In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), the Darce Choke is a great submission from just about any position where you can trap the opponent's head and arm, especially if you have long arms. But if you're like me, you can't make the Darce Choke work reliably, mostly due to the short length of your arms relative to the width of the opponent's shoulders. Enter the Japanese Necktie Choke, a great alternative using the same opportunities and set up as the Darce.
Understanding the Darce Choke
The Darce Choke is a popular submission that has versatile entries from positions in front of, on the side of, or underneath the opponent. The key components of this choke are as follows:
Your arm fed deep under his armpit and connected to your other arm around his neck
Block his head from aligning straight with his spine
Tighten the other side of the neck
Drive a part of your arm into his carotid area on his neck.
Darce entry from Turtle Position
A common entry for the Darce Choke is from your opponent's turtle position. You can feed your arm under his nearside armpit and connect to your other hand in a gable grip on the other side of his head. This grip is called the "vice grip" where you have very good control of the opponent's head posture. The vice grip is an excellent way to force the head down using your top forearm while turning your opponent to his side using your bottom forearm, an action that is commonly referred to as "breaking down the opponent."
Once the opponent is forced onto his side, you release the vice grip to feed your bottom arm further into his armpit while using your other hand to push his head further into his chest. Then, connect your hand to your bicep to lock in a figure-four arm trap of his arm and head. To tighten the choke, sprawl your body weight while lifting your elbow under his armpit. Some people choose to hook the opponent's leg or step over his hip before sprawling their body weight.
Japanese Necktie Choke
The Japanese Necktie Choke uses the same key components as the Darce Choke. The choke is initiated similarly to the Darce by feeding your arm deep into his armpit. However, the mechanisms used to lock in the submission hold are slightly different. Instead of using the figure-four configuration of your arms to lock in the submission, you use the vice grip, a leg hook, and your belly.
Instead of releasing the vice grip in favor or a bicep grip, you drive your wrist into his neck with the vice grip intact. There is no need to release the vice grip if your wrist is already touching the carotid area. However, if you leave the vice grip intact, you will find it difficult to to push his head into the choke and tighten the other side of his neck. This is why you would need to hook his leg and then fall forward onto your shoulder to cover the back of his head with your belly.
When you fall forward and you feel your wrist moved away from his neck, you can quickly change the grip to an S grip which will allow you a greater degree of movement to drive your wrist into his neck. Finish the choke by pulling your wrist towards your chest while pushing your chest into his head.
Video Tutorial on Japanese Necktie Choke
Watch my tutorial on the executing the Japanese Necktie from top position of turtle and as a counter against the single leg takedown:
