The D’Arce Choke aka Darce Choke BJJ Submission

In Brazilian jiu jitsu we know different BJJ chokes and we do all the types of chokes in jiu jitsu. But sometimes we can get lost in their names: darce choke, anaconda, arm-triangle choke, Brabo, guillotine, Ezekiel, etc.

Literally, it happens very often, when you know a jiu jitsu choke hold, but you don’t know the exact name for it.

That is why we decided to make a series of posts, where each article will describe every Brazilian jiu jitsu choke separately.

I hope it will finally help me to get all BJJ chokes in my head on the right shelves.

Today we are talking about the Darce or D’Arce choke.

Table of Contents

What is a Darce choke?

First of all the name: Note that it’s not “darth choke” or “darth choke BJJ submission”, but “Darce choke” or ” D Arce choke”.

Me personally getting always confused about which one is the D Arce choke and which one is the Anaconda choke.

I believe (or I want to believe) that I’m not the only one. Right?

Knowing the all jiu jitsu choke names doesn’t make you a top jiu jitsu fighter. I prefer to know the practical material rather than the terms and names. But if you want to be a good teacher and coach you must know the terms.

Let’s dive into the theory and the Darce chokes practical part to stick all the knowledge together.

So, what is a D’Arce choke?

In simple words, Darce choke is an arm triangle choke. Another definition is – it’s a reverse Anaconda choke. But the second one makes sense if you know, what is an Anaconda choke.

Brabo choke vs D’Arce choke vs Anaconda

If learning the arm triangle chokes, it makes sense to consider all three most common variations. The triad of arm triangle chokes is the Brabo, D’Arce, and Anaconda.

Even if your goal is to learn only one from them.

Sticking to all three chokes together may help you create anchors of differences between each choke and consequently remember the specific one.

The jiu jitsu choke hold as BJJ submissions may be settled from various positions – mount, turtle, side control, north-south, back control, etc. But some of the positions may be the most common or obvious for the specific chokehold.

What jiu jitsu position is most common for Darce, Anaconda, and Brabo?

The D’Arce choke setup may see the most from the side control. Especially when the opponent is defending with arms blocking your guard pass or the side control position.
Anaconda is most comfortable to utilize from the spawl and the north-south BJJ position.
The Brabo choke option you can find in the side control or from the closed guard.

How to differentiate the Darce, Anaconda, and Brabo?

To help your brain to differentiate between Brabo choke vs D’Arce choke vs Anaconda, you can create some triggers or hints to remember.

In my case, it helps. And not only in BJJ but in everyday life with common things.

What hints can there be when we talk about the Brazilian jiu jitsu choke holds and specifically the D Arce choke, Brabo, and Anaconda?

The Anaconda choke it’s when your grip hold is outside your opponent. It means, that in the end position, your grip must be next to the opponent’s armpit.

Screenshots from Chewjitsu YouTube video
The Darce choke is the reverse Anaconda. It means, that you have to close your arms for the hold from the opposite side as in the Anaconda choke. In the end position, your forearm has to be placed at the opponent’s neck.

D Arce choke from side control
The Brabo choke is utilized with the opponent’s lapel.

Let’s take the help from the Chewjitsu video, where Chewy as always in a simple and short way shows and explains the jiu jitsu moves.

Brabo choke vs D’Arce choke vs Anaconda

Short things short is good, but how about the deep dive and details? Because as we all in BJJ know, details and angels matter.

Darce choke from side control

As we have already mentioned before, the side control BJJ position is the most obvious position for the Darce choke setup.

What are the options here and what to pay attention to let’s see in the jiu jitsu tutorial videos by The Grappling Academy.

A couple of interesting moments to take from the video:

I really liked the smooth and simple move under the opponent’s arm, while the opponent is thinking he has the control position because of having the underhook
Pay attention to the way he makes his hand grip for Darce choke. It’s not the classic figure-four grappling hold most used in BJJ

How to Darce choke: 5 setups

Once again to the Darce choke setups mentioned in the above video, plus a couple more of additional variants.

Darce choke turtle
How to Darce choke from side control when the opponent defends with his arms
Regular D’Arce choke from side control
Darce choke with an arm drag
D’Arce choke setup with toreando pass

Gracie University D’Arce choke setup tutorial

Here is a great quick Darce choke setup tutorial shown by Rener Gracie from Gracie University.

A couple of interesting moments here to pay attention to for your Darce choke routine:

Passing through the opponent’s arm block with your leg
Shallow Darce choke grip is another way for the Darce choke finish setup

Sore throat from BJJ choke

Yes, it’s true, you can easily get a sore throat from a BJJ choke.

So, don’t worry a lot, if after a choke jiu jitsu class you will feel pain in your throat like during a cold.

How good is Joe D’Arce?

You may know or not Joe D’Arce who is a BJJ black belt under Renzo Gracie since 2003. But as we talk about the D’Arce choke, we just can’t help but mention him. Because he is the person, who stands behind the Darce choke name.

The D’Arce choke origin story

Renzo Gracie spoke with the former UFC fighter Mike Swick about how he thought Joe D’Arce the Darce choke.

How Renzo Gracie taught Joe D’Arce the Darce choke

Joe D’Arce was famed for his successful use of the Darce choke but the roots of the technique are coming from Germany.

Darce choke – the reverse Anaconda

There, in about 1998, a Luta Livre practitioner Björn Dag Lagerström made an attempt at Anaconda choke but did it the wrong way – holding the arms on the other side. As a result, he made a reverse Anaconda that become the new submission technique.