⚠️ SAFETY: Guillotine Choke targets the Carotid arteries and windpipe. Risk: Trachea damage or crush injury. Release immediately upon tap.
The Guillotine Choke is one of the most versatile and high-percentage submissions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, capable of being executed from standing positions, guard, or transitional scrambles. This blood choke targets the carotid arteries while also applying pressure to the trachea, making it a powerful finishing technique when applied correctly. The guillotine’s effectiveness stems from its ability to capitalize on common defensive movements, particularly when opponents shoot for takedowns or attempt to pass guard with poor posture. The technique works by using your arm as a fulcrum around the opponent’s neck while using hip pressure and body positioning to create the choking force. Its versatility allows for execution from numerous positions including standing, closed guard, half guard, and even during scrambles, making it an essential weapon for practitioners at all levels. The guillotine family includes multiple variations such as the high elbow guillotine, arm-in guillotine, and ten-finger guillotine, each with specific applications based on the situation and opponent’s defensive reactions.
Category: Choke Type: Blood Choke Target Area: Carotid arteries and windpipe Starting Position: Front Headlock Success Rates: Beginner 35%, Intermediate 55%, Advanced 70%
Safety Guide
Injury Risks:
| Injury | Severity | Recovery Time |
|---|---|---|
| Trachea damage or crush injury | CRITICAL | 2-8 weeks with potential permanent damage |
| Neck hyperextension injury | High | 1-4 weeks |
| Cervical spine strain | Medium | 7-14 days |
| Unconsciousness from blood choke | High | Immediate recovery but requires medical monitoring |
Application Speed: SLOW and progressive - 3-5 seconds minimum application time. Never snap or jerk the submission
Tap Signals:
- Verbal tap or any vocal sound
- Physical hand tap on opponent or mat
- Physical foot tap on mat
- Any distress signal or loss of resistance
Release Protocol:
- Immediately release choking arm pressure
- Remove head from opponent’s neck
- Help opponent to seated position if unconscious
- Monitor breathing and consciousness
- Call for medical assistance if partner doesn’t immediately recover
Training Restrictions:
- Never use competition speed in training
- Always allow clear tap access for both arms
- Stop immediately at any sign of distress
- Avoid cranking or using neck hyperextension
- Never practice on training partners with neck injuries
Key Principles
- Control the head position before establishing the choke - without head control, the choke cannot be effective
- Use hip pressure and body weight to generate choking force rather than arm strength alone
- Maintain a high elbow position to target carotid arteries and minimize trachea crushing
- Create an angle with your body to increase leverage and prevent opponent’s escape
- Secure the grip before committing to the finish - a proper grip is 80% of the submission
- Keep your choking shoulder tight to opponent’s neck to eliminate space
- Use your non-choking arm to control opponent’s body and prevent escape movements
Prerequisites
- Opponent’s head must be below your centerline for proper control
- Establish head control with your choking arm wrapped around opponent’s neck
- Your choking arm shoulder should be tight against the side of opponent’s neck
- Create proper grip connection (either palm-to-palm, wrist grip, or arm-in configuration)
- Opponent’s posture must be broken forward to maintain submission control
- Your hips should be positioned to generate upward pressure into the choke
Execution Steps
- Secure head control: Wrap your choking arm around opponent’s neck with your forearm positioned across the front of their throat. Your shoulder should be tight against the side of their neck. Ensure opponent’s head is pulled down below your centerline to prevent them from posturing up and escaping. (Timing: 0-1 seconds) [Pressure: Moderate]
- Establish the grip: Bring your non-choking hand to meet your choking hand. For the standard guillotine, grip your own wrist with your non-choking hand. For high elbow variation, connect palm-to-palm. Your choking arm elbow should be pointing upward at approximately 45 degrees to target the carotid arteries rather than crushing the windpipe. (Timing: 1-2 seconds) [Pressure: Light]
- Adjust body position: If standing, step your hips forward and angle your body 45 degrees away from your choking arm side. If in guard, close your guard or use your legs to control opponent’s hips. The key is to create an angle that allows you to use your entire body weight rather than just arm strength. (Timing: 2-3 seconds) [Pressure: Moderate]
- Generate hip pressure: Drive your hips forward and slightly upward while simultaneously pulling your hands toward your chest. This creates a lever action where your hips act as the fulcrum. Your choking shoulder should remain glued to opponent’s neck throughout this movement to prevent escape space. (Timing: 3-4 seconds) [Pressure: Firm]
- Elevate the elbow: Actively lift your choking arm elbow higher to create more acute angle and increase pressure on carotid arteries. Your forearm should be driving across and slightly upward into opponent’s neck. This elevation is crucial for blood choke effectiveness versus air choke. (Timing: 4-5 seconds) [Pressure: Firm]
- Arch and squeeze: Create final finishing pressure by arching your back slightly, expanding your chest, and squeezing your elbows together. Continue driving hips forward. The combination of hip pressure, elbow elevation, and chest expansion creates maximum choking force. Apply progressively until tap is received. (Timing: 5-8 seconds) [Pressure: Maximum]
Opponent Defenses
- Opponent pushes your hips away to create space (Effectiveness: High) - Your Adjustment: Immediately close your guard if in bottom position, or sprawl your hips back and down if standing. Use your non-choking arm to overhook their arm that’s pushing your hips to prevent the frame.
- Opponent tucks their chin to protect the neck (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Adjustment: Transition to arm-in guillotine variation or use your choking forearm to force their chin up by driving it upward. Alternatively, transition to darce or anaconda choke variations.
- Opponent circles their body toward your choking arm side (Effectiveness: High) - Your Adjustment: Follow their circular movement and maintain the angle. If they succeed in circling, quickly transition to high elbow guillotine or adjust to mounted guillotine position.
- Opponent postures up aggressively (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Adjustment: Use your legs to break their posture back down if in guard. If standing, use your body weight to pull them back down. Maintain grip connection and reset the choking angle once posture is broken.
- Opponent grabs your leg to prevent guard closure (Effectiveness: Low) - Your Adjustment: Accept the half guard position or open guard and focus on maintaining the choke. You can still finish guillotines from these positions by using hip pressure and proper angle.
Test Your Knowledge
Q1: What is the minimum time you should take to apply a guillotine choke in training? [SAFETY-CRITICAL] A: You should take a minimum of 3-5 seconds to apply progressive pressure when practicing guillotine chokes in training. Never snap or jerk the submission. This slow, controlled application allows your training partner adequate time to tap and prevents serious neck or trachea injuries. In competition the speed may be faster, but in training, safety must always be the priority.
Q2: Why should you elevate your elbow to approximately 45 degrees or higher when finishing a guillotine? [SAFETY-CRITICAL] A: Elevating your elbow to 45 degrees or higher ensures that you are creating a blood choke by targeting the carotid arteries on the sides of the neck rather than simply crushing the windpipe. A low elbow position creates only trachea pressure which is extremely painful, less effective for submission, and carries significant injury risk. The high elbow position creates a more humane and effective submission that works through cutting blood flow to the brain rather than air restriction.
Q3: What are the three primary components that generate choking force in a guillotine choke? A: The three primary components are: (1) Hip pressure - driving your hips forward and upward to create the fulcrum effect, (2) Elbow elevation - raising your choking arm elbow to create the proper angle on carotid arteries, and (3) Chest expansion - arching your back and expanding your chest while squeezing elbows together. These three components working together generate far more force than arm strength alone and create the proper mechanical advantage for an effective finish.
Q4: How should you adjust your guillotine when your opponent successfully circles toward your choking arm side? A: When opponent circles toward your choking arm side, you must follow their circular movement to maintain the angle. If they complete the circle, you should quickly transition to a high elbow guillotine variation or adjust to a mounted guillotine position. The key is to never release the grip connection but instead adapt your body position to maintain the choking angle. Some practitioners will intentionally allow this circle to occur because the mounted guillotine finish is even more effective.
Q5: What is the difference between an arm-in guillotine and a standard guillotine? A: In a standard guillotine, only the opponent’s head is enclosed in the choke with both their arms outside. In an arm-in guillotine (also called high wrist guillotine), the opponent’s arm is trapped inside the choke alongside their head. The arm-in variation creates a different choking angle and is particularly effective when the opponent defends by tucking their chin, as their own shoulder helps close off their carotid artery. The arm-in version is often easier to finish from bottom half guard position.
Q6: Why is creating a 45-degree angle with your body important for guillotine effectiveness? A: Creating a 45-degree angle (rather than being square front-to-front with your opponent) accomplishes several critical goals: (1) It allows you to use your hip pressure more effectively by creating a lever system, (2) It prevents opponent from driving forward and escaping by posturing up, (3) It creates a more efficient line of force from your hips through your arms to opponent’s neck, and (4) It makes it much more difficult for opponent to circle away or create the space needed to escape. The angle transforms the submission from an arm-strength choke into a full-body mechanical advantage.
Q7: What should you do immediately if your training partner becomes unconscious from a guillotine choke? [SAFETY-CRITICAL] A: Immediately release all choking pressure and remove your arm from their neck. Help them to a seated position to assist with blood flow returning to the brain. Monitor their breathing and consciousness level closely. They should regain consciousness within seconds - if they do not wake up immediately or show any signs of distress, call for medical assistance. Never continue training until they are fully recovered and cleared by medical personnel if there was any extended loss of consciousness. This scenario should be extremely rare in training if proper safety protocols are followed.
From Which Positions?
Expert Insights
- Danaher System: The guillotine choke represents a perfect example of mechanical efficiency in submission grappling. Most practitioners make the critical error of relying on arm strength rather than understanding the leverage system at work. The submission functions as a class-one lever where your hips serve as the fulcrum, your arms as the lever arm, and opponent’s neck as the load. When you drive your hips forward while simultaneously pulling your hands to your chest, you create exponentially more force than arm strength alone could generate. The elevation of your choking elbow is not merely a technical detail - it determines whether you create a blood choke or an air choke. A high elbow targets the carotid arteries on the sides of the neck, causing unconsciousness through cerebral hypoxia within 6-10 seconds. A low elbow creates only trachea pressure, which is painful but far less effective and carries significant injury risk. In training, we must emphasize the high elbow variation exclusively to develop both effectiveness and safety. The guillotine’s true power lies in its systematic application - proper angle, proper grip, proper hip pressure, executed in proper sequence. Master these mechanical principles and the submission becomes virtually unstoppable.
- Gordon Ryan: The guillotine is one of my highest percentage submissions in competition because it capitalizes on the exact moment when opponents are most vulnerable - during their attacking movements. When someone shoots a takedown on me with poor head position, they’re essentially giving me the submission. The key difference between training guillotines and competition guillotines is in the setup recognition and speed of application. In competition, I’m hunting for specific moments: when opponent drives forward to pass guard, when they shoot for takedowns, or during scrambles when head control is available. The arm-in guillotine variation has become my personal preference because it’s less dependent on perfect technique - even if my angle isn’t optimal, their own shoulder helps close the choke. However, in training, I deliberately practice the high elbow variation because it’s safer for my training partners and develops better technical understanding. One crucial detail that separates good guillotines from great ones is the immediate angle creation - as soon as I secure the grip, my body is already at 45 degrees. Don’t wait to create the angle after you have the grip; they should happen simultaneously. Against elite opponents, you might only get one chance, so your entry must be perfect and immediate. The guillotine has won me matches at the highest levels of competition precisely because I’ve drilled the setup thousands of times in training at controlled intensity.
- Eddie Bravo: The guillotine choke is fundamental to the 10th Planet system because it works beautifully in no-gi situations where traditional collar chokes aren’t available. What I love about the guillotine is its versatility - you can hit it from literally anywhere during a roll. Standing, guard, scrambles, even from bad positions if you’re creative enough. In our system, we’ve developed some unconventional guillotine variations that catch people by surprise. The ten-finger guillotine might look unorthodox but it provides incredible grip strength in no-gi, especially when everyone’s sweaty. We also use guillotines as control positions, not just submissions - sometimes holding a loose guillotine forces opponent into defensive mode and opens up other attacks like taking the back or transitioning to darce/anaconda variations. The marce choke (our version of the arm-in guillotine from bottom half guard) has become a signature 10th Planet technique because it combines the guillotine concept with half guard control. But here’s what’s crucial for training safely - we always emphasize that the guillotine can be dangerous if applied recklessly. In our gyms, we drill the high elbow version extensively and save the neck-cranking variations for competition only. The guillotine should be a technical submission based on angle and leverage, not a strength-based neck crank. Innovation is important, but so is keeping your training partners healthy so they can train tomorrow. Master the fundamentals first with the high elbow guillotine, then explore the creative variations once you understand the safety principles.