Cross Collar Choke
Submission · Closed Guard
A gi blood choke: the collar and the blades of your wrists close the carotids on both sides of the neck. It comes from closed guard with their posture broken and the collar open. Feed the first hand deep into the opposite side of the collar, four fingers in and thumb out, until your knuckles touch the back of their neck; the depth of this grip decides the choke. The second hand goes palm up into the other side under the first arm; a palm-down grip goes over the first arm instead. Pull them in with your legs, turn the blades of your wrists into the neck and drive your elbows straight down toward your hips while pulling their head to your chest. If they tuck the chin, switch to the loop choke; if they push your elbows, attack the armbar from guard.
How to do it
- Break their posture with the closed guard first, pulling them down with your legs so the collar comes close to you.
- Open their collar with one hand and feed the other hand deep into the opposite side, four fingers inside, thumb out, sliding it until the knuckles touch the back of their neck.
- Put the second hand palm up into the other side of the collar, under the first arm, as deep as it goes; if you grip palm down, that hand goes over the first arm instead.
- Turn the blades of both wrists into the neck, then pull their head to your chest with the guard and arms and bring your elbows straight down toward your hips, so the wrist bones cut into both sides of the neck.
Key details
- The depth of the first grip decides everything: with the knuckles reaching the back of their neck the collar wraps the whole neck.
- Palm up, the second grip goes under the first arm; palm down, it goes over it. It need not be as deep as the first.
- Elbows stay close to your body and drive down: flared elbows take the forearm bones off the sides of the neck.
- Use the guard to pull them down; the legs add pressure that the arms alone cannot.
- The choke is in the wrists, not the arms: turn the bony blade of each wrist into the side of the neck and bend the wrists; the arms barely move, so they cannot fight it.
Common mistakes
- A shallow first grip. — The wrist ends up on the throat and there is no pressure on the sides of the neck. — Open the collar and feed the grip until the knuckles touch the back of the neck.
- Pulling the arms toward the chest. — It pulls the head in but does not close the collar around the neck. — Pull the head to your chest and drive the elbows straight down to your hips.
- Letting them posture. — From a posture the choke has no angle and the arms are at full stretch. — Break the posture with the guard before the second grip.
- Lifting the elbows up and out to scissor the neck. — There is no power in it, especially with shallow grips; he just waits. — Keep the elbows low: pull his forehead to your chest and bring the elbows straight down to your hip bones.
If they defend
- They hide their collar with a hand. → That hand is the sleeve you need for an armbar or a sweep.
- They posture to open the space. → Keep the first grip and go to a scissor or hip bump sweep.
How to drill it
First-grip drill: 10 reps of feeding the deep collar with the partner moving the head; then add the finish slowly.
Safety
Close the choke slowly. Collar chokes also press the throat, so be gentle with training partners.
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