Variations On The Darce Choke

The Darce Choke is typically a no gi choke set up by using your arms to form a triangle around your opponents neck and using them to cut off blood flow.

One arm is placed in front of the neck trapping the shoulder, the palm of this arm is put into the elbow crease of your opponent's arm and grabs the biceps. This setup creates the correct triangle position you need for the choke to work, which is made with the biceps and forearm of the choking arm as well as the biceps of the opposite arm. That third wall made of the opposite arm’s biceps is placed behind the head of your opponent. The V-shaped forearm and your opponent’s opposite shoulder are the choking points here. 

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This move is possible to complete with a gi and Edwin Najmi has a great example: From half guard, your opponent will put in a knee shield and eventually sit up to hug your hip. From that position you begin to insert a guillotine-like position with one arm in. Once you have that setup, place all of your weight on their chest and push their back towards the mat as you contact your head to the mat. 

Windmill the leg that is in their half guard out and make a big back step, forming a kickstand with your outside foot. At that point, the arm that is in your guillotine grip will lose contact with your hip. This allows you to then come back up to your knees into a side control position, maintaining the same grip with your hands and avoiding any contact with your hips and both of their arms. The hand that had the chin strap for the guillotine will then swing under and out towards the back of their shoulder that is on the mat, grabbing the bicep of the arm that is lose, similar to a rear naked choke position. To finish squeeze your elbows together and drop the outside shoulder to achieve a quick blood choke. 

Here is Edwin Najmi showing the process: 

Without a gi, the move is similar but sets up differently. From any move that gets your opponent coming up to meet you (like a knee slice or similar guard pass technique), once you cut the corner to begin you can bait them with an underhook and grab a semi-whizzer on them. At this angle your arm that has the overhook will shoot under their chin and gable grip with your other hand, which is setup with your forearm on the nape of their neck. 

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Apply pressure on their head with the outside hand (that is not under their chin) to drive them back down onto their side. Typically you would then have your arms in an inverted triangle, squeeze your elbows and drop weight to finish. However;there is another variation! Allow your opponent to come up after your arm triangle is locked up, which will land you on one hip with your opponent in a sprawl at your side, with their head near your chest. This essentially makes it difficult for them to use their arms, and their legs are too far away. Squeeze your elbows and walk your hips in an arc towards their body to finish the choke. 

Here is a visual aid for this method: 

Try out these variations to expand your arsenal and see if they work for you! These are great tools for matches with big strength or size disparity, since so little pressure is used for the finish. 

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