The 10 Top BJJ Chokes You Need to Master

Chokes are a fundamental part of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In fact, you must learn chokes to call yourself a grappler. Not only will they allow you to tap the opponent out, but they’ll also open you up to countless other submissions and possibilities.

Choking the opponent will be an excruciating experience for him. Think about it: your opponent will not be able to breathe while having his neck squeezed. Truly, an experience no one wants to feel.

But there’s a reason BJJ teaches such techniques, they’re effective. That’s the primary reason for the many chokes you see out there, which all seem to achieve similar results. What’s common in all of them is how quickly your opponent will tap when you apply neck pressure.

This article will teach you how to choke the opponent out effectively. It’ll go through the 10 best ones you must know to call yourself a grappler. Learning these should be your priority.

Alright. That’s enough intro. I want us to get into the practical stuff already. So let’s dive in!

#10 – Short Choke

Choke	Effectiveness	Simplicity	Overall Grade
Short Choke	6	8	7

The first choke we’ll review is called the Short Choke. I stumbled upon it fairly late in my BJJ journey, as no one I knew seemed to know about it. However, I saw how effective the Short Choke can be once you apply it properly, which is what I intend to teach you in this section.

Typically, it’s performed from the Back Mount. You can follow the previous link to learn about this dominant position and how to use it properly.

It’s a submission you want to learn notwithstanding your current belt color. Every grappler can benefit from learning and knowing to use it properly. The more submissions you know, the more threatening you’ll usually be.

Here’s how to perform the Short Choke from the Back Mount position:

1. Start in Back Mount
2. Place your left forearm directly below the opponent’s chin
3. Your opponent blocks you from reaching his neck
4. Free up your right arm
5. Lock your hands
6. Apply hand pressure to get close to the neck
7. Squeeze your hands downward
8. Apply pressure to minimize neck space
9. Repeat until the opponent taps

This choke is uncomplicated to learn and execute. As a result, you want to learn it as early as possible in your journey. Perhaps now is the best time.

I have no doubts you’ll start seeing results using the Short Choke as soon as you’re done reading this article!

Learn more about the Short Choke by following this link.

#9 – Ezekiel Choke

Choke	Effectiveness	Simplicity	Overall Grade
Ezekiel Choke	8	6	7

In #9, we have the Ezekiel Choke. You’re probably familiar with it, but I’ll assume you’re not, for the sake of learning.

You can perform it from many positions, such as Side Control, Full Mount, and with or without Gi. It can be more beneficial to learn all its variations, so you can become a more threatening grappler. You can do so by following the link at the end of this section.

Anyways, we’ll focus on the Mounted Ezekiel Choke in this section. Knowing to finish from the Mount position is critical, especially in the early days of your training. You’re in a highly dominant position when in mount. As a result, going for a submission—should be your next intention.

Here’s how to finish a fight using the Mounted Ezekiel:

1. Start in Full Mount
2. Pin the opponent’s hands to his chest
3. Tighten your chest to his hands
4. Slide your chest back
5. Hook the opponent’s head
6. Grab your Gi (wrist area)
7. Pressure your free hand on his neck
8. Place your belly on the opponent’s head
9. Apply pressure using your body weight
10. Wait for the tap

Learning this choke will allow you far more options than what you currently have. It’s fascinating for me to see a fight ends when one grappler applies this submission and gets the tap in just a few seconds!

You can achieve the same results.

Learn more about the Ezekiel Choke and all its variations by following this link!

#8 – Rear Naked Choke

Choke	Effectiveness	Simplicity	Overall Grade
Rear Naked Choke	8	8	8

Next up on our list is the Rear Naked Choke. This technique is perhaps the most popular one on this list, and for a good reason. Today, people who have never done any martial art are familiar with the basics of the Rear Naked Choke (RNC.)

Consequently, there’s probably a good reason behind this phenomenon. We want to utilize these highly effective techniques and add them to our toolbox. But the fact that it’s effective isn’t the primary reason it’s prevalent as it is, especially in the UFC.

In fact, the primary reason for its popularity is its simplicity. The RNC can be broken down into 2 steps, which is as few as it gets.

Here’s how to perform the Rear Naked Choke from the Back (Rear) Mount position:

1. Start in Back Mount
2. Wrap one arm around the opponent’s neck
3. Grab the opponent’s shoulder with your second hand
4. Don’t grab the head with your second hand
5. Have an X shape between your hands
6. Apply downward pressure
7. Wait for the tap

You can perform the RNC from many positions, which is surprising. Some options you have are from the back, standing, and even from the Closed Guard position!

Perfect your Rear Naked Choke execution by following this link!

#7 – Brabo Choke

Choke	Effectiveness	Simplicity	Overall Grade
Brabo Choke	7	8	8

The Brabo Choke is typically performed with Gis on. So if you’re more of a No-Gi BJJ trainee, you might want to skip this part. However, before you do, you must understand how effective the Brabo Choke can be.

It’s one of BJJ’s most effective chokes, which you can perform from various positions, such as Mount, Side Control, and Open Guard.

Without further introduction, here’s how to perform the Brabo Choke from Closed Guard:

1. Start in Closed Guard
2. Grab the opponent’s back lapel
3. Wrap your other arm around his neck
4. Grab the lapel with the other arm
5. You’re now in the Brabo Grip
6. Pull the opponent’s far arm across
7. Turn your hips
8. Grab the back of his head
9. Do a crunch
10. Squeeze the lapel
11. Wait for the tap

For the sake of explaining, let’s say you grabbed the opponent’s lapel with your left hand. You then want to wrap your right arm around the opponent’s neck. You start by wrapping it from below the chin and continue until you’re able to grab his lapel.

Once you do that—you have the Brabo Grip, which allows you plenty of control. You don’t have to continue with the Choke, although it’s perhaps the best move you have available. But if you want to remain sneaky about it, by all means, go for it.

#6 – North South Choke

Choke	Effectiveness	Simplicity	Overall Grade
North-South Choke	8	7	8

The North-South Choke is a beautiful submission you want to utilize. It’ll boost your grappling game by a bunch just by learning and understanding how it works. Then, you want to gain some experience using it until you get comfortable with it.

The North-South is a position in BJJ that allows you plenty of control. From it, you’re able to (1) transition to another dominant position, such as Full Mount or even Back Mount, and (2) submit the opponent using many options, such as the North-South Choke.

Here’s how to perform the North South Choke from Side Control:

1. Start in Side Control
2. Place your right knee under the opponent’s head
3. Step back and turn your body
4. Attain the Scarf Hold
5. Rotate your body back
6. Wrap your right arm around his neck (clockwise)
7. Drop your body
8. Start rotating to his other side
9. Rotate until he taps

You want to make sure the opponent’s arms aren’t in the way. If they are, you must clear them first since he’ll push you off when you start rotating. That’s the primary way he has of escaping.

#5 – Clock Choke

Choke	Effectiveness	Simplicity	Overall Grade
Clock Choke	6	7	7

The Clock Choke, or Clock Strangle, is a powerful BJJ submission, which allows you to finish fights quickly and efficiently.

I see it most often performed from the Turtle Position, which is a defensive position in BJJ. You want to go for it when the opponent doesn’t pay attention to his collars. When you see that’s the case, you can perform this simple Choke to finish the fight quickly.

Here’s how to perform the Clock Choke from the Turtle Position:

1. Your opponent is in Turtle
2. Open his collar using your right hand
3. Pass your left arm under his neck
4. Grab his collar with your left hand
5. Block his hips using your right hand
6. Walk around the opponent until perpendicular
7. Drop your body down
8. Base yourself with your toes on the mat
9. Drop your head to the mat
10. Walk toward the opponent’s feet
11. Wait for the tap

Ensure you grab his collar as deeply as you can. You want your grip to be as tight as possible, for obvious reasons I suppose. The tighter your grip will be now, the more pressure you’ll be able to apply when you use this submission.

And the more pressure you can generate, the more successful you’ll be using this powerful Clock Choke.

This submission can be potent if you learn to perform it properly. Thus, I want to advise you to start practicing and experiment with it. See which grips are more suitable to your grappling style. Whether you’re a white, blue, purple, brown, or black belt, you have a unique grappling style you want to keep developing.

Learn everything about the Clock Choke and start getting your first taps using it by following this link.

#4 – Anaconda Choke

Choke	Effectiveness	Simplicity	Overall Grade
Anaconda Choke	7	8	8

You’re probably familiar with the highly widespread Anaconda Choke. Regardless, it’s a submission you want to learn, as you can perform it from many positions and gain fast results.

It’s fairly simple to learn and execute, making it attractive to white and blue belts. This section will review a variation many grapplers aren’t familiar with. However, it can be more than effective if you learn it properly.

We’ll now explain how to perform the Anaconda Choke from the Cradle Position, which is a variant of Side Control. For the sake of understanding, here’s what the Cradle Position is.

As you can imagine, it’s when the opponent is on his side while his back is arched, looking like a cradle. You can get to this position by starting in a standard Side Control position, grabbing the back of his head with your close hand, gripping his top leg, and pulling both parts toward you while turning him on his side.

1. Start in Cradle Side Control
2. The opponent extends his arm
3. Drop your elbow to his face
4. Lean to the side
5. Tighten your forearm to his neck
6. Grab your biceps with your other hand
7. Squeeze your hands
8. Rotate back
9. Wait for the tap

This variation is actually not that complicated. It utilizes the opponent’s Cradle position to get initial control and continue to finish with this Anaconda Choke.

I’m a big fan of this choke, and you should be too!

#3 – Bow and Arrow Choke

Choke	Effectiveness	Simplicity	Overall Grade
Bow and Arrow Choke	8	7	8

The Bow and Arrow Choke is, in my opinion, the most beautiful choke in BJJ. It allows you to gain plenty of control while applying a lot of neck pressure in a short period. So you’ll get the tap quickly when you apply it correctly.

You can perform it from a variety of positions, such as Back Mount, Side Control, and Closed Guard. However, in this section, we’ll review the Bow and Arrow Choke from the Closed Guard position, as it’s the one I encourage you to learn first.

Here are the steps to getting the Bow and Arrow from Guard:

1. Start in Closed Guard
2. Pull his right arm across his body
3. Pull your legs in
4. Switch your grips
5. Straighten his arm
6. Overhook the opponent’s head (left arm)
7. Anchor yourself by gripping the opponent’s hips
8. Squeeze your left arm
9. Wait for the tap

You’ll see how fast you’ll be able to learn and start using this potent submission once you set your eyes on it.

A mistake many novice grapplers make is not anchoring themselves by gripping the opponent’s hips. You’ll be able to gain more control and finish this Choke by anchoring yourself, also allowing you to apply more pressure and get the tap.

Read more about the Bow and Arrow Choke, including all its variations, by following this link.

#2 – Guillotine Choke

Choke	Effectiveness	Simplicity	Overall Grade
Guillotine Choke	9	9	9

If you’re unfamiliar with the Guillotine Choke, you must be living under a rock. Most people who are interested in self-defense, even if they’ve never done any martial art, are at least familiar with it.

It uses a special grip to lock the opponent’s head. You’ll then apply tons of pressure by using your body weight as a, well, weight. You’ll weigh yourself down and get the tap.

Here’s how to perform the Guillotine Choke from Side Control:

1. Start in Side Control
2. Underhook the opponent’s triceps
3. Wrap your other hand around his neck (biceps down)
4. Lock your hands
5. Squeeze
6. Push your elbows down
7. Apply more pressure
8. Wait for the tap

By using an underhook, you’ll be able to slide your other hand around his neck. Ensure you slide your other hand by starting under his chin and wrapping it. Many novice grapplers don’t think that such a grip is the most optimal way to go, as it doesn’t seem to be as tight and strong.

However, I assure you; you’ll gain so much control by wrapping your hand this way. It’s a cornerstone move for many chokes, including the Guillotine.

Perfect your Guillotine Choke execution by following this link!

#1 – Triangle Choke

Choke	Effectiveness	Simplicity	Overall Grade
Triangle Choke	9	9	9

Wow! We’re already in the last Choke of this article. Hopefully, by now you’ve been able to grasp a few of the submissions I presented thus far. I encourage you to start learning and experimenting with one Choke at a time, instead of learning a few simultaneously.

How can you do that? Bookmarking this article and returning it to it whenever you want to advance to the next Choke—is what I recommend. However, you can use whichever method you want, if you’re truly serious about learning these submissions.

Enough Chit Chat; let’s review the steps to perform the Triangle Choke from Mount:

1. Start in the mount position
2. Slide your knee under the opponent’s arm
3. Secure the head
4. Grab the wrist
5. Put your foot on the biceps
6. Put one leg over the neck
7. Insert the other leg
8. Make a triangle shape
9. Lock your legs
10. Apply pressure and wait for the tap

The Triangle Choke is a submission you want to familiarize yourself with. It’s one of the most important and influential submissions BJJ has to offer. So definitely take the steps to learn it properly, so you can skyrocket your grappling skills from many positions.

Unfortunately, this section isn’t enough to cover what the Triangle Choke is and how to perform it from many positions. However, I have an article that’s entirely about the Triangle Choke and everything you need to know about it. So follow the link to learn more!

Final Words

This article was extremely fun to research and write because I’m always happy to keep learning about the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. You want to strive to learn as much as possible while enjoying the process.

I know it can get tiring to perform the same techniques over and over again. However, there isn’t a more satisfying feeling than performing a submission on the opponent and getting the tap.

This is my goal with this article: allow you to feel this satisfying feeling over and over again, as it’ll motivate you to keep learning. Indeed, a beneficial cycle, fueling your motivation tank each time you’re running low.

Here are other articles you’d enjoy reading:

BJJ 101: D’arce Choke (Lots of Variations)

BJJ 101: Omoplata (From Setup to Submission)

11 Best Half Guard Submissions From Top and Bottom

BJJ 101: Japanese Necktie (The Right Way)

BJJ 101: Half-Guard (And How to Finish From It)

Gogoplata & Locoplata 101: BJJ Technique Breakdown

9 Most Effective Submissions From Mount (Must-Know)