3 Guillotine Chokes For Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

By Matt Bryers, February 28, 2019

Dominate Your Opponent's With These Highly Effective Guillotine Chokes For BJJ!

The guillotine choke is a very high percentage choke used in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA, and no gi grappling. Once you have the guillotine choke secured it can be very difficult if not impossible to escape. It might seem like an easy choke to do at first glance, but there many small details that go into an effective guillotine choke. The guillotine choke is known for its versatility, and ability to be hit from a multitude of positions. If you love this choke, then you will love these techniques. Here are 3 guillotine chokes for BJJ!

For some other great takes on guillotine chokes check out some of these other grapplers: Marcelo Garcia, Kron Gracie, and Jeff Glover.

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#1: 10 Finger Guillotine by Lachlan Giles

In the World of Grappling, Lachlan Giles is one of the preeminent black belt competitors from Australia. He is head coach at Absolute MMA and has been instrumental in the development of such standout athletes as Craig Jones and Livia Gluchowska. This choke comes from Lachlan’s instructional series, High Percentage Chokes: No Gi available exclusively on BJJFanatics.com! The Ten finger guillotine is a technique that will have you submitting your training partners and opponents in no time. Watch the video below and then we will break down the technique. Check it out now!

The 10 finger guillotine is best used when your training partner’s head is in the middle of your body. In this case, you want to box in your opponent’s head with both your arms. While blocking the head your training partner will not be able to escape to either side. From here Lachlan gets his chest on top of his opponent’s head. He pushes down on the back of his opponent’s head while pulling up with his hands. Notice that Lachlan likes to grab his opponent’s chin which really helps him control his head. When he is ready he secures his grip with both hands, pulling upwards to tighten up the choke, causing his opponent to tap. As you can probably tell, this is a very tight choke.

#2: Different Head And Arm In Guillotine by Fabiano Scherner

Fabiano Scherner is Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt and former professional MMA fighter. Scherner has won multiple championships on a world stage in senior and master divisions. In the video below demonstrates a different head and arm guillotine for when your training partner is in the turtle position. Watch the video below of Fabiano Scherner’s head and arm in guillotine and then we will break down the technique. Check it out now!

To hit this guillotine, Fabiano starts in a scenario where he is hip to hip against his training partner. Fabiano uses a kickstand position in order to pressure his opponent. To break down the turtle guard, Scherner sticks his knee in between his training partner’s elbow and knee. This creates an opening allowing him to attack his opponent’s neck. From here Scherner continues to reach his arm around his training partner’s body, wrapping up his neck in a tight choke. Using an S grip, Scherner locks up the choke and sits back, placing his leg over his training partner’s back, tightening up the choke, securing the tap.

#3: High Elbow Guillotine by Mike Palladino

Mike Palladino, is a World Champion Grappler, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Player, and Founder of Evolution Grappling Academy. In October of 2017, Palladino represented the U.S. in the Combat Wrestling World Championship, held in Honjo, Saitama, Japan. Mike is a BJJ Black belt under the tutelage of 3x IBJJF World Champion and Soul Fighters Co Founder, Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa and Submission Grappling Wizard and Sambo Master Vladislav Koulikov. Mike has a nasty high elbow guillotine that comes straight out of his Combat background. Let’s check it out! Watch the video below and then we will break down the technique.

Mike sets this technique up from the turtle position, which occurs quite often in BJJ. Mike likes to enter this guillotine by using a chin strap to control his opponent. Once he has the chin strap he pulls his opponent’s neck up in order to create space. To finish the choke, Mike establishes his grip and falls back. Mike sits into a position where his knee is across his opponent’s hip to control the distance and his leg opposite the side of the arm that is choking. This prevents his training partner from being able to jump out of the submission. Mike’s leg is also over his opponent’s body in case his opponent decides to fall to their back, he is able to follow through and still get the choke from the top.

Hopefully you find these three guillotine chokes useful! Be sure to give them a try the next time you are on the mats. If you are looking for more amazing guillotine chokes then check out The Head Hunter Guillotine Series By Neil Melanson, available exclusively on BJJFanatics.com. Neil is known for his unorthodox style of grappling which includes a variety of ways to set up the guillotine choke.