Gogoplata
Submission · Closed Guard
An air choke with the shin: the shin bone presses straight into the windpipe from the front. It comes from rubber guard while their head stays low and they cannot sit up. Pull their arm toward your opposite shoulder to make room, bring the shin in front of their throat and slide the foot past their ear so the bone lies across the throat, not the face. Grab the back of their head with both hands and finish by pulling the head down onto the fixed shin while lifting the hips slightly; do not push the shin. It needs open hips, so warm up. If they push the shin off, switch to the armbar from guard; if they posture up, go to the triangle. Apply very slowly: it presses the windpipe directly and is banned in some beginner rule sets.
How to do it
- From rubber guard, keep their posture broken with your shin high on their back, holding the head down so they cannot sit up.
- Pull their arm toward your opposite shoulder to make room in front of their neck for the shin.
- Bring that shin in front of their throat and slide the foot past their ear, so the shin bone lies across the throat, not the face.
- Grab the back of their head with both hands and keep it down the whole time.
- Finish by pulling the head down onto the shin while your hips lift slightly; do not push the shin into the neck.
Key details
- The shin bone presses the throat: the foot must be past their ear, or the shin lands on the face.
- Pull the head, do not push the shin: the head moving onto a fixed shin is what closes the throat.
- Needs open hips: warm up before trying it, your own knee takes the strain.
- Pull their arm toward your opposite shoulder first to make room for the shin.
- Locoplata variant: hook your free foot against the instep of the choking foot and push it further past the ear for extra pressure.
- Rubber guard finish (10th Planet): reach over the head, slide the foot under the chin and grab your toes over the top, not from underneath — pulling from underneath lifts their head off the shin; straighten that arm to hold the posture and press the foot down like a gas pedal.
Common mistakes
- The foot stays in front of the face. — The shin presses the face, not the throat, and it only hurts. — Slide the foot past their ear before you pull the head.
- Letting their posture come up. — The shin slides down onto the chest and the choke is gone. — Hold the back of the head down with both hands the whole time.
- Forcing it with tight hips. — Your own knee takes the strain and gets injured. — Build rubber guard flexibility first; until then, go to the omoplata.
- Stopping when they tuck the chin. — The shin is on the jaw, not the throat, and he waits it out. — Keep the toe grip, come up on your elbow and move away from him to open the space; keep his wrist on the far side so he cannot turn back to face you.
How to drill it
Rubber guard to gogoplata, 6 slow reps each side, the partner taps early.
Safety
Presses the windpipe directly: apply very slowly. Not allowed in some beginner rulesets.
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