Head and Arm chokes in BJJ – A systematic overview

Techniques > Submissions > Head and Arm chokes

All head and Arm chokes

We can categorize head and arm chokes by how they control the opponent’s neck and shoulder. More specifically, what every head and arm choke has in common is:

1. Something to push into the neck
2. Something to push the opponent’s arm or shoulder into his own neck
3. Something to control the back of the neck to close the triangle

The table below shows what part of your body is pressuring into the opponent’s neck on one side, his arm or shoulder on the other side, and what’s behind the back of his neck to keep him in place. (To avoid confusion, if you use both your arms in the same choke, I denote one of the arms with the L and the other arm with the R.)

Arm in choke	Neck	Arm / shoulder	Back of neck
Arm triangle	Upper arm	Neck/chest/ collar bone	Lower arm and floor
Anaconda	Lower arm (L)	Upper arm (R)	Upper arm (L)
D’arce / Brabo	Lower arm (L)	Chest/shoulder (L)	Lower arm (R)
Arm in guillotine	Wrist	(nothing)	Armpit
Japanese necktie	Wrist /lower arm (L)	Lower arm (R)	Belly
Peruvian necktie	Wrist	Groin	Hamstring
Triangle choke	Hamstring	Quadriceps	Calf
Inverted triangle	Hamstring	Quadriceps	Calf
Back triangle	Calf	Inner thigh	Groin
Inverted back triangle	Calf	Inner thigh	Groin
Buggy choke	Lat muscle	Quadriceps	Upper arm
Fly trap	Forearm	Belly	Calf
Gi Brabo	Lower arm	Shoulder / Chest	Lapel
Gi Peruvian necktie	Lapel	Groin	Hamstring

Note that some of these arm in chokes are very high percentage (such as the triangle), while others are a nuisance (such as the buggy choke and fly trap).

How many head and arm chokes are there in BJJ?

The first thing we can take away from the table is that there’s 14 different head and arm chokes in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. That’s a lot.

For comparison, there’s only about 70 submissions in BJJ, of which only 2 are knee bars, and 6 internal shoulder locks. Of course, this distribution makes sense, given that legs are stronger than shoulders, which are stronger than necks. And damaging weaker things is easier than damaging stronger things, so we can do this in more ways.

How to finish head and arm chokes?

Head and arm chokes are harder to finish than naked chokes (rear naked, no-arm guillotine) because your opponent’s trapped arm creates a gap that relieves pressure. The key to finishing is eliminating that gap. Two principles apply to almost every head and arm choke: (1) walk your hips toward your choking side to increase the angle, and (2) use shoulder pressure or leg squeeze to collapse the space around the trapped arm.

A good piece of general advice for finishing head and arm chokes is that you want to become good at adjusting the choke while keeping it tight. Generally this will be in the form of partially loosening and opening your lock so that you can force your opponent deeper into it, and then locking it again.

How to finish a triangle

For the triangle choke, let’s say you locked the triangle at a 90-degree angle. First, grab the back of your opponent’s head with both hands. Second, slightly open your lock by extending the choking leg upward. At the same time, use your hands to pull their head down hard into your thigh. Third, re-lock your legs tightly. You should feel your opponent sink much deeper into the strangle. The other critical detail: cut the angle. Shift your hips so you’re perpendicular to your opponent rather than square. This lines up your hamstring directly over the carotid artery. For a deep dive into triangle mechanics, check out our guide to the best triangle choke instructionals.

How to finish an arm triangle choke

For the arm triangle (kata gatame), the biggest mistake is squeezing too early. Instead, lock your hands (gable grip or palm-to-palm), then walk your hips toward the choking side. Your shoulder drops into their neck while their own arm gets compressed against the other side. Only once you feel their arm fully wedged against their neck should you squeeze and sprawl your legs back. If it’s still not finishing, relax the lock briefly, drive your bodyweight forward to push them deeper in, and re-lock. The arm triangle is one of the highest-percentage submissions from side control and mount. For instructionals that drill this position, see our picks for the best side control instructionals and best mount instructionals.

Combinations of Head and Arm chokes

Head and arm chokes chain together naturally because many share the same initial grip. The arm-in guillotine, anaconda, and Japanese necktie all start from a front headlock with your arm wrapped around the head and arm. If the guillotine stalls, you can roll through to the anaconda; if they posture out of the anaconda, the Japanese necktie is right there. The D’arce and Peruvian necktie pair up the same way. Grapplers like Craig Jones have built entire submission systems around cycling between these chokes. (For more on his approach, see our breakdown of the best Craig Jones instructionals.)

The D’arce and anaconda are natural partners because they differ only in arm threading direction. In the anaconda, your lead arm goes under the neck and out through the armpit. In the D’arce, it goes under the armpit and out past the neck. When one fails, you can often switch to the other by changing which arm leads. This cycling between front headlock chokes is a core part of no-gi jiu jitsu, where collar-based chokes aren’t available and head-and-arm attacks become the primary strangulation game. If you train mostly no-gi, our guide to the best no-gi BJJ instructionals covers several sets focused on these front headlock sequences.

Summing up: Always finish from the head and arm

Head and arm chokes make up roughly 20% of all BJJ submissions, and for good reason: the neck is vulnerable, and using your opponent’s own arm as a choking wedge is mechanically efficient. The most important takeaways: learn to adjust and re-lock rather than just squeeze harder, and drill the transitions between related chokes (guillotine to anaconda, D’arce to Peruvian necktie) so you can cycle through attacks when one gets defended.

Pick two or three head and arm chokes that fit your game, and drill the entries and finishes until they become automatic. Once you can reliably finish one, start chaining it with a second option so your opponent faces a dilemma rather than a single threat.