The D’arce choke is an A-tier BJJ submission where you choke the bottom player using your arms.

The choke was invented by Norwegien grappler Björn Dag Lagerström. He accidentally discovered the choke after playing around with variations of the anaconda choke in 1996.

However, it’s called the D’arce choke because Joe D’arce — who learned the choke from John Danaher — was one of the first to use it successfully in BJJ competition.

There have been 20 D’arce choke finishes in the UFC, making it a relatively rare submission in MMA. However, it’s still a powerful submission in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

As a white belt, one of my first training partners would tap me all the time with the D’arce. So as a blue belt, I learned the technique and started using the D’arce successfully.

Now, it’s one of my go-to submissions. I go for it all the time when I’m in top side control or top turtle — especially in no-gi.

In this article, I’ll share how to do the D’arce choke from side control in 5 simple steps so you can start using it in class this week.

D’arce Choke: Table Of Contents

• How To D’arce Choke In 5 Easy Steps
• 3 Ways To Make Your D’arce Choke Unstoppable
• How To Defend The D’arce Choke
• D’arce Choke: Frequently Asked Questions
• D’arce Choke: Final Thoughts & Discussion

How To Do The D’arce Choke In 5 Easy Steps

The D’arce choke is typically done from the top side control or top turtle position.

You’ll follow this method when your opponent is on their side, but facing you.

1. Reach Under The Neck

Initiate the D’arce by “shooting” your arm underneath the bottom player’s armpit and neck.

This is key. You cannot do the D’arce choke without this.

You’ll often have to get on your side to extend your arm to reach this far.

I like to pull their head toward me with my other arm to free up my attacking arm to get into this position.

TIP: If you’re in top side control, but the bottom player is flat on their back, try purposely giving them some space to get on their side and face you. This is how I like to “bait” them into this step of the D’arce choke.

2. Get Your Arm Deeper

Now, you want to get your attacking arm as DEEP as possible.

Use your free hand to push both their head and shoulder into you, which will help you to continue extending your attacking arm.

Do a “window washing” motion with your attacking hand. This will help you further extend your attacking arm and get it deeper.

TIP: As you use your free hand to push their head and shoulder into you, make sure to be heavy with your head and keep their top arm pinned to you. If you give them enough space, they will slip their top arm out, nullifying your D’arce choke.

3. Grab Your Tricep & Their Lat

Once you’ve gotten your arm nice and deep, get onto your hips and grab your tricep.

Bring your attacking hand up to grab their lat.

You’re now very close to the finish. Sometimes, I’ll sink my hips here and get the tap from this side D’arce position. 

But to make the choke even tighter, you want to finish from an even more dominant position.

4. Get Into Mount

Walk over to the mount position.

This will tighten the choke and reduce the bottom player’s ability to escape.

Simply getting into mount is often enough to finish the choke.

5. Sink Your Hips & Finish

Once you’re in top mount, sink your hips to get the finish.

From this position, your D’arce choke will be as tight as possible.

It will be virtually impossible for the bottom player to escape from here.

3 Ways To Make Your D’arce Choke Unstoppable

1. Get Your Arm DEEPER

One of the tips that made my D’arce much stronger was getting my attacking arm as deep as possible.

Technically, you can finish the choke by grabbing your forearm or your bicep.

But when your arm is so deep that you can grab your tricep, that’s when it becomes airtight — and a true blood choke.

The trick is getting your arm that deep. And to do that, I recommend focusing on “waving” your hand instead of just reaching.

You’ll also want to keep the bottom player’s arm and head tucked in to help extend your arm further.

Think of your D’arce as a trash compactor. You’re shoving their “garbage” (arm and neck) deeper into the “compactor” (your D’arce) to crush the “garbage” (get the tap).

The deeper your arm, the tighter your choke, and the less space they’ll have to escape.

2. Finish The D’arce From Mount

Technically, you can also finish the D’arce from the side position by sinking your hips in step 3.

But to make your D’arce choke unbelievably tight, walk your feet and get into mount.

Whenever I try to finish the D’arce from the side, the bottom player can escape the choke 50% of the time.

But when I get the D’arce position — and walk over to finish it from mount — I get the tap 95% of the time.

So, as soon as you get the D’arce locked up, don’t focus on the submission. Stay focused on the position. And get into mount. Then look for the tap.

If you can get into mount, you’ll double your submission rate with the D’arce.

3. Use The Specific Training Method

If you want to get better at the D’arce choke, you have to specifically train the D’arce choke.

Here’s a challenge for you: in your next class, make it your focus during each roll to hit the D’arce.

Trying to hit specific moves during sparring is called “specific training” — and it’s how Gordon Ryan masters submissions.

Then, after class, write down in your BJJ journal…

• What worked (example: “During one roll, I got into side control and hit the d’arce.” )
• What didn’t work (example: “During another roll, I tried to hit the D’arce from turtle, but I couldn’t get the bottom player onto their side to face me.”)
• Questions or notes for next class (example: “Ask coach how to hit the D’arce from the top turtle position.”)

Ask your training partners if you can start from top side control or top turtle. This will make going for the D’arce choke much easier.

Do this for 4 weeks, and I guarantee you’ll get much better at the D’arce.

NOTE: I teach this specific training and journaling process in my BJJ Journal Of Champions Course.

How To Defend The D’arce Choke

1. Preventing The D’arce Choke

The first stage of defending the D’arce choke is preventing it from ever happening in the first place.

So, when you’re in bottom side control, focus on good survival posture (which I learned from Jiu-Jitsu University):

• Always keep your elbows tucked close to your body.
• Always prevent your opponent from controlling your head.
• Never lie flat on the ground.
• Don’t push against your opponent.
• Use your hips to generate power, not your upper body.

If you’re in this posture, it will be very difficult for the top player to attack you. They’ll be too focused on preventing your escapes and keeping their top position.

The D’arce typically happens when you are on your side (which is a good survival posture), but your elbows are far away from your body and pushing against the top player.

That’s what gives them the space to shoot their arm underneath your armpit and neck to go for the D’arce.

2. Mid-Stage D’arce Defense

If they’ve shot their arm underneath your arm and neck, they’re getting close to the D’arce choke.

But the top player will often have to grip with their hands first before they extend their arm to grab onto their bicep or triceps for the tap.

So, as soon as you feel them lock up that grip behind your head, focus on getting your elbows to the mat.

If you can get your elbows on the mat, you can bring your knees in and get into a top turtle position.

The top player will have some sort of front headlock, but they’ll be much farther away from the D’arce now that you are on your knees.

From here, you can use your hands to break their grip and wrestle out of this position.

If you can get your elbows on the mat, there is no easy D’arce choke!

3. Late-Stage D’arce Escape

Now, if they’ve locked up the D’arce and have grabbed their tricep and your lat, you’re in big trouble.

They are very close to tapping you out.

What I like to do here is push against their legs and walk my upper body underneath them, and my legs away from them. 

This will prevent the top player from getting into mount, because you are using your arms to prevent their legs from walking toward you into mount.

Instead, you’ll walk away from them and end up in the north-south position.

Still, not a great position. And you are still at risk of getting submitted.

But, it will be extremely difficult for the top player to D’arce you if you can walk your feet away from them.

Remember: if they’ve locked up the D’arce AND have gotten into mount, you’re toast.

So if they lock up the D’arce, prevent them from getting into mount at all costs by moving your feet and hips away from them.

D’arce Choke: Frequently Asked Questions

For a beginner, it can be hard to tell the difference between a d’arce choke and other front headlock variations.

Here’s an easy way to tell the difference.

What’s the difference between a D’arce choke vs anaconda choke?

With a D’arce choke, you are shooting your arm underneath the bottom player in this order

1. Their armpit
2. Their neck

With an anaconda choke, you are shooting your arm underneath the bottom player in this order:

1. Their neck
2. Their armpit

So, the difference is that the D’arce is done by going underneath their armpit first, and then their neck.

The anaconda is neck first, and then the armpit.

What’s the difference between a D’arce choke vs guillotine choke?

The D’arce is more of a side/back attack, whereas the guillotine is a front-facing choke.

With a guillotine choke, you are wrapping your arm around the front of their neck directly. Instead of attacking from the side, you’re attacking from the front (typically when they shoot for a takedown or when you’re in guard).

The key difference is that the D’arce requires you to thread your arm underneath their armpit first before going around their neck, while the guillotine is a frontal attack directly around the neck.

The hand positioning is also different. With the D’arce you’re making a figure-four grip behind their back. With the guillotine, you’re typically gripping your hands together in front of their neck.

D’arce Choke: Final Thoughts & Discussion

The D’arce choke is one of the most powerful BJJ submissions.

It’s a versatile attack that you can use from side control or top turtle.

And it will make your entire front headlock attack system far more versatile and deadly.

If you’re blessed with long arms, you’ll find it even easier to hit.

What is YOUR favorite way to set up the D’arce?

Leave a comment with your thoughts below to join the discussion.

And if you hit it in class this week, let me know.

Happy rolling. 🤙

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Tsavo Neal

Tsavo is the founder of BJJ Equipment, author of BJJ For Beginners, creator of the BJJ Missions app, and a brown belt instructor at InFighting. He launched BJJ Equipment to help grapplers at every belt level train smarter, make faster progress, and find the best gear for their game.