[Aesopian]

Get more BJJ techniques in my Totally Awesome Journal.

It's time for me to reveal my secrets. Below is my current favorite choke. It is extremely high percentage, so much so that you'll actually feel like it was too easy. Oh, you think I'm joking but I've had people come back to me and say just that. You'll have maybe two or three fingers in the collar and spin out for this and think there's no way it's really that tight. It doesn't feel that tight to you. Then they tap. It's magic. And I'm going to share this magic with you.



I am going for the basic rear collar choke (as seen here), but they are keeping their left arm tight to their body, denying me from reaching under to grab the collar.

Notice how low my grip is on the collar. This may be because I am unable to feed it deeper, or I just plan on doing the following choke already. This choke actually works better with a looser grip; gripping too deeply in the collar can actually put stress on your wrist later.



Unable to get under their arm, I reach down and grab their knee with my left hand.



I pull myself to the knee as I throw my left hook across their body and take out my right hook.

I need to spin out and bring my right leg behind their head before they can put their weight on my leg and prevent me from doing so.



After spinning out, it should be like they've fallen backwards into the space you opened up. Notice how I am sitting up, not letting my hips be trapped under them. You know you've got it right when their head is resting on your thigh. Keep ahold of their knee so they can't run or roll away.



To defend the choke, Greg has reached up and grabbed my arm to try to pull it over his head, which will stop it.



To prevent this, I throw my legs over his arm until I've pinned it then I cross my ankles. Do this whether or not they attempt the defense. I just taught it in this context to show you how to stop a common defense.

[Aesopian]

The important detail at this point is to make sure your calf is on their shoulder in order to lock down their upper body.

You'll find that if you keep working to trap this arm, you'll catch it like it's in the crucifix or even put them into triangles.



To finish, I lay back and arch my shoulders, pulling on the lapel and the knee. The grip on the knee prevents them from turning away from it. This is a really powerful choke since it puts your entire back into it.

[Gsoares2]

This is by far my #1 choke from the back.

[Afrofeet]

I do this choke often, but my legs are not crossed, I just put my leg on opponents shoulder (in your last picture it would be right leg)

[Gsoares2]

You dont have to cross the legs to finish. But i have noticed on more experienced guys they are already so focused on getting their head under the elbow.. that if you dont cross the legs over their hands.. you will often lose the leverage and be forced to take the armlock or go to mount.

When i first started doing the choke, i didnt cross at all.. and just opened my legs as wide as possible and tried to splay them out.. Which worked on most people. <--- Saulo teaches it this way in his instructional for gi.
But the brown belts and one particular purple belt @ our school would rip my elbow down and slip their head underneath.. changing the position.

[Aesopian]

Since we're talking about how to finish, I might as well go over some of the alternate ways to do it.



A really strong way to finish this is to bring your knee up to the other side of his head and apply pressure to his neck with your shin.





You can also go for the real moneyshot and throw your leg over their head. Being able to do this finish is also a good measure of how well you moved your hips out. If you have trouble, it's usually because the angle is bad and you didn't spin out far enough.

[randomg1t]

man, reveal your nogi secrets already!

i mean, not everyone wears pajamas so how can we praise you with all these gi only techniques?

[Aesopian]

Just grip the flesh directly.

[shagy]

i like the gi techniques, thanks! keep it up

[FLMikeATT]

Thanks man. I'm really not that good from the back. If I can't get the RNC or the basic rear collar choke, I am forced to go for the armbar or triangle (which are decently high percentage, but that's besides the point). I'm going to drill this and go for it the next time I take someone's back.