The Ezekiel choke is a fundamentally sound choke in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It is mostly used in the gi, although on some occasions can be performed in no-gi. Unlike many other chokeholds, the Ezekiel can be performed from a variety of unfavorable positions.
Although it is often unwise to attempt these moves, there are occasions where they can be pulled off. UFC fighter Aleksei Olenik. Olenik famously submitted an opponent with an Ezekiel choke from bottom mount, which was never seen before at such a high level. This outlined that athletes still have a lot to learn, especially when defending such attacks.
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How do you do the Ezekiel choke?
The Ezekiel choke is primarily used from top mount. It can also be used from top half guard, bottom half guard, back control and a variety of other less-used positions. Whilst the Ezekiel is mostly a submission attack from the top, it can also be used from the bottom or various other “poorer” positions.
Is the Ezekiel choke cheap?
Perhaps most infamously, it is often used inside closed guard. In the sports of judo, the choke is more commonly used inside the closed guard. This means the Ezekiel is versatile and can potentially be hit from anywhere, making it a sneaky move. A lot of positions in BJJ are thought of as “safe”. The Ezekiel shows that you must be aware of where your opponent’s arms are at all times. As a result, some people label it a cheap move. However, when used from mount it is far from cheap and is very effective.
Attacking The Ezekiel Choke
To set up the Ezekiel, you ideally should be parallel to your opponent with your body lined up. You don’t necessarily need to be looking them in the eyes, but it’s much easier to hit an Ezekiel from either mount, guard or back, rather than side control.
For instance, from the mount, you would want to lean over the top of your opponent’s head and place your arm around the back of their neck. A tip here is to block their vision with your head on the ground so they can’t see the next step, this also provides a solid base to stop getting swept. Whilst blocking, you can then put your hand behind the opponent’s head into the sleeve of your other arm.
The next step is to place the free hand over the throat of your opponent and hold onto the Gi material covering your bicep. Leaning forward, the pressure is then compounded into the throat of the opponent. This leads to a blood choke as both arteries are blocked. Sometimes the choke can also mix into a windpipe choke which is still effective. This is mostly done by simply driving a closed fist into the middle of the throat.
The mechanics of the Nogi Ezekiel are quite similar. However, a large part of the choke is created by holding onto your own sleeve and kimono material. In no-gi, obviously, this is not available.
Instead, you have to place your hand into the crook of your bicep and use this natural groove in your elbow as your no-gi equivalent of a sleeve. The finish of the choke is pretty much the same.
Attacking From Inside The Closed Guard
Attacking the Ezekiel from inside the closed guard should not really be possible if your opponent is defending properly. With that being said, often people do not defend properly, especially if they think an attack is low percentage or fundamentally unsound.
As shown in the clip below, the Ezekiel is used in a high-level black belt match by Dinu Bucalet. When the guard player does not defend well enough, a technique that may be considered cheap or fundamentally unsound works perfectly. Kicking the attacker further away can actually put more pressure on the neck.
Defending The Ezekiel
Perhaps the main problem with the Ezekiel choke is that in comparison with other submissions, the setup is relatively slow and obvious. Seasoned grapplers will understand that they are in trouble as soon as an arm is placed around the back of their head. With this in mind, the Ezekiel is perfect against those who aren’t as familiar with the move.
However, against experienced grapplers, they will begin defending as soon as the first arm reaches around the back of their head. Why else would it be there?. One method from the bottom mount is crossing your arms making an ‘X’ gesture across your own throat to block any incoming chokes.
This defense is temporary against a skilled aggressor as they can then use the arm position to climb to a higher mount. Alternatively, they can start attacking wrist locks if the wrist is isolated from the mount pressure.
Another more basic and feeble defense is to tuck the chin. However, with enough force, the top player can still choke as the pressure will force you to be choked by your own jaw. As well at this, the top player can crank the jaw and threaten to break it – so the chin tuck is not really a viable defence if the opponent is willing to be aggressive. In a friendly gym setting you will get away with this kind of defense, but in a competition, it will not be as peaceful.
Perhaps the best defense is to avoid the Ezekiel position at all times and try to defend the original entry of the first arm. This may be obvious but by stopping the first arm from reaching around the neck, it means the entire setup is then void. Of course, against superior opponents, this is not an easy task.
Who invented the Ezekiel choke?
The Ezekiel choke actually originated from Judo. The Judoka Ezequiel ParaguassĂș wanted to work on his ground game before the 1988 Seoul Olympic games. To do this, he trained BJJ for a time and discovered the move. As you may have guessed, this was eventually named after him. Interestingly, ParaguassĂș was from Brazil. So, even though it’s a Judo move, it was still discovered by a Brazilian.
Summary
Overall the Ezekiel choke is a fundamentally sound move which is not only a good submission but also good for setting up other positions such as passes and pins. The move is useful from the top to stop opponents from escaping and focus on defending instead.
As well, another positive is the versatility the submission offers as it can be hit from many positions. In conclusion, the Ezekiel should be known by all from both a defensive and offensive point of view.
