 2013, in Essex, England, UFC vet David Lee tapped Norway’s Thomas Hytten with what was announced as a Mother’s Milk submission. Hytten, who had been fighting professionally since 1998, looked like he had never seen it before. This is the ending of Lee vs.