Guillotine Choke
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The guillotine is a front choke. You wrap an arm around their neck from in front, lock your hands, and finish by lifting your forearm into the neck while your body closes the space. It comes from the front headlock, from guard, and from defending takedowns. Arm-in versions are blood chokes; a forearm straight across the throat makes it an air choke.
Types of guillotine
They differ in whether their arm is inside and where your elbow points.
- Arm-out guillotine
- Only the head is inside. Quick to grab when they shoot or drop their head, but it relies on a deep wrist under the chin and is the easiest to defend.
- Arm-in guillotine
- Their head and one arm are inside your grip. Their own shoulder closes one side of the neck, so it works as a blood choke with less squeeze.
- High-elbow guillotine
- An arm-in version where your choking elbow climbs over their back toward their far shoulder, finished with a small turn. Marcelo Garcia made it famous, hence the nickname Marcelotine.
- Ten-finger and high-wrist guillotines
- Grip variations for when a normal gable or palm-to-palm grip will not close. The high-wrist version drives the wrist up into the throat and is closer to an air choke.
Where the guillotine comes from
You usually catch a guillotine when their head is low and in front of you.
- Front headlock
- Snap their head down, circle to the side, and the chin strap becomes the choke. If they turtle, go behind instead.
- Closed and half guard
- When they posture with the head low or drive in to pass, wrap the neck and close your guard or bring your knee to block their hip.
- Against a takedown
- A single or double leg with the head outside leaves the neck in front of you. Sprawl, wrap, and finish standing or pull guard into it.
- From mount
- When they bridge and push into you, their head comes up into your arm. The mounted guillotine finishes with your hips sinking toward their chest.
How to defend the guillotine
Get a hand on their choking wrist so the grip can't tighten, and keep your chin down. Against the arm-out guillotine, walk your body toward the side of their choking arm and pass; against the arm-in, turn and pass to the side where your arm is trapped so your shoulder stops closing your own neck. Don't jump guard or roll forward into a locked guillotine.
Guillotine rules
IBJJF lists the frontal guillotine as illegal for kids up to 15, and legal from 16 (juvenile) at every belt, gi and no-gi. ADCC and NAGA allow it in adult and most teen divisions. A guillotine that cranks the neck with no choke is treated as a neck crank, which is banned under IBJJF.
Check the guillotine by age, belt and ruleset →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an arm-in and an arm-out guillotine?
In the arm-in guillotine one of their arms is inside your grip along with the head, so their own shoulder helps close the neck. The arm-out guillotine wraps only the head, which is faster to grab but easier to escape.
Is the guillotine a blood choke or an air choke?
It can be either. Arm-in and high-elbow guillotines squeeze the sides of the neck and work as blood chokes. An arm-out guillotine with your forearm straight across the throat is mostly an air choke.
What is a high-elbow guillotine?
An arm-in guillotine where your choking elbow rises over their back toward their far shoulder before you finish, which tightens the choke with very little squeeze. It is often called the Marcelotine after Marcelo Garcia.
Is the guillotine legal in kids BJJ?
Not under IBJJF until 16. The frontal guillotine is on the illegal list for the 4 to 12 and 13 to 15 divisions, and becomes legal at juvenile.
How do you escape a guillotine?
Grab their choking wrist and keep your chin down, then move to the right side: toward their choking arm against an arm-out guillotine, toward your trapped arm against an arm-in. Pass their guard from there instead of pulling your head out.
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