Danaher Straight Jacket Control (To A Rear Naked Choke)

By Corey Kuropas, January 05, 2017

If you are a fan of the submission only scene, then more then likely you have watched at least one of the Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI) tournaments. And if you’ve watched those tournaments, then you have seen three competitors from the same team win over and over. Those competitors are Eddie Cummings, Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon. They are pupils of John Danaher, who is one of the head coaches at Renzo Gracie NYC. Lovingly called, The Danaher Death Squad, these men have shown precision in their Jiu Jitsu. Besides their leg lock system, they are masters in Danaher’s back control system, known as the straight jacket. The straight jacket is a powerful back control and attack system, which allows its user to easily attain a rear naked choke. In my opinion, it is the strongest form of back control out there. Both Gordon and Eddie have used this system to take out world class black belts. Let’s break down the straight jacket.

Before you just try to slap on the straight jacket, you need to get to your opponent’s back and maintain a strong seat belt control. When you are solid and steady with the seat belt, now you can go for the straight jacket. With your arm that is over the shoulder, you need to grab the opponent’s wrist and pull it upwards. With your arm that is under his arm, use it to pull his wrist down. It is a double cross grip in what you are doing. When you have the controls, you can move on to the next section of the control.

With the opponent’s wrists still controlled, fall to the under hook side. You do this so that the opponent’s arm is forced somewhat up, and you have a strong base (the mat) to work off of. From here, you can begin to trap the arm. On the over hook side, bring your leg up and over to trap the opponent’s arm. There are a few options for the trap. You can simply trap the arm to the body in standard variety, you can trap the arm behind the opponent’s hip/back, or if you have long enough legs, you can body triangle his arm to himself. Now that the arm is trapped, use both your hands to get a two on one grip on his free arm. Then use your over hook side arm to get the rear naked choke.

This is how I attack the back now. Over 95% of the time, when I’m on someone’s back in sparring, this is what I do to set up the rear naked choke. It is super effective, it does not take much energy and it cuts down on your opponent from escaping the attack. Knowing how to expertly attack the back can mean the difference between winning and losing. Learn how to attack the back properly and you will dominate. If you’re looking to improve your back game, then check out…

The Back Attack Blueprint DVD only at BJJFanatics (click here).