The guillotine choke is the second most popular submission in MMA (after the rear naked choke) and an omnipresent threat in no gi grappling and gi jiu-jitsu, so you need a solid guillotine defense game!
But the only thing better than defending against a guillotine is reversing it and using his choke attempt to set up a submission of your own.
That’s where the Von Flue choke comes in!
This choke came to prominence when Jason Von Flue used it to tap out Alex Karalexis in the UFC back in 2006. I had never seen it before, and couldn’t wait to get to the gym the next day to figure it out.
Since then it’s been my go-to guillotine defense and counterattack!
Here’s me breaking down the Von Flue choke. Watch to the end to learn the “Super Von Flue” in the last 20 seconds of the video….
For your reference, here’s a quick summary of the main steps…
Von Flue Choke vs the Guillotine, Step by Step
Your opponent has caught you in a guillotine. Almost certainly his next step will be to tie you up in the closed guard or half guard to limit your movement, so don’t dawdle; you need to get started on the escape right away!
Immediately start moving past his legs, moving to the opposite side of where he has your head trapped.
If your head is on the right side of his body then you need to move to the left, the weak side of the guillotine. If you move the wrong way (i.e. with your head and body on the same side of his body) then you’ll make the choke much tighter and possibly also turn it into a neck crank.
DETAIL: As your body moves to the right use your leading forearm (in this case your right forearm) to bat his legs to the left, This makes it much harder for him to entangle you with his legs,
Land in side control with your legs on one side of his body and your head on the other. You’ll find this reduces the pressure of most guillotines significantly, but you’re not done yet. You want to make him regret even thinking about choking you out.
Link your hands together, palm to palm. Your leading (right) arm comes under his head, and your trailing (left) arm comes over the wrist and lower forearm of his choking (right) arm locking it in place, making it much harder for him to release his choke and get to safety,
Now drive your weight down towards his head to choke him out with the Von Flue.
The choking mechanics here are very similar to a head and arm choke (aka kata gatame) in that your arm blocks the veins and arteries on one side of his neck and his own deltoid blocks the other side of his neck.
BONUS: THE SUPER VON FLUE. Here’s a variation that I’ve only pulled off a few times, but it hugely increases pressure with no additional risk to you.
If you’re close to a vertical surface like a wall or a cage then you can walk your feet up to increase the amount of weight going down into his neck to choke him.
When you combine the power of gravity with a twist of your body then the pressure becomes almost unbearable. This is just one more example of using a wall or a cage to your advantage in grappling.
It’s not always possible to pull off the Super Von Flue, but if you find yourself using it then send me an email (by responding to any one of my newsletter emails) and let me know. I’d be tickled if someone else made use of it!
Cheers,
Stephan
RELATED RESOURCES ON GRAPPLEARTS.COM
The Ultimate Guide to the Guillotine Choke in BJJ
Rob Biernacki, author of The BJJ Formula, The Modern Leglock Formula, and BJJ Games, breaks down the guillotine as a control position AND as a blood and air restricting submission that’ll force your opponent to tap out or go unconscious…
Click here for your ultimate guide to the guillotine choke!
The Strong and Weak Sides of the Guillotine Choke
The guillotine choke has a strong side and a weak side.
Attacking with a strong sided guillotine is MUCH more powerful than a weak sided guillotine. Conversely, defending a weak sided guillotine is MUCH easier than defending a strong sided guillotine.
Click here to find out more about the strong and weak sides of the guillotine choke.
My Favourite Head and Arm Choke Finish
In the breakdown of the Von Flue choke above I talked about how the finishing mechanics of that choke are similar to those of the head and arm choke. Which begs the question, what are the mechanics of the head and arm choke?
Click here to learn how to finish the head and arm choke correctly!
How To Do the North South Choke
The north south choke is a powerful choke that you can apply from the top of sidemount or the north south position.
This submission looks a bit like an upside-down guillotine choke but the mechanics of finishing the choke are quite different.
Here’s how to finish this popular and powerful choke!
The BJJ Games Instructional to Make Your Techniques Smooth and Instinctive
Knowing techniques is great, but being hard-wired to deploy those techniques instinctively when you need them is even better.
Rob Biernacki’s best-selling BJJ Games instructional is the best way to make your techniques smooth and instinctive… guaranteed!