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Ezekiel Choke: The Sneaky Submission from Everywhere
Written in collaboration with Espen Mathiessen
If you're looking for an efficient submission that punishes people for making a very common mistake, the Ezekiel choke deserves a spot in your arsenal. It's basic in concept, but timing and connection make all the difference between a tight finish and a missed opportunity.
Here's a full breakdown of how to hit it from mount, side control, half guard, closed guard, and even the back.
What's the Ezekiel Choke
The Ezekiel is usually a submission you apply from the mount position, but if you study this properly, you can see it everywhere: side control, closed guard, back, or even turtle. What makes it so useful is what it works best against.
Think about someone bridging and pushing, or framing to recover guard when you are on mount. The moment both of their hands are committed to escaping instead of defending their neck, that's your timing. If a hand is actively defending against a choke, going for the Ezekiel right away doesn't make much sense. You're better off waiting for them to commit their hands elsewhere first and then attacking.
The Basic Ezekiel (From Mount)
The most common entry is from the mount, and it starts with reading your opponent's hands.
When they're using their hands to push or frame for an escape, that's your cue. You will hug your opponent's head over the shoulder and apply some pressure.
Then you will bring your other hand close, closing your elbow to not give your opponent space to frame you, grab your own sleeve with four fingers inside, turn your hand as if making a fist, and apply pressure by bringing your forearm to your opponent's neck.
Key details:
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Stay connected. Keep your elbow tucked to their shoulder. If you give away space here, they'll recover their hand before you can finish setting up.
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Stay low. This makes it much harder for them to recover position and buy back the space they need to defend.
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Get your hand over the throat, but don't rush the pressure. A lot of people apply pressure too early, while there's still slack in the choke. It just won't be tight enough to finish.
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Drag it as far as possible before you commit. Get it as tight as you can first, then extend both hands. When you've done the setup right, the finish comes almost instantly.
Ezekiel Variations: From Side Control, Quarter Mount, and Closed Guard
The same principles carry over. Once you understand the setup, you're just adapting to how your opponent is trying to escape.
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From side control: if they try to underhook and build height to recover, don't chase the scramble. Stay heavy, keep your weight on them before they can get their shoulder off the mat, and apply the choke from there. Important: do not allow your opponent to face you, otherwise you will need to use strength to make it work, and still may not work. Make sure to keep your opponent flat on the mat.
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From quarter mount: if you are almost passing your opponent’s half guard and end up on quarter mount, it’s another great option to attack the Ezekiel. It’s basically the same concept as the Mount: your opponent is trying to block your legs, and you take advantage of the defense to attack the exact same way.
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From closed guard: this one comes up whenever your opponent tries to build height and posture up to stand. As they push to stand, drag the triceps and combine it by pulling your knees to your chest. Most people will collapse forward and post their hands on the mat in response. That's when you hug the head, grab your grip, and go for the choke, making sure to close every bit of space before finishing.
Ezekiel From the Back (Arm-In Variation)
Everything above covers the choke without the arm trapped inside. But there's a second variation: the arm-in Ezekiel. That comes up most often from the seatbelt position, back control, or even turtle.
From the seatbelt, shoot your hand all the way through the other side. Make sure to not be shallow with it, or your opponent will feel it coming and drop their shoulder to the mat to shut the position down.
To prevent that, stay connected using your chest, driving into them as you shoot the hand through.
From here, it's the same core idea as the basic version: grab inside the sleeve material, put your hand on top, and drag it as tight as possible. Make sure to keep your chest close to your opponent's back, as it gives less opportunity to escape and adds more pressure.
One extra detail for this variation: shoot your knee in, bringing it closer to your opponent’s neck and your attack. It helps prevent your opponent from rotating out and makes the choke even tighter. Once it's set, extend your arms, create force, and finish.
Final Thoughts
Ezekiel is a great example of a basic submission that rewards precision over strength. The setup is almost always the same regardless of position; all you need to do is adjust the details, close every inch of space, and apply pressure only once the choke is already tight.
Related BJJ Guides
Add the Ezekiel to your submission game alongside these fundamentals:
- Master the position it comes from: the BJJ mount, closed guard, and back control.
- More high-percentage submissions: the Kimura, the Americana, and the Omoplata.
- New to finishing? Start with the top 10 BJJ submissions for beginners.
FAQ
Do I need the gi to do an Ezekiel choke?
Yes, the classic Ezekiel relies on gripping fabric — either your own sleeve or your opponent's collar, depending on the variation — so it's a gi-specific submission. There are no-gi adaptations that use different grips, but the version broken down here is built around gi material.
What's the difference between the arm-in and arm-out Ezekiel?
The arm-out version (from mount, side control, closed guard) attacks with your opponent's arms free, using their hand-fighting against them. The arm-in version traps one of their arms across their own body first — usually from the back, seatbelt, or turtle — which adds an extra layer of control before you go for the sleeve grip.
Why does my Ezekiel keep failing even when I get the grip?
The most common reason is applying pressure too early. If there's still slack when you extend your arms, the choke won't be tight enough to finish. Drag the grip as far as possible first, close every bit of space, and only apply pressure once it's already tight.
Can Ezekiel be countered?
Yes. The main defense is keeping at least one hand free to protect the collar or throat, rather than committing both hands to an escape at the same time. Once your opponent hand-fights specifically against the incoming grip, the choke becomes much harder to lock in.
Is Ezekiel a good choke for beginners?
Definitely. It doesn't require explosive strength or complicated grip fighting, which makes it accessible early on. What it does demand is timing — recognizing the exact moment your opponent commits both hands to an escape.