A grappler’s confidence in BJJ depends on how well they can get out of bad positions. Knowing how to get away is like having a safety net if someone wants to hit you. It gives you the confidence to be creative on the mats. It might be a unique way to do BJJ, but you can also set up traps that lead to submissions from weaker positions that will get attention. The buggy choke, usually done from bottom-side control, is a great example.
Understanding the Buggy Choke
The buggy choke, typically applied from bottom side control, is a hybrid of the triangle chokes for the legs and arms. It may sound complicated, but the technique is to loop your arms beneath your legs and trap the opponent’s arm and head behind your armpit. Your legs are locked in a triangle, while the opponent’s head and arm are positioned on the side of your rib cage. Let’s examine the problematic choke technique in more detail without further ado.
How to Perform the Buggy Choke
Start by lying on your back and extending your arm to your shin. It should be possible for you to extend your elbow to your hamstring as if you were performing an armbar on yourself. Bringing your biceps to your knee pit can be challenging when lying flat on your back—this is the perfect arm position for the choke. You must push off the mat, raise your elbow, and swivel your body to the side. In live training, you can’t stop halfway through because your opponent may crush you back on the mat.
Raise your elbow as far away from your body as you can so that you can use the momentum to propel yourself up while extending your arm if your opponent pushes you back onto the mat. You don’t want to curl your arms too much to reach your arms behind your knee when you sit up to get your body bladed. As you extend, maintain a relaxed arm and leg. To bring your bicep precisely beneath your knee while lying on your side, put your elbow on the mat and stretch your arm while pumping your upper leg upward. The process of locking in a tight buggy choke starts here.
Then, as though forming a triangle, point your toes upward and lock your lower leg on top of your upper leg. Maintain your blade position from here, which gives you additional options by enabling you to post your hand on the mat. You finish by locking both of your arms with a gable grip. Never release the “uppercut” position of your arm while it is caught beneath your thigh.
Tips for Performing a Successful Buggy Choke
Do not lie flat on your back when attempting a buggy choke. In Jiu-Jitsu, laying flat on your back makes creating space and entering set-ups hard. Laying flat on the mat makes extending your arm to your leg difficult, so you must position yourself toward the opponent. Locking your hands with your arm behind your knee completes the buggy choke. Instead of lying flat on your back, bend your hips toward the opponent to ease shoulder pressure from side control. With more room, you can stretch your hand to your leg and lock in the choke.
The following tip applies when the opponent has pushed you back on the mat. The choke can submit most opponents, but others are too tough and tenacious. Like a side curl, curl your lat and lean into the opponent to increase choke pressure. Make your arm-hip distance as small as feasible.
Lock the buggy choke and point your heel to the floor with arms gripped and legs triangled. Remember to point your locking leg toward the mat like you’re standing on it. Building crushing pressure helps finish the choking.
Final Thoughts
One of the cool things about BJJ is that people are still coming up with new moves. You can use the broken choke, but you should talk to your coach first to integrate it into your game. When using this kind of grip, you need to be flexible.