Strangulations are king in Brazilian jiu-jitsu because no amount of willpower can keep a person conscious once the blood flow to the brain suddenly stops. There are dozens if not hundreds of chokes in BJJ, some more elaborate, others straightforward, but few are possible from so many positions as the Ezekiel choke. Do you know what it is and how to do it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ezekiel choke is a submission that places one arm behind an opponent’s head and the palm of the other hand on his neck to pressure the carotid arteries, trachea, or both. The Ezekiel choke is simple but effective and can be used in gi, no-gi, and MMA, although the traditional version requires gripping the sleeve of the choking arm.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The relatively simple setup and the fact it can be executed from most positions make the Ezekiel almost look like a cheat for beginners. But as with any other easy attack, it’s also not hard to defend, so if you want to be effective with the Ezekiel, you must blend it into transitions or other moves. But let’s first start at the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ezekiel choke is a relatively straightforward submission in which the attacker uses his gi sleeve and hand to apply pressure on the neck of the opponent while the other arm is on the back of their head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the angle, the Ezekiel can either close the carotid arteries and be a blood choke<\/a>, pressure the trachea, which makes it an air choke, or a bit of both, which is the most common scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What makes the Ezekiel so great is it can be applied from anywhere. While top mount is the most common position to do it, the Ezekiel is possible from closed guard, from the back, from half guard, and even from bottom mount. And the setup is so simple and sneaky that it feels like cheating when you first encounter it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you wonder about the strange name of the Ezekiel choke, it’s named after Ezequiel Paraguass\u00fa. He was a Brazilian judoka who went to train at the Carlos Gracie Academy while preparing for the 1988 Olympics. Judokas usually neglect the Ne-Waza (ground fighting), but Ezequiel wanted to correct this and trained with BJJ practitioners to perfect his ground game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The story goes that he had trouble dealing with the closed guard of BJJ players and found a way to submit them while inside their guard using an old judo technique called Sode Guruma Jime. He had tremendous success with it and passed it to BJJ, where it became known as the Ezekiel choke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that we know the Ezekiel choke and its origin, it’s time to learn how to do one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the basic gi Ezekiel choke, you need to be in a top position, either mount or top half guard. The choke is straightforward, and there are just a few steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>What Is An Ezekiel Choke<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>How To Do An Ezekiel Choke<\/h2>\n\n\n\n