The Versatility of the Brabo Choke in Brazilian Jiujitsu

Being that the Brabo choke is one of the most versatile submissions in Brazilian Jiujitsu, it is a good idea to at the very least become familiar with it.

Just for the record the Brabo choke is also known as the D'arce Choke. These are exactly the same in mechanics and set ups. They are literally the same choke.

With that out of the way, let's look at the choke in further detail.

The basic mechanism of this submission is simple. Your arm overhooks your opponents arm with your inner forearm continuing tightly across your opponent's neck. The hand of that same arm grips your bicep of your other arm after your triceps (back of arm) of your other arm trap the other side of his head and neck.

You then simply squeeze the arms together to apply pressure to your opponent's neck completing the choke.

Once you have a firm grasp of the basic mechanics of the Brabo choke, then you are ready to fully explore all of it's possibiliities from various positions. One great thing about this submission is that it isn't only applicable from a dominant position but works very well as a counter attack to catch your opponent when he is changing positions. For example, passing your guard and establishing side control.

Often, your opponent will be so focused on changing to a better position that he won't see the submission coming making it that much more effective.

Although I won't go into too many of the details of the different possibilities of application of the choke as there are numerous excellent instructional DVDs out there that cover the technical details thoroughly and are better suited to learn from than a written article, I will discuss some of it's application.

First off, the choke is an excellent counter to a double leg or single leg takedown attempt.

When combined with a proper and well executed sprawl technique you can set up your opponent right from the standing position to the ground submitting him quickly.

Your opponents are also very vulnerable to this choke when you are inside their half-guard and they are focused of reversing you.

A set up from when your opponent is passing your guard and attempting side control is also very effective as the opponent is usually very focused on establishing side control and in one quick motion you can set up the Brabo.

Another very sneaky possibility exists from when your opponent has your back and is attempting a rear choke. Although this takes skill and timing to set up properly, it is a very unexpected counter to their submission attempt and takes them completely by surprise.

I would recommend all intermediate level players to explore this versatile choke and add it to their repertoire. Your game will become much more dangerous as a result.

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The Team at Educator Pages