Bow and Arrow Choke from Back Control

Bow and Arrow Choke from Back Control is a finishing attack built around a handful of repeatable controls. The attacker has back control with a deep cross-collar grip and the opponent is on their side with the trailing elbow lifted off the mat. Another common starting shape: you have your opponent in a back-style chest-to-back wrap with both arms threaded across their torso while they sit upright in front of you. The ideas that hold it together are elbow off the mat, push down and pull up, and leg-pull finishes the choke.

The bow and arrow choke chain is a sequence of small controls, not one athletic burst. Keep the opponent's elbow off the mat to prevent them from flattening and escaping. Push the opponent down with the bottom hook while pulling them up with the collar grip to create the angle. Open the top leg and swing it over the shoulder, then catch the opponent's leg to lever the body for the finish. Use a deep collar grip across the neck and lever the head over the same-side shoulder while your top leg pulls the head down into the strangle. Ride the bottom's roll instead of fighting it; stay glued chest-to-back. Establish the deep far-collar grip during the roll. Catch the same-side leg with the free hand as you land. Angle perpendicular and pull collar and leg apart to finish. The attacker has rotated to the hip, swung the top leg over the opponent's far shoulder, and is pulling the opponent's leg with the free hand to extend the choke.

Later in the bow and arrow choke, position is established before submission; chasing finishes without first owning the position is a common time-burn, use the bottom's escape energy to set up the finish, and mid-roll grip acquisition is the key tend to decide whether the position stays on track. Watch for these mistakes: Letting the opponent's back fall flat to the mat before the leg comes over. Letting the leg get trapped under the opponent's hip when the swing is too low. Releasing posture or grip pressure before the structure is fully sealed, allowing the opponent to escape the angle. Resisting the roll and losing the harness. The high-percentage version of bow and arrow choke from back control is the one you can still chain when the first squeeze is defended.