While many variations of martial arts focus on hand-to-hand combat, Grapplers focus on throwing opponents to the ground and disabling them.

Martial Flexibility

When selecting this tradition at 3rd level you gain the Martial Flexibility trait, allowing you to use your Dexterity (Acrobatics) when initiating a contested grapple check. Additionally, when you force a creature to make a saving throw against one of your abilities that use ki points, such as stunning strike, you may spend a ki point to use your dexterity modifier in place of your wisdom modifier when calculating the DC.

Ground Fighter

At 6th level you deal your unarmed strike damage when succeeding a grapple check that you initiated and you no longer suffer from disadvantage on attack rolls while under the restrained condition if the condition is caused by a grapple from yourself or another creature.  This ability does not apply to spells or items. Additionally, you may spend a ki point to add your proficiency modifier to a grapple check, if you are already proficient the bonus is added a second time.

Counter Throw

Upon reaching 11th level you gain access to the Counter Throw ability: as a reaction to being attacked with a melee attack, you may spend a ki point to initiate a grapple check against the attacker; If you succeed, the attack fails and you may knock your attacker prone, disarm, or grapple them.  Additionally, if you are targeted by a ranged attack that uses an attack roll and you have a creature grappled, you may use your reaction and a ki point to initiate a grapple check against the creature you have grappled in order to shield yourself from a ranged attack, on a success the original attack and damage rolls from the ranged attack are directed to the grappled creature.

Headlock Choke

At 17th level; When you have a target grappled, or the target is unaware of you, you may spend a ki point and your action to initiate a grapple check against your target, on a success both you and the target are restrained and the target must make a Constitution saving throw at the end of each of their turns with declining chances of success.  On a failure the target falls unconscious for 1 minute.

• 1st save is made with advantage
• 2nd save is made normally
• 3rd save and every save thereafter is made at disadvantage.

This choke hold targets blood flow to the brain and therefore does not consider how long the target can hold its breath however it cannot be used on creatures that are at more than 1 size category larger than you, undead, aberrations, elementals, or any other creature that does not have blood, a brain, a neck, or its brain is not located in its head.  Keeping this choke hold held after the target is unconscious incurs a death saving throw each round. In order to escape this choke the target must succeed in a contested grapple check against you.