The gogoplata is a fairly uncommon choke in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It is also widely considered a low percentage move since you require a massive amount of control over your opponent’s posture to be able to pull it off. Secondly, there often needs to be some sort of skill disparity since the set up is usually quite obvious and can be at least partially escaped by someone who knows what they’re doing.
This skill gap does not necessarily need to be in overall BJJ, but if someone is a rubber guard expert against a person who has never really trained against 10th planet style. It may be considerably easier to pull off a gogoplata before the opponent learns how to defend against it.
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What is the gogoplata?
The gogoplata is usually an air choke that crushes the trachea with your shinbone and is reinforced by either grabbing your own foot with one arm or placing both hands on the back of the opponent’s head. There are many 10th planet variations of choke which contain more precise setups in which you may also get a blood choke. This is because they often have another arm involved to block both carotid arteries. A rear naked choke can also sometimes be an air choke if for some reason you cannot crush both arteries.
Is the Gogoplata legal in BJJ?
Gogoplata chokes are both legal in Judo and BJJ. The difference between the two arts is that due to its fairly long and complicated setup, you often will not have time to finish a gogoplata choke in Judo. Another reason for this is that nobody is really attacking off their back in Judo, and since most of the gogoplata finishes come from a rubber guard or half guard variation entry, you will often not see this choke. It would be possible to pull it off from side control, mount or even turtle, but there are a myriad of better options from these positions.
What does Gogoplata mean?
Funnily enough, the gogoplata choke was most likely invented in Judo (possibly before this but no evidence has been found before the 1950s) as it has been found demonstrated in old Judo books. This was long before Jiu-Jitsu had made its way over to Brazil, so it cannot have been invented in BJJ. Its name loosely translates as ‘foot choke’.
How To Gogoplata From Various Positions
Gogoplata From Guard
Perhaps the most common and technically sound entry to the gogoplata is from the guard. As it’s a position most commonly used by 10th planet athletes, you will often see it from rubber guard, since this breaks the opponent’s posture massively and goes hand in hand with the choke.
From here there are many things you need to control, as well as isolating your opponents shoulder and arm. This is best explained in the video below by Nick Diaz, who finished the gogoplata to win one of his only PRIDE fights against Takanori Gomi. A victory which was sadly overturned due to Diaz testing positive for marijuana.
It should be mentioned that there are often a lot of other options from this position such as entering Williams guard, omoplatas and other various arm and wristlock entries. Diaz won his fight because his opponent had already had a lot of strikes to the head and was heavily fatigued. It’s not to say that gogoplata is never the correct option, but there must be a lot of things go your way to set up and finish the rare submission.
Gogoplata From Mount
Also known as the inverted gogoplata and made famous by Shinya Aoki, the gogoplata from mount requires you to be very high up the opponents body. It also requires you to be in a weird S-mount position. This is different from the standard S-mount, since your bent leg needs to be complete underneath the opponents arm and then bought back across their neck.
The reason for this gogoplata from mount being almost non-existent is once again the options of better submissions. In BJJ, mount is worth 4 points in IBJJF competitions. This is generally enough to win most matches and you are allowed to hold mount indefinitely. By bringing your leg under your opponent’s arm, you are risking them escaping the mount which is generally not a good plan to attempt a submission.
Lastly in MMA, you generally can just ground and pound from the mount position to pick up an easy win. There is little point in attempting a low percentage submission when you have the ability to finish the fight instantly. If you fail and end up in the bottom position from a gogoplata, it is a lot worse in MMA than BJJ due to the head strikes.
Flying Gogoplata From Standing
This is pretty much a fancy gimmick move when the skill disparity between you and your opponent is massive. You must first control the head with a heavy collar tie to control the opponent’s posture. From here you’re essentially jumping the entire move as soon as you reach your opponent’s shoulder height. On the way down you can grab your own foot and finish the choke.
We are still yet to see any competition footage of this choke happen since it is so low percentage and needs such a big difference in technical ability.
Gogoplata In The Gi (From Gubber Guard)
Quite ironically, this may be the best position to enter a gogoplata. Since Eddie Bravo and the rest of 10th planet rarely train in the gi, perhaps this is why it is rarely seen. The paradox is that most people in the gi do not train rubber guard compared to no gi practitioners, yet most people who train no-gi generally have a better understanding of how to enter and finish gogoplata chokes.
You will almost always get the gogoplata from a closed guard position but will transition to gubber guard. When the opponent’s posture is broken with a Gi wrap (Gubber guard), this is a better position than rubber guard since it is reinforced by a wrap and tight grip. From this position, you have a lot more control over your opponent’s posture compared to no gi.
The difference in the gi however is that you’re presented with a lot more options compared to no gi. From no-gi you more or less have omoplatas, gogoplatas and some armlocks from this position. In the gi you have all of these, as well as a lot of gi based chokes, ones which you do not need to risk giving up position to finish.
This is perhaps why we still do not see gogoplatas much at all from gubber guard. The setup is very efficient, but you still have many better options from the position, thus gogoplata is often 3rd or 4th choice – rather than 1st.
When Your Opponent Defends An Omoplata
This is not a positional entry unless you consider omoplata as it’s own position. However the omoplata to gogoplata is a very common entry into the submission and is quite underutilized.
There are various defences to the omoplata, like all positions in BJJ, they can be countered and re-countered. The omoplata to gogoplata is from one specific defensive position. This is when you already have your opponent facing the same way as yourself and they spin back around to face you (taking pressure off the shoulder lock). If your opponent is facing you eye-to-eye, you will not be able to finish and omoplata.
From here, instead of trying to get another angle to finish the omoplata, you can simply slip your leg further across your opponent’s shoulder and place your shin under their neck. From here you can lock your other leg over the back of their head (optional) and make sure you place both hands on the back of their head to pull their posture down and bring their neck into the choke.
Gogoplata Escapes
To escape the gogoplata you cannot wait until the opponent’s shin is underneath your neck and both hands are on the back of your head. Whilst it is possible to escape from almost any position in BJJ, it is unadvisable to start thinking about escapes once the submission is “locked up”. Imagine if you were in a full rear naked choke, now would not be the time to plan your escape. You will have made a lot of mistakes a long time ago and now is probably the time to tap.
Posture
The first option is to learn how to defend rubber guard. Doing this will shut down 90% of entries since this is the most popular position for the gogoplata. You want to move up your opponent’s body so you are face to face, or even with your own head above theirs. From here you can push on their chest and posture your head up. If your head and back are at a 90 degree angle to the ground, there will be no rubber guard entries, so no gogoplatas will be available.
Giving up the omoplata position
Another way to get out of the gogoplata is to turn into an omoplata. If you can feel you have made a big mistake and your opponent is either under your neck or about to put their shin here, now is the time to abort the position. Whilst you will risk getting yourself armlocked or shoulder locked from an omplata, it is better to take this risk than to be instantly choked.
By turning sideways, so you are no longer looking your opponent in the eye, they will not be able to choke you. They will however have a lot of control and pressure on your shoulder, so you will need to try and perform an omoplata escape by jumping over their body or forward rolling.
You will need to instantly find another escape. This escape will not get you to safety, but it will save you being instantly tapped.
Gogoplata In IBJJF Kids Rules
Currently the gogoplata is a legal move but you would not be advised to do it since you cannot pull the back of the head. This may be different in 10th planet rulesets since they are not training for IBJJF ruleset competitions.
Both triangle and gogoplata chokes often require the aggressor to pull the opponents head down into the choke. This is not allowed for children since their spinal cord and discs are still quite weak, there is no point to risk putting children through a potentially life-changing injury.
