Leandro Lo, 6x IBJJF World Champion, is undoubtedly one of the best BJJ athletes on the planet. In this week’s Grappling Guide technique video he shows how to set up a cross choke from the half guard.
(Note: This is a gi technique.)
The Technique
This choke comes from when you’re trying to pass the half guard. The first thing that Leandro stresses is his knee positioning during the pass.
Depending on how the opponent is defending, he will put his knee on a certain part of their belly. He also controls the opponent’s head with his outside arm.
After he gains control of the head, he starts to pull the opponent’s lapel out with his other hand. Lo passes the lapel to his hand controlling the head and passes the lapel again to a palm up grip.
Having the lapel grip set, Leandro cups the elbow/tricep of the opponent’s top arm. To finish the choke, he pulls the top arm across their body for the tap.
The movements are pulling the lapel grip inward, while the top arm goes across to cut their blood flow off.
What makes this choke so good is that the opponent is so worried about the pass, they forget the choke. It is a super tight choke and hard to defend once the grips are set.
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