Scarf Choke
Submission · Side Control
A gi choke from the scarf hold: his own far lapel is wrapped across his throat and pulled tight against your arm behind his neck. It comes from kesa gatame when his hands are busy pushing your hip or head and his far lapel lies loose. With your free hand pull the tail of the far lapel out from his belt on your side, bring it up across the front of his neck and feed it to the hand of your head-wrapping arm, which waits by his far shoulder. Grip it deep, thumb inside, and pull the cloth around the neck while your forearm stays tight behind it and your chest stays heavy. The pin is half of the choke: lift your hips to work the lapel and he bridges and turns in. He defends by tucking the chin and pulling the lapel down.
How to do it
- Settle kesa gatame first: sit on your hip tight to his side facing his head, your near arm wrapped around the back of his neck with the hand out by his far shoulder, his near arm clamped under your armpit, legs wide. The choke only works while he is pinned.
- Clamp his near arm under your armpit with your elbow tight to your ribs, so your hand can let go of it. With that hand pull the tail of his far lapel out from under the belt; on a gi wrapped left over right it lies by his near hip, on your side. Pull out a long tail.
- Bring the tail up across the front of his throat and feed it to the hand of your head-wrapping arm by his far shoulder. That hand grips deep, thumb inside, as close to the side of his neck as it can reach, so there is no slack.
- Return your free hand to his near arm or post it on the mat, keep your hip on the mat and your legs wide. Your chest stays heavy on his chest the whole time.
- Finish by pulling the lapel toward his far shoulder and the mat while you curl your head-wrapping arm in and turn your chest slightly toward his legs. The forearm behind his neck and the cloth across his throat close like a loop. Tighten slowly until the tap.
Key details
- Pin first, choke second. If the hold loosens, he turns in to you and the lapel comes off the neck.
- Grip the lapel close to his neck. Every centimetre of slack between your hand and his neck is a centimetre you cannot close.
- The cloth crosses the front of the neck below the jaw. Over the chin it only pulls his head.
- Keep his near arm clamped under your armpit. A free near arm reaches up and pulls the lapel off his throat.
Common mistakes
- Lifting the hips to reach the lapel. — Your weight leaves his chest, so he bridges and turns in to you. — Keep the hip on the mat and the legs wide; reach only with the arm.
- A shallow grip far from the neck. — The slack lets the lapel press his chest instead of his neck. — Feed the lapel until your hand nearly touches his neck before you pull.
- Letting his near arm go while you feed. — He grabs the lapel or pushes your head and escapes the hold. — Clamp the arm under your armpit with your elbow tight to your ribs before freeing your hand.
How to drill it
In kesa gatame your partner pushes your hip lightly. Pull out the lapel, feed it and set the grip five times on each side without lifting your hips, then add a slow finish with the partner tapping early.
Safety
A gi choke closes fast once the slack is gone: tighten slowly and release at the tap.
Where it comes from