D'ARCE CHOKE

The D'Arce choke is the front-headlock blood choke in which the attacker threads one arm under the opponent's near armpit, around the back of the neck, and finishes by gripping the opposite bicep while compressing the carotid arteries with the shoulder. Named for Joe D'Arce, the American grappler who popularized the technique in the early 2000s, the choke is structurally similar to the anaconda choke but threads the arm in the opposite direction — D'Arce arm goes near-side under, then around the neck; anaconda arm goes far-side around and under.

The D'Arce works equally well from side control, from a sprawl after defending a takedown, from the front headlock during a scramble, and as a counter to the turtle position. The defining feature is the position of the attacker's shoulder against the opponent's far carotid — the shoulder acts as the second blade of the choke, with the wrapping bicep being the first. The grip is locked by gripping the far-side bicep with the choking hand and clamping the elbows toward the centerline.

The D'Arce has been one of the most-used no-gi submissions of the modern era, with Gordon Ryan, Garry Tonon, and the broader Danaher Death Squad using it as a counter to almost every defensive scramble. It is also one of the few BJJ submissions equally effective in MMA, where it is used as a counter to single-leg takedown attempts. Defensively the technique is escaped by stripping the wrapping arm at the wrist before the grip closes, by walking forward to disrupt the angle, and by tucking the head down hard to prevent the shoulder from reaching the carotid.