Best Choke from Back Mount: A Dead-End for Your Opponent

If you want to elevate your BJJ game, mastering this best choke from back mount is essential.

In this blog post, we'll explore the Pena Choke, a gi-only choke named after BJJ legendary competitor Felipe Pena.

The Pena Choke is effective and versatile and for me, it is the best choke from back mount in the gi.

I even consider it to be superior to the rear naked choke or the triangle choke when you are in the gi and have the lapel to use as a weapon.

It offers superior control by using your lapel as a third hand, which is an advantage over other chokes that do not utilize the lapel.

Although it may look complicated, it's relatively easy to set up once you have the back mount.

The Pena Choke puts your opponent in a constant state of defensive cycles, leaving them vulnerable to other attacks.

By defending the choke, they'll have to divide their attention on both your lapel and your hand, either of which poses a threat to their neck.

The dilemma of choosing which of the lapel or hand to defend makes them susceptible to other submissions.

To do the Pena choke, you need to get to the back mount first and secure your position.

As always, you want to have a seat belt grip with one of your arms goes through the armpit of your opponent and the other one goes over the top of the shoulder.

In this example, my right arm is on top of my opponent's shoulder and the left one goes through her armpit.

My right arm is the "strong side" and the left is the "weak side" in BJJ.

You also need to secure the hooks with your legs and make sure to not crossing your feet because you can get foot-locked.

Next, what you need to do is grip your opponent's far side lapel with your weak side arm.

In this example, I am using my left hand to grip my opponent's right side lapel.

Usually, people will not pay attention to this grip because they believe that the more dangerous arm is the strong side arm (in this case my right arm).

You want to establish this grip first to have a good control of your opponent before going to the next move.

The next step after you have a good grip and control with your weak side arm, you want to use your strong side arm to pull your lapel out.

The lapel must be on the same side of your strong side arm.

You can skip this step if your lapel is already out of your belt.

This is why I often tie my belt loose because I want to be able to pull my lapel out fast and easy.

Your strong side arm will then pass the lapel over your opponent's shoulder to the weak side arm.

In this position, you pretty much have a dominant control and ready to execute the choke to submit your opponent.

To finish the choke, shift your body at an angle so you can pass your right leg to your opponent's left shoulder.

Put your shin on the side of your opponent's neck and then use your right arm to push your right knee to apply pressure on the carotid arteries.

The combined pressure from your shin and your lapel will choke your opponent out.

Incorporating the Pena Choke into your Jiu-Jitsu game can be a game-changer.

As I said before, you can use the set up with the lapel to put your opponent in a dilemma and an endless defensive cycle.

If you want to see what I mean and my explanation on why I consider the Pena choke as the best choke from back mount in the gi, be sure to watch the video below:

In summary, the Pena Choke is a powerful and effective choking technique that every BJJ practitioner should study and use.

It's easy to set up, offers superior control, and puts your opponent in a constant state of defensive cycles.

By adding the best choke from back mount, the Pena Choke, to your arsenal, you'll be adding a new layer to your offensive BJJ game.

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