There are many different chokes in the BJJ arsenal. And the game gets even more complicated once you take the gi into consideration. There’s baseball choke, cross-collar choke, rear naked choke, and many other variations of chokes. But if there is one effective choke that you could use no matter what level you’re on in BJJ, then it would have to be the loop choke. You will now be able to learn more about this choke in this article.
Setting up the loop choke
One of the best things about this move is its simplicity. Also, the fact that you can perform it from many different positions is also very helpful. There’s a variation from the open guard, there’s a variation from the closed guard, from half-guard, from side-control and so on. It’s important to learn which positions are comfortable for you when you want to try this move out. In fact, we recommend that you try it out from different positions – chances are that you will find one where it would be very easy for you to do this move.
Loop choke from the bottom closed guard
If there is one mistake that people do when they are in top closed guard it’s that they are not concerned at all with the grips. If your opponent grabs your gi at the same side of his arm – it’s already bad enough and you need to break the grip as soon as possible. But it’s a terrible thing to do to let your opponent grab your cross collar.
Likewise, if you find out that your opponent is not immediately responding to your cross-collar grip, then you can start implementing the loop choke. The way to do it from the closed guard is by jumping up towards your opponent and putting his head into the “loop” that your arm that grips his cross-collar creates. This will provide you the opportunity to apply enough force to choke your opponent out.
Side-control Loop Choke
There is another variation of the loop choke and it can be performed from the top-side control position. This is the Ezequiel choke but with a lapel, so to speak. All you need to do is grab your opponent’s lapel while you’re in top side-control. Hold the lapel while your holding arm is under the opponent’s head. All you need to do then is put your arm into the loop and use the leverage to create pressure on top of your opponent’s throat. He will be forced to do a tap out.
Loop choke from bottom half-guard
The bottom half-guard is also a position from which you can apply the loop choke in BJJ. The way to apply it is similar to the bottom closed guard variation. You start by getting the cross-collar grip. Then you put your opponent’s head deep into the loop, similar to the closed-guard variation. Then you need to let your opponent pass into side-control for your devious plan to work. After this is done, then you will be able to slide underneath your opponent while you still hold the choke. This will create a great level of pressure on your opponent’s throat and choke him out. If you wish to see a particularly brutal example of this choke at work, we suggest that you check out this video:
Defending the loop choke
If there is one thing that we can advise you to do if you want to defend the loop choke – then it would be to BREAK… THE… GRIPS. As soon as you can see your opponent’s hand even touching your cross collar then you need to act quickly and remove his grip promptly. If you can do this consistently in any given BJJ bout, then your opponent will tire out his fingers and he won’t be able to do the grips any longer. You will have protected yourself from loop choke.
This is a great choke that you can utilize in many different scenarios. The fact that most BJJ practitioners aren’t really worried about the grips is an additional benefit in executing this move. So, be sure to try it out and tell us what you think
Check also:
- Darce Choke: Origin and Mechanism behind Choke
- 5 no gi BJJ chokes you should learn
- The Von Flue Choke: rare but powerful choke
- Arm Triangle Choke: Variations and choke defense
- Wrist Locks in Jiu Jitsu
