In the grappling world, we go through different trends of techniques. One of the most talked about now is an old smother choke called the mother’s milk submission.
Let’s break down everything about this submission from who invented the move and how to execute it.
What is the Mother’s Milk Submission?
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. 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.
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 game 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.
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.
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.
What is the Best Body Type For This Submission?
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.
Bobby is martial artist for almost 20 years with a BJJ black belt under Professor Sergio Miranda. He is also a karate black and former combat sports athlete, who loves all things grappling.