The Guillotine Counter is a critical defensive technique that transforms a dangerous submission threat into a dominant top position. When caught in a guillotine choke, whether standing or on the ground, understanding proper defensive mechanics can mean the difference between tapping and establishing control. This counter relies on fundamental principles of posture management, pressure application, and strategic hand positioning to neutralize the choking threat while simultaneously advancing position. The technique is particularly valuable in both gi and no-gi contexts, as guillotine attempts are common across all levels of competition. By mastering this counter, practitioners develop confidence in scramble situations and learn to remain calm under submission pressure. The guillotine counter exemplifies the BJJ principle that every offensive technique has a systematic defense, and that proper technique overcomes strength and panic.
Starting Position: Guillotine Control Ending Position: Side Control Success Rates: Beginner 50%, Intermediate 70%, Advanced 85%
Key Principles
- Maintain strong posture with chin tucked to prevent deep choke penetration
- Drive weight and pressure through opponent’s chest to flatten their posture
- Control opponent’s choking arm at the wrist or elbow to reduce leverage
- Keep head on the non-choking side to create escape angle
- Use hip pressure and shoulder drive to break opponent’s guard or mounting structure
- Circle away from the choking arm while maintaining forward pressure
- Establish dominant position immediately after escaping the choke
Prerequisites
- Opponent has secured guillotine grip around your neck
- Immediate recognition of choke threat before it becomes fully locked
- Strong base with feet positioned for forward drive
- Ability to maintain posture despite opponent pulling you forward
- Hand positioning ready to control opponent’s choking arm
- Awareness of whether opponent has closed guard or is attempting to jump guard
Execution Steps
- Recognize and posture: The moment you feel the guillotine being applied, tuck your chin tightly to your chest and drive your head toward the non-choking side. Maintain a strong, upright posture with your hips forward and shoulders back. Do not allow opponent to break you down or pull your head below their chest level. (Timing: Immediate - within 1 second of feeling the choke)
- Establish hand control: Your arm on the choking side reaches across your body to grip opponent’s choking wrist or forearm. Your opposite hand posts on the mat or grips opponent’s hip for base. This hand control is critical to prevent opponent from tightening the choke or adjusting their grip. (Timing: Simultaneous with posture establishment)
- Drive forward pressure: Using your legs and core, drive your weight forward and down through opponent’s chest. Your shoulder on the non-choking side drives into their sternum, flattening their posture and reducing their ability to lift or arch. This pressure makes it difficult for them to generate choking force. (Timing: Continuous pressure - 2-3 seconds)
- Break guard or base: If opponent has closed guard, use your free hand to push on their hip while driving your weight forward to break the guard open. If they’re attempting to jump guard or are on their back, establish strong base with your legs wide and hips low. (Timing: As soon as forward pressure is established)
- Circle to safe side: Keeping your head on the non-choking side, begin to circle your body away from the choking arm. Your hips rotate toward the side of their body opposite from the choking arm. Maintain downward pressure throughout this circular movement. (Timing: 3-5 seconds of controlled movement)
- Extract head and establish position: As you circle and drive pressure, pull your head back and out of the guillotine grip. Immediately establish side control by bringing your chest across opponent’s torso, controlling their far arm, and securing crossface position. Your head should now be completely free of any choking threat. (Timing: Final 2-3 seconds of the sequence)
- Consolidate control: Once in side control, immediately establish strong control points: crossface with one arm, underhook or control of far arm with the other, chest pressure on opponent’s sternum, and hips low. Do not allow opponent to recover guard or re-establish any offensive threats. (Timing: Immediate upon achieving side control)
Opponent Counters
- Opponent switches to high elbow guillotine variation for tighter finish (Effectiveness: High) - Your Response: Immediately increase forward pressure and drive your shoulder deeper into their chest while maintaining hand control on their choking wrist. The high elbow variation requires them to maintain distance, which forward pressure negates.
- Opponent jumps to closed guard to add body weight to the choke (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Widen your base, posture up aggressively, and use your free hand to break the guard open while maintaining head position on the safe side. Do not allow your posture to collapse.
- Opponent transitions to arm-in guillotine when you attempt hand control (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Accept the arm-in position but maintain strong posture and continue driving forward pressure. The arm-in guillotine is generally less dangerous than the standard guillotine if proper posture is maintained.
- Opponent uses free hand to push your head deeper into the choke (Effectiveness: Low) - Your Response: Control their pushing hand with your own free hand, pin it to their body, and continue driving forward pressure. Their ability to push is limited when you’re driving weight through their chest.
Test Your Knowledge
Q1: Why is it critical to keep your head on the non-choking side during the guillotine counter? A: Keeping your head on the non-choking side creates the proper angle for escape and prevents opponent from tightening the choke. If your head moves toward the choking arm side, you are pulling directly into their leverage, which makes the choke tighter and nearly impossible to escape. The circular escape pattern away from the choking arm is what creates the space needed to extract your head safely.
Q2: What is the primary purpose of driving forward pressure during the guillotine counter? A: Forward pressure serves multiple critical functions: it flattens opponent’s posture making it difficult for them to generate upward lift needed for the choke, it reduces their ability to arch their back and create the angle that makes guillotines effective, it breaks their structure and prevents them from tightening their grip, and it sets up the positional advancement to side control. Without forward pressure, the escape becomes much more difficult.
Q3: How should you modify your defense if opponent converts to an arm-in guillotine variation? A: The arm-in guillotine actually becomes less dangerous if you maintain proper posture and forward pressure. Accept the arm-in position rather than fighting to extract your arm immediately. Continue driving pressure through their chest and maintaining head on the safe side. The arm-in variation requires very specific positioning to finish, and your forward pressure disrupts this positioning. Once pressure is established, you can systematically extract your arm while completing the circular escape.
Q4: What are the key differences between defending a standing guillotine versus a guillotine from guard? A: Standing guillotine defense emphasizes maintaining base and posture while driving opponent backward to take them down, finishing in top position as they fall. Guard guillotine defense requires breaking the closed guard first while maintaining posture, then executing the standard circular escape. Standing defense often involves more aggressive forward drive to force opponent down, while guard defense requires more technical guard-breaking before the escape can be completed. Both require same fundamental principles of posture, hand control, and pressure.
Q5: Why is hand control on the choking wrist or forearm essential, and what happens if this control is neglected? A: Hand control on the choking arm prevents opponent from making micro-adjustments to their grip that could dramatically increase the choke’s effectiveness. Without this control, opponent can transition between guillotine variations (standard to high elbow to arm-in), adjust the angle of their forearm against your neck, or use their free hand to assist the choke. The choking arm control also provides you with feedback about their intentions and creates a physical barrier that limits how much they can tighten the submission. This control is established early and maintained throughout the entire defensive sequence.
Q6: Explain the biomechanical relationship between your forward pressure and the opponent’s ability to generate choking force? A: The guillotine choke requires opponent to create a lifting or arching motion with their torso to generate the upward pressure that closes your windpipe against their forearm. Forward pressure directly opposes this motion by driving their chest and shoulders flat to the mat, preventing them from achieving the arch. Additionally, forward pressure shifts your body weight through their core, making it mechanically difficult for them to lift or create the specific angle needed. The more vertical and flat their torso becomes, the less leverage they have on the choke. This is why maintaining continuous, heavy pressure is more effective than explosive bursts of pressure.
Safety Considerations
When practicing guillotine counters, both partners must exercise caution to prevent injury. The person applying the guillotine should release pressure immediately upon tap or if they sense their partner’s defense is failing. Prolonged exposure to choking pressure can cause injury even in training. The defending practitioner should tap early and often during learning phases rather than risk injury by fighting through a fully locked submission. Training partners should communicate clearly about pressure levels, starting with light resistance and gradually increasing as technical proficiency improves. Be aware of mat boundaries during the forward drive portion of the defense, as aggressive movement can result in collision with walls or other training partners. Never practice this technique with full resistance until both partners demonstrate technical competency in controlled drilling. Remember that the goal in training is skill development, not proving toughness by refusing to tap.
Position Integration
The Guillotine Counter is a critical component of front headlock defense and scramble management systems. It connects directly to guard passing scenarios where opponent attempts guillotine from bottom, takedown situations where guillotine is used as a counter to shots, and transition moments where guillotines appear during position changes. After successfully defending the guillotine, practitioners advance to Side Control, which is a cornerstone offensive position offering numerous submission and control options. This counter also integrates with broader defensive strategies including Guard Recovery when defense is partially successful, and connects to submission defense frameworks that teach systematic responses to all major submission threats. Understanding this counter improves confidence in scrambles and reduces hesitation when engaging in positions where guillotines are common, such as Front Headlock, Turtle, and various guard-pulling situations. The technique is equally valuable in gi and no-gi contexts, making it a fundamental skill for well-rounded grapplers.
Expert Insights
- Danaher System: The guillotine counter exemplifies a fundamental principle of submission defense: the systematic negation of leverage through positional dominance. The guillotine, like all chokes, requires specific geometric relationships to function - the opponent must create an upward arch while maintaining distance and angle. Our defensive strategy systematically dismantles each of these requirements. Forward pressure eliminates the arch, hand control prevents grip adjustments that create angle, and the circular escape pattern removes our neck from the leverage point. Students must understand that panic is the guillotine’s greatest ally. The choke itself takes time to render unconsciousness, but panic causes practitioners to abandon technique and strengthen the opponent’s position through chaotic movement. Train this defense slowly, understand the mechanical relationship between each defensive component and the submission’s requirements, and develop the mental composure to execute technique under pressure. The practitioner who masters guillotine defense gains access to positions and transitions that others must avoid due to submission fear.
- Gordon Ryan: In competition, guillotines are everywhere because they’re high-percentage submissions that appear in scrambles, guard pulls, and takedown situations. You cannot avoid guillotine exposure if you want to have an aggressive game, so your defense must be automatic and reliable. I’ve been caught in countless guillotine attempts and the difference between tapping and winning is immediate recognition and perfect execution of defensive fundamentals. The second I feel the grip, my chin tucks, my posture straightens, and I’m driving pressure before they can secure anything tight. Most guillotines in competition fail not because the person doesn’t know the choke, but because the defender executes perfect defense faster than they can finish. Train this counter until the responses are completely automatic - you don’t have time to think through steps when someone jumps guard with a guillotine. Your body needs to know exactly what to do. Also, use this counter aggressively to advance position. Don’t just survive the guillotine, use it as an opportunity to pass guard or take top position.
- Eddie Bravo: The beautiful thing about the guillotine counter is that it’s pure leverage mechanics that work in both gi and no-gi, which is rare. In the 10th Planet system, we see a lot of guillotine attempts because we’re constantly inverting, coming up on singles, and creating scrambles. What I teach my students is that the guillotine is actually a gift if you know how to defend it properly, because the person committing to the guillotine is giving up position and control for a submission attempt. When you counter it correctly, you end up in side control while they’ve wasted energy on a failed submission. The key innovation we’ve added is being even more aggressive with the forward pressure - think of it as a smash pass through a guillotine. We also emphasize the hand control aspect more than traditional schools because in no-gi, that grip can get adjusted lightning fast without friction. Grab that wrist, drive that pressure, and circle to safety. Once you get comfortable defending guillotines, you can actually bait them and use them as entries to dominant positions, which is next level strategy.