How to escape a guillotine like craig jones

Do you get caught in the guillotine choke a lot? Don’t worry, Craig Jones got you covered. I just finished watching his new instructional: Mexican ground karate escapes volume 1: front headlock escapes. And I’ll tell you how to escape a guillotine choke according to Craig Jones here. Guillotines are everywhere in no-gi grappling, so having solid escapes is non-negotiable.

How to escape a basic guillotine

The most basic escape to a guillotine is the von Flue choke setup: throw your arm over your opponent’s shoulder (on the non-strangling side) and drive your shoulder into their neck. This works because their own grip traps them in place while you apply pressure. You want your arm deep over the shoulder, with your head posting on the mat for extra weight.

BUT…

That only works against a very basic guillotine. It doesn’t work against a high elbow guillotine, and also not against an arm in guillotine.

How to escape a guillotine on a high level

To escape an arm in guillotine or high elbow guillotine from a skilled opponent, follow these principles. These work against the tightest front headlock players – the same grips that guys like Ethan Crelinsten use on offense:

1. Pummel your head to the other side. Use your hand or bicep to push against the strangling arm’s wrist so it crosses the centerline. The key detail: push at the wrist, not the elbow. Pushing the elbow actually tightens the choke. This head pummel is the core movement behind every guillotine escape Craig teaches.
2. Keep your hips square. If your opponent hip escapes and gets to a side angle, the head pummel becomes nearly impossible and the strangle tightens significantly. Block their far hip with your hand the moment you feel the grip lock on. Early hip control is everything here.
3. Keep your opponent’s hips away. Whenever you can you should keep your opponent’s hips far away from you by posting on them with your hands. Your opponents needs his hips close to finish, so you buy yourself time. And you often create space to do a head pummel (principle #1).
4. If all else fails, roll to bottom. Guillotines are harder to finish on top, because if you’re on top your hips are always square (principle #2). Moreover, if you roll to your back and push away on your opponent’s hips so he can’t follow you, you create a lot of space to do a head pummel (principle #1).

Also read: How to finish an arm in guillotine like Craig Jones

Craig’s escapes instructional is one of the best resources for front headlock defense, but there are other options too. Check out our full ranking of the best submission escape instructionals to find the right fit for your game.

How to escape a guillotine choke from different positions

Now let me break down how these principles apply in specific positions. The right escape depends entirely on where you are when the guillotine locks on:

1. If you’re in turtle or standing: push their elbow past you and pummel your head to the inside of their body. This is called a sucker drag. It’s the easiest way to clear a guillotine.
2. If you’re in closed guard (this is the hardest position to escape from): use your lead hand to block their far hip so they can’t angle off. With your other arm, drive your bicep into the strangling wrist to push it past the centerline, then pummel your head to the inside to clear the grip. Craig emphasizes that you need to open the guard first if possible, because once you’re standing the finish becomes much harder for them.
3. If you’re in some form of half guard (shin across the belly also counts): post on the hips and start to rotate to your back. Ideally you keep your back on your opponent’s chest, strip his grips and move back to side control. If you fall with your back to the floor, just keep posting on the hips, so your opponent can’t finish the guillotine. You lose top position but you don’t get choked.
4. If you’re in bottom mount: post on both hips and do a kipping escape (bridge explosively and shrimp out in one motion). Your priority is not to hand fight – it’s to keep the hips away. If the hips are far enough, there’s no finish. Craig points out that people waste time fighting grips here when they should be moving their body.

Also read: Mexican ground karate escapes review: 1 big surprise!

Also read: Top 10 Best Craig Jones Instructionals (& 6 to Avoid)