The Devasting Choke that was taught to the Carlson Gracie Team!

By Fanatics Authors, October 20, 2018

The Ezekiel choke is a devastating choke where the grappler utilizes his own gi/kimono sleeve as leverage to choke their opponent by using a scissoring motion with their wrist and hand across their opponent’s trachea and/or cartid arteries.

The Interesting History of the Choke

The Ezekiel has a unique history in the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. While this choke is commonly known in Judo as Sode Guruma Jime, it was unknown in the BJJ world until the late 1980’s.

In 1988, a famous Brazilian Judoka named Ezequiel Paraguassu, who represented Brazil in 2 Olympics, visited the legendary Carlson Gracie academy in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he proceeded to tap out students with his new (to BJJ) choke.

Not only was this choke something the BJJ students had never seen before, it was unique because it was able to be applied inside someone’s closed guard. Paraguassu states, “They knew I was a Judoka, so they pulled guard right away.” Because he had minimal BJJ skills, he did not know how to break open their guard, so he applied the choke instead. He says, “The first time I choked someone and he tapped, everyone was shocked…They didn’t understand what was going on. Someone being choked from guard position? I just improvised and it worked.”

After being tapped with this technique, the Carlson Gracie Team members became increasingly curious about the move, and encouraged Ezequiel to teach them. They soon began to call the choke the Ezequiel, or Ezekiel (English spelling)

Ezekiel Choke in the UFC!

On Jan 15, 2017, Ukrainian-born Russian and combat sambo specialist, Alexey “The Boa Constrictor” Oleynik, shocked the world by submitting his tough opponent with an Ezekiel choke in the UFC. While this move is almost exclusively done with the gi, Oleynik has already submitted a total of 12 opponents using his unique variation in a number of positions, including the closed guard and even while being mounted. With his impressive number of wins, he is now presently ranked #8 in the UFC.

Learn to use this devastating choke!

Learn this amazing choke from one of the best competitors and teachers of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Fernado Terere , with his 3 DVD box set focused on over 40 different submissions. Terere is a multiple time Black Belt World Champion (2000 and 2003) as well as the influential teacher of other BJJ legends such as Andre Galvao, Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles, Michael Langhi, and Lucas Lepri. In this set, in addition to the Ezekiel choke, you will learn devasting submissions that Terere is reknown for- such as the standing and seated wrist lock, the brabo, paper cutter, and baseball choke, and various creative set ups for the armlock, kimura, triangle and omoplata.