Category: BJJ Techniques

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FilmJitsu – BJJ in The Expanse S3 E3: Assured Destruction

The rear naked choke (often shortened to RNC even though the choke has no political affiliation) is the most effective and simplest choke in all of BJJ. It’s a choke that can still be effective even when done poorly and applied to the windpipe instead of the carotid artery.

The rear naked choke is so simple and effective that even at the highest level of competition against skilled opponents, it is far and away the most commonly effective choke in the UFC with 49% of all submissions by RNC (the next closest is the guillotine at 14%) according to BJJ Tribes in December 2020. 

Also, because the rear naked choke is a blood choke it is mostly undetectable as a cause of death. Where a windpipe choke would leave bruising and damage to the windpipe, the rear naked choke just shuts off blood to the brain like kinking a hose.

So it’s not surprising that the well trained former soldier Cotyar used it to quickly and reliably dispense of the nervous nelly and noted turncoat Theo in The Expanse S3 E3: Assured Destruction. Theo started as an electrician on Jules-Pierre Mao’s Guanshiyin luxury space yacht and helped Chrisjen Avasarala, Bobbie Draper, and Cotyar escape. So he was a friend but then as soon as the heat was on, was willing to lie about that to save his skin when the U.N.N. ship Agatha King picked them up. 

So when Cotyar needed a way to quickly, efficiently, and most of all undetectably kill Theo, he used the old faithful rear naked choke. While Cotyar executed the RNC correctly, The Expanse is still a TV show and they need to show to non-fight sport enthusiasts that Theo had no chance of surviving the choke so they added in a TV Trope neck snap.

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How To Do a Ninja Choke

One of the best advantages of an in-depth knowledge of BJJ is the depth of options available in any given situation. If you’ve studied Jiu-Jitsu even a little bit you’ve probably discovered that no matter what happens and how your initial plan gets derailed, you still have options. 

Case in point is the ninja choke off of a failed guillotine attempt. When your opponent stops your guillotine choke by removing your choking hand, you could fight back against them and force your arm back under their chin, but that requires your one arm to be stronger than their two, which is a dumb fight to get in. Instead, you have the option to allow them to remove your choking hand and just take advantage of their two-on-one arm strategy and replace it with your free hand, making that the choking arm.

Trading back and forth between a guillotine choke and a ninja choke will frustrate your opponent and wear them down until one choke or the other is too much for them to defend and you end up with a submission. 

Start: Guillotine 

Step 1: Opponent uses two hands to pull your choking hand out, and you feed your free hand through in the space created, making that the choking hand

Step 2: Figure four choking arm’s hand onto non-choking arm bicep

Step 3: Drop non-choking hand onto opponent’s back

Step 4: Drop non Choking elbow down while you lift choking arm up and squeeze

Finish: Submission via Ninja Choke

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How To Do The Ghost Side Control Escape

The Ghost side control escape is a 10th planet jiu jitsu technique that uses one of the fundamentals of BJJ – using your opponent’s energy against them. The Ghost escape starts like a normal side control escape, using your forearms to protect your neck and keep your opponent from getting too close. Then, you threaten a traditional guard recovery side control escape and when your opponent reacts, you use the space they create to slip away like a ghost.

Bonus: check out the Mortal Kombat intro music and try to stop yourself from saying GET OVER HERE like scorpion. If that doesn’t make you want to do some ninja stuff and choke someone out in a cool way, you’re dead inside and nothing can help you.

Start: Side control bottom

Step 1: Establish forearm blocks with T-Rex arms

Step 2: Shrimp away from opponent and face them

Step 3: Use inside hand to stiff arm or pimp hand and block opponent’s hip.

Step 4: Switch outside hand to whizzer overhook

Step 5: Attempt to step outside foot over opponent’s bottom side leg

Step 6: When opponent reacts, reach inside arm through under their body and between their knee and arm

Step 7: Swing feet away from opponent and punch inside arm through to spin around to all fours as you rotate away from opponent

Finish: Scramble

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How To Do A Twisting Arm Control Submission

The twisting arm control submission is an excellent BJJ attack that draws on a fundamental principle of Jiu-Jitsu and uses an opponent’s energy against them.

Mount is an extremely effective and dominant position in BJJ, but you may find yourself unable to finish a submission from mount due to your opponent’s strength, excellent defense, or escape attempts. In those cases, the twisting arm control submission is a useful transition to the back and the rear naked choke. 

Twisting arm control is a frustrating position for the bottom player, and many BJJ fighters will fall into this trap just to move out of the position. In MMA or a fight, the position leaves one of the top fighter’s hands free for punches, forcing the bottom fighter to escape or be knocked out.

This technique by the great Rener Gracie for his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy Youtube channel is part of the Gracie How To Get a Blue Belt in BJJ guide.

Start: Mount

Step 1: Secure a cross-grip on one of opponent’s wrists and using your free hand to push their elbow, drag that wrist across their body to their opposite shoulder

Step 2: Lay your chest on the twisted arm and post your gripping hand into the mat to secure their arm in place

Step 3: Slide your free hand under opponent’s neck and grab their wrist, switching which hand has the grip

Step 4: Slide your back knee (the side that now has the grip on opponent’s wrist) up behind their shoulders and post front foot next to their stomach

Step 5: Pull opponent’s wrist towards you while pushing their elbow with your free hand, forcing them to turn away

Step 6: When opponent turtles (either out of frustration, to escape punches, or to avoid the discomfort of your heel digging into their stomach), abandon the twisting arm control and post both hands on the ground to get both hooks in and take the back.

Step 7: Slide one arm under opponent’s neck and through to other side, figure four your arms and reach free hand behind their head to finish a rear naked choke

Finish: Tap due to Twisting Arm Control Submission

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How To Do A Triangle Transition Straight Armbar From Guard

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been compared to chess. While nobody ever got choked out during a chess match, the similarities are striking (no striking allowed in either chess or Jiu-Jitsu). In both games, you could easily achieve your goal if the other player were not playing, or followed simple responses to all of your moves so that your far side arm bar from side control worked perfectly every time. But in both chess and BJJ, your opponent wants to beat you as badly as you want to beat them, so they will fight and do everything in their power to stop your strategy while furthering their own. While that’s what makes this sport fun, it can be frustrating to hit a move dead on in practice a hundred times only to have it easily countered while rolling. But there’s always a counter to a counter.

That’s why live rolling is so much more important to developing your BJJ game than just knowing techniques. Even an encyclopedic knowledge of BJJ submissions with no rolling isn’t as good as a shallow understanding with experience on the mat.  In that same vein, having two options for an attack is crucial to success. 

The first one of these two-for-one techniques that a BJJ fighter should learn is the triangle and arm bar from guard. The triangle from guard pairs perfectly with the arm bar. If your triangle attack is stopped, or you lose the trap you had on your opponent’s head, you still have control of their arm and the arm bar from guard is sitting waiting for you. The essential piece of this puzzle is called the diamond position, and you may recognize it as the step in the triangle from guard where you hang from your opponent’s neck like a scarf before you figure-four your legs. 

Furthermore, learning this combination proves what many BJJ coaches will tell you over and over as your journey progresses: position before submission. Once you have the diamond position, a step in the triangle setup, you can branch off into the arm bar if your triangle is defended.

Start: Diamond position (closed guard with one arm and head in, one arm out) with opponent posturing up to counter triangle

Step 1: Open guard and drop foot of non- choking leg (on side with opponent’s arm trapped) to their hip

Step 2: Kick off hip to swing that leg over opponent’s head

Step 3: Grab opponent’s trapped hand and drive hips forward into elbow

Finish: Submission via Triangle Transition Straight Armbar From Guard

This submission is an essential BJJ technique included in the How To Get a Blue Belt in BJJ Series.

This great video is by Connection Rio Jiu-Jitsu Academy on Youtube.

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Filmjitsu – BJJ in Four Christmases

Every once in a while, Jiu-Jitsu finds its way into popular culture in a way that leaves BJJ geeks pointing at the screen and going “ooh ooh I know that one!” (Insert meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at screen). This is the first entry into a recurring (maybe) segment. 

In four christmases, Vince Vaughn’s character Brad is forced to visit his family for Christmas (a horrible fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone but my worst enemies, people who see that a toilet paper roll is getting low and don’t wipe as much as they normally would so that they won’t have to replace it). Seconds from walking through the door, Jon Favreau’s character Denver jumps a rear naked choke on Brad (née Orlando) and Tim McGraw’s character Dallas grabs what looked like a gift wrap position. 

Minutes later, after Brad acts like a dummy twice and calls MMA human cockfighting (shoutout to the late great John McCain for that immortal sound bite) and then insults Denver’s wife using spray cheese as if Easy Cheese on Ritz isn’t a delicious treat, his brother pulls him into a diamond position and taunts him by turning the arm the wrong way for an arm bar (but keeping the diamond position, because position before submission) before possibly switching to a wrist lock for the tap.

In the end, the Four Christmases proves that art imitates life and the brother who practices Jiu-Jitsu (Denver) is happier, healthier, and has a rich home life filled with love while the brother who judges BJJ is fundamentally unhappy and is about to see his personal life fall to pieces in front of his eyes.

Image via Four Christmases Theatrical Trailer on YouTube

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How To Do A Closed Guard Elevator Sweep

The closed guard is an advantageous position in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which may come as a surprise to many inexperienced fighters or wrestlers. By using the closed guard, the bottom fighter can control the top fighter’s hips, mitigating their ability to throw punches and keeping them from making any moves to better their position. 

While there are many attacks from the guard, in MMA or a street fight or against a larger, stronger opponent you might have trouble using the guard as an attacking position. For those situations, or if you just want to make your opponent have to deal with your weight on top of them to tire them out, sweeps are an essential tool in any BJJ fighter’s arsenal.

Sweeps are methods of moving from one position in BJJ to a better one by using body mechanics and balance rather than brute strength, so even a smaller opponent can sweep the largest fighter. If you look around your gym, you’ll regularly see small, average looking higher belts who look like they wouldn’t win a fight sweeping much larger and stronger white belts who don’t know what’s coming.

Sweeps are such an important part of any guard game that even though the Gracie family preaches the power of the guard, there are five different sweeps in the Gracie BJJ Blue Belt requirements. 

The elevator sweep is a powerful sweep that uses an opponent’s strength and momentum against them. When an opponent is in your guard and pushing you to the ground, you may feel helpless and frustrated because you aren’t able to attempt an arm bar from guard or a triangle from guard. But don’t despair, that forward push that is smashing you into the mat can be redirected to elevate (get it??) your opponent over you so that you land on top, ready to push your own agenda. Using an opponent’s plan against them is one of the joys of BJJ!

Start: Guard with opponent pushing down onto you with one leg posted

Step 1: Drop one foot onto opponent’s posted leg (this will be elevator side) and shrimp out to that side

Step 2: Swim elevator-side foot to underneath opponent’s thigh and flex toes to hook

Step 3: Underhook elevator-side arm

Step 4: Drop chopping-side foot to opponent’s knee and pull knee in towards you

Step 5: Punch elevator-side arm up and across

Step 6: Lift opponent with elevator foot and follow their body as it falls over you

End: Mount via elevator sweep

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How To Do The Anchor and Base Mount Control Technique

Maintaining the mount in BJJ is an important skill to have. There isn’t much in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that’s more frustrating than fighting with your opponent, knocking them back, passing their guard, passing their half guard, maintaining side control, and finally passing to mount only to have them use one of the many mount escapes to roll you onto your back or reclaim their guard. 

The mount escape game in BJJ has so many options that it’s almost as important to know how to maintain your mount when your opponent is desperately trying to escape. Having good mount retention allows you to stay mounted long enough to attempt one of the many submissions from mount.

The mount anchor and base drill will teach you essential mount retention techniques.

Start: Mount with arms posted over opponent’s shoulders to both sides of their head

Step 1: Bring your feet together underneath opponent’s knees

Step 2: Drive your hips into opponent’s hips and stomach

Step 3: When opponent pushes you to one side, that side’s knee and hand both splay out as the other side foot wraps around their leg and your arm scoops their head as the anchor

End: Mount

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How To Do A Heel Drag Elbow Mount Escape

Escaping mount is one of the most important skills you learn from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. At its core, BJJ is a martial art, and you learn it in order to win a fight. There is no way you’re ever going to win a fight while your opponent is sitting on your stomach or chest and can rain down punches on you or (in a strict grappling match) is free to impose try submissions without exposing themselves to any threat. 

That’s why a large portion of the Gracie BJJ blue belt test includes mount escapes like the Standard Trap and Roll Mount Escape, the Punch Block Trap and Roll Mount Escape, the Headlock Trap and Roll Mount Escape, the Standard Elbow Mount Escape, the Hook Removal Elbow Mount Escape, the Fish Hook Elbow Mount Escape, and this technique, the Heel Drag Elbow Mount Escape. 

The Gracie BJJ blue belt test is in depth with mount escapes because it is essential that you have multiple options you can rely on to give you paths to escape the position, depending on how your opponent responds to your escape attempts. SundarBJJ points out that this heel drag elbow mount escape is a perfect response if your opponent fights the fish hook escape by shifting their weight onto the leg you’re trying to lift. That can be frustrating, but every situation in BJJ has options, and your opponent has just opened you up to the heel drag elbow mount escape.

Start: Mounted with opponent using a heavy knee to prevent you from escaping

Step 1: Circle your non escape side leg around opponent’s escape side ankle and bite down with knee as in figure four 

Step 2: Switch hips towards non escape side to drag opponent’s heel towards center of your body

Step 3: Push opponent’s knee down further into trap

*Note: You can stop here to play a half guard bottom game*

Step 4: Swim escape side arm in front of opponent’s arm and around their head

Step 5: Shrimp towards escape side

Step 6: Brace opponent’s non escape side hip

Step 7: Drag non escape side knee in front of opponent’s hip

Step 8: Shrimp towards non escape side and recover guard

End: Full guard

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How To Do a Fish Hook Elbow Escape From Mount in BJJ

Some say that the UFC and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu truly made it in the world when Friends did an episode about it. And in the opening to that episode “The One With The Ultimate Fighting Competition,” there was reference to a fish hook. 

Monica: “It’s sort of like wrestling, but without the costumes.”

Joey: “And it’s not fake. It’s totally brutal.”

Chandler: “Yeah, it’s two guys in the ring and the rules are THERE ARE NO RULES”

Monice: “You can, like, bite and pull people’s hair and stuff?”

Ross: “Anything goes except eye gouging and fish hooking.”

Monica: “What’s fish hooking?

Ross: “What’s fish h—”

*interrupted by Joey fish hooking him*

Ross: “thanks man that would have been really hard to describe”

So of course when the Gracie family wrote out their BJJ Blue Belt Test, they included fish hooking. The fish hook that is actually used in BJJ isn’t as dangerous or disgusting as the Friends fish hook, but they do share a name.

In actual BJJ the fish hook is a technique for escaping the mount when your opponent is wise to your standard elbow escape and hides their leg from you, and this sneaky ninja move will let you work around that.

Start: Mounted, opponent has tight legs securing you

Step 1: Bend your knee on the side you’d like to extract first until opponent’s foot pops up and over your knee

Step 2: Hook your other foot under opponent’s foot (this is your fish hook)

Step 3: Lift opponent’s foot up with your hand while you push down on their knee with your elbow to clear the path for your extraction leg (this is your fish hook

Step 4: Swim extraction side hand over opponent’s shoulder and then over their neck to grip opposite side shoulder

Step 5: Step extraction side foot over opponent’s leg from the outside to trap it

Step 6: Extract trapped leg by slicing knee inside of opponent’s knee and switching jips for more room

Finish: Closed guard via fish hook elbow escape from mount