Guillotine Choke From Top Half-Guard

Craig Jones emphasizes that when your opponent shoots for a takedown without proper setup, they become extended and vulnerable. At that moment, you have a choice: sprawl to stuff the takedown or capitalize on the submission threat by getting around their neck and trapping an arm before they fully establish control.

According to Craig Jones, always start with a chin strap grip, then connect your hands over the top. The key is to scoop your hands upward and collapse the top of the opponent's head while their posture is still extended—timing this before they hit the ground allows you to bend their neck tight.

Craig Jones notes that if you apply the choke too late after your opponent has shot, they can put their forehead on the floor and maintain good posture, making it much harder for you to bend their neck and finish the submission.

Keep your shoulder at the base of their spine and maintain everything forward rather than arching back, which allows their head to slip out. Pull to the side, tighten everything, and secure closed guard to prevent them from turning out of the choke.

The guillotine choke from top half-guard is applied when the top player wraps the bottom player's neck in a guillotine grip while the bottom player retains a half-guard. The top player typically catches the guillotine when the bottom player dives for an underhook or attempts to come to a single-leg, then maintains the grip while working to free the trapped leg.

Guillotine attacks from half-guard top developed in competitive no-gi grappling and MMA as practitioners recognized the submission opportunity created when half-guard players dive headfirst for underhooks. The technique became increasingly common in the 2010s as half-guard became the dominant guard in MMA, creating frequent exposure of the neck during the underhook battle.

IBJJF: разрешён — Legal at all belt levels, gi and no-gi — chokes are the safest submission cat…; IJF: разрешён — Legal (shime-waza) — strangulation techniques are one of three permitted subm…; ADCC: разрешён — Legal; Unified MMA: разрешён — Legal — choke submissions are among the most common finishes in MMA; FIAS Sport Sambo: запрещён — All chokes prohibited in Sport Sambo; FIAS Combat Sambo: разрешён — Legal

Оценка опасности 9/10. Guillotine variants compress the trachea and carotids from front headlock control

Стандартная цепочка подготовки: Achieve Controlling Position → Isolate the Neck → Set the Grip → Apply Pressure.

Стандартные контрприёмы: Tuck Chin — protect the neck by lowering the chin to prevent the choke from sinking / Two-on-One Grip Fight — use both hands to strip the choking grip before it locks / Turn Into — rotate toward the choking arm to relieve carotid pressure / Posture Up — straighten the spine and create distance to break the choking angle.

Распространённые варианты: Arm-in guillotine (traps the opponent's arm inside the choke for additional …); High-elbow guillotine (Marcelotine) (elevates the elbow above the head for stronger carotid co…); Standing guillotine (finished from the feet without pulling guard); Power guillotine (chin-strap grip with a rear-naked-choke-style finish for …).

Increasingly common in competition as half guard play has become more sophisticated. Both gi and no-gi competitors use the top half guard guillotine as a primary guard-passing weapon.

Основные ошибки, на которые стоит обратить внимание: Not recognising the guillotine opportunity when it appears — the window opens when the opponent reaches for the under… / Wrapping the neck without controlling the opponent's body — half guard position must be maintained; if they escape ha… / Not deciding between top and guard finish — hesitating between the two options results in a weak attempt from neither… / Attempting the guillotine while the opponent has a strong underhook — their underhook gives them leverage to posture;….

Guillotine Choke From Top Half-Guard также известен как Girochin Chōku, Top Half-Guard Guillotine, Half-Guard Guilhotina.