As the defender you are the top player in closed guard facing a bottom player who is trying to upgrade a guillotine catch into the Hindulotine. Your defense has two distinct phases. The first is prevention: deny the broken-posture, head-low moment that lets the attacker catch your chin in the first place. If you keep your head up, your spine stacked, and your hands fighting the choking grip, the entry never starts. The second phase is reaction: once the grip is caught, you must stop the attacker from clearing their hips off-line, because the off-line angle is what transforms a survivable straight guillotine into the much tighter rotational Hindulotine.
Recognition is everything here. The danger signal is not the choke itself but the attacker opening their guard and shrimping their hips out to one side. That hip clearance is the doorway to the Hindulotine, and if you feel it beginning you must immediately drive your weight forward to stack, square your hips back over them, and pressure their off-line shrimp before the angle and the leg hooks lock in. The Von Flue choke is your most aggressive counter: as they hold the guillotine, drop your near shoulder into the side of their neck and drive forward toward their head, which both relieves the choke on you and threatens to finish them.
The most important strategic point is timing. Defending before the hips clear is a high-percentage stack or pass. Defending after the Hindulotine is fully set, with hooks in and the angle established, is far harder because you now face rotational pressure and active leg control. Commit early, stay heavy, and keep your own neck protected throughout.
Opponent’s Starting Position: Closed Guard (Bottom)
How to Recognize This Attack
How do you know when someone is attempting Closed Guard to Hindulotine?
- The bottom player breaks your posture and your head drops below their chest line as they reach for your chin
- You feel a forearm blade slide high under your chin onto the carotid line with the choking elbow lifting high
- The bottom player unlocks their ankles and opens the closed guard while keeping the grip glued tight to your neck
- The bottom player shrimps their hips out to one side so their spine is no longer square beneath you and a butterfly hook or knee shield appears
Key Defensive Principles
What are the key principles for defending Closed Guard to Hindulotine?
- Prevent the entry by keeping your head up and spine stacked so your chin never drops below the attacker’s chest line
- Fight the choking grip with both hands before it locks high under your chin
- Recognize the hip clearance, the attacker opening the guard and shrimping off-line, as the true Hindulotine danger signal
- Drive your weight forward to stack and square your hips back over the attacker the instant you feel them angle away
- Use the Von Flue shoulder pressure into the neck as an aggressive counter while the guillotine is being held
- Protect your own neck and keep your chin tucked so the rotational pressure cannot wrap cleanly around the carotids
Defensive Options
What can you do to defend against Closed Guard to Hindulotine?
1. Posture up early and pull your head out before the grip locks, keeping your spine stacked and chin up
- When to use: Preventive defense, the moment you feel your posture being broken and the bottom player reaching for your chin
- Targets: Closed Guard
- If successful: The grip never locks, the entry is denied at the source, and you stay in closed guard top with strong posture
- Risk: Posturing hard can briefly expose you to other closed-guard attacks such as the hip bump sweep or armbar if you overcommit upright
2. Drive forward to stack and square your hips back over the bottom player as they try to clear their hips off-line
- When to use: When the grip is already caught and you feel the bottom player opening the guard and shrimping to one side
- Targets: Side Control
- If successful: You deny the off-line angle, flatten the attacker square, relieve the choke, and can begin passing the now-open guard toward side control
- Risk: Driving forward into a held guillotine can momentarily tighten the choke if your head is not positioned correctly, so keep your chin tucked
3. Execute the Von Flue choke by dropping your near shoulder into the side of their neck and driving toward their head
- When to use: While the bottom player holds the guillotine and has not yet locked the off-line angle and leg hooks
- Targets: Side Control
- If successful: The shoulder pressure relieves the choke on you and threatens to finish the attacker, letting you pass to side control or finish
- Risk: If the attacker has already cleared their hips off-line, your shoulder cannot line up on their neck and you may be swept or rolled instead
Best-Case Outcomes for Defender
What is the best outcome when defending Closed Guard to Hindulotine?
→ Closed Guard
Win the fight before it starts by keeping your head up and spine stacked, fighting the choking grip with both hands, and pulling your head free before the forearm locks under your chin. Denying the grip returns the exchange to a neutral closed guard with you on top and strong posture restored.
→ Side Control
Once the grip is caught, drive forward to stack and square your hips before the attacker clears their hips off-line, or commit to a Von Flue by dropping your shoulder into their neck. Both deny the rotational angle and open a path to pass the guard and consolidate side control.