If you’ve ever found yourself in bottom side control and thought, “Well, this round’s over,” there is a move here that might just change your mind. The buggy choke can seem counterintuitive at first. Instead of fighting to recover guard or scramble out, you stay right where you are: flat on your back, opponent in side control, and wrap them up in a trap they never saw coming. It’s weird, it’s sneaky, and when done right, it’s effective.
So why all the hype? While the technique’s been around for years thanks to grapplers like Austin Hardt, it took off when Kade Ruotolo and other top-level competitors started finishing elite opponents with it in high-profile matches. From that point on, the buggy choke became a legit submission tool, capable of flipping inferior positions into highlight reel finishes.
Let’s break down what makes the buggy choke so dangerous and so damn fun.
Mechanics: How Does the Buggy Choke Work
The beauty of the buggy choke is that it breaks the rules. Instead of needing dominant control or a clean angle, it turns one of the worst spots in grappling (bottom side control) into a setup for a slick and surprising submission.
In the buggy choke, you trap your opponent’s head and arm between your leg and your upper body, creating a tight seal that cuts off the carotid arteries.
Here’s a breakdown of what’s doing the work:
- Legs: One leg loops over your opponent’s neck like a triangle choke, pressing down to seal the deal.
- Arm: Your same-side arm comes up and around, locking under your knee to reinforce the trap.
- Grip: You secure a gable grip (or similar variation), pulling it all together and tightening the vice.
- Torso: By crunching in with your lat and abs, you apply finishing pressure.
Step-by-Step Guide to Executing the Buggy Choke
Step 1: Recognize the Opportunity
Once you’re in bottom side control, wait until your opponent’s posture gets just a little loose or they start to settle in. Once they think they are safe, this is your window.
Step 2: Trap the Opponent
Angle your body slightly toward them and bring your same-side leg over their back and up toward your head. At the same time, use your arm to start reaching behind your leg, almost like you’re giving yourself an uppercut under your knee, to lock their head and near-side arm together.
Step 3: Lock the Choke
Secure your shin or ankle with that reaching arm. Then triangle your legs if you’ve got the flexibility, so you can limit space and clamp everything down.
Step 4: Tighten the Submission for Maximum Impact
This is where it gets uncomfortable for them. Clamp your elbow deep behind your knee. Your opponent’s head and arm are stuck in a vice between your lat, your thigh, and your grip. If you’re in the right position, they’ll already feel it.
Step 5: Apply Pressure to Finish the Choke
Squeeze everything together. Think lat crunch, like you’re curling into them. Drop your heel toward the floor and keep pulling with your arms to cut off the blood flow and finish the buggy choke.
Why It’s Called the Buggy Choke
The name “buggy choke” is a nod to the scrunched-up, compact shape your body makes when locking it in. It’s kind of like you’re cramming into a baby buggy. As for its origin, credit goes to Austin Hardt, a 10th Planet black belt who first started playing with this unorthodox submission in the early 2010s. It didn’t get much attention at first and was considered just another quirky move in a gym full of rubber guard experiments. But Hardt kept refining it, showing it to teammates and posting the occasional clip online.
The buggy choke’s true breakout moment came years later when Kade Ruotolo started landing it in high-level competition. Once Kade hit it stages like Combat Jiu-Jitsu and ADCC, the move went from niche curiosity to full-blown trend. Suddenly, top-level grapplers were drilling it, UFC fighters were attempting it (shoutout to Luis Saldaña), and people were frantically Googling “what is this choke from side control?!”
It’s rare for a submission to go from obscurity to mainstream this fast, but the buggy choke pulled it off thanks to its surprise factor, highlight potential, and the new wave of grapplers who aren’t afraid to get a little weird.
When to Use the Buggy Choke
Buggy Choke from Side Control
This is where the buggy choke lives. If you’re stuck on bottom side control and your opponent gets a little too comfy or starts to posture up, that’s your green light. As long as your arm’s free and you’ve got some room to move your hips, you can start setting the trap.
Buggy Choke in No-Gi
The buggy choke works great in no-gi because of the fluid movement and lack of grips. Opponents are more likely to shift their weight and give you just enough space to start bringing that leg up and around. No-gi also tends to favor the athletic, flexible player, so if you’ve got the dexterity to make it work, this choke can be a brutal surprise in fast-paced scrambles.
Buggy Choke in Gi
While it’s a little trickier in gi due to the friction and grips, the buggy choke still has a home here, especially if you’re flexible and good at hiding your setup. You’ll need to be extra deliberate with your angle and pressure, but if you can start to loop your leg and get your elbow in place, you can absolutely hit this choke in gi.
How to Defend a Buggy Choke
As flashy as this choke is, it is totally beatable with smart posture and pressure. Here’s how to shut it down before it ruins your round:
Maintaining Posture
The buggy choke lives off broken posture. If your head dips low and you start hugging the ribs, you’re basically gift-wrapping your neck. Stay tall, keep your head up, and your hips heavy.
Breaking the Grip
If you see them reaching for their leg or feel that arm sneaking under the knee, act fast. Strip the grip before they can connect hands. Once their elbow is deep in the crook of their knee and they get a gable grip, you’re in danger.
Counter Pressure
Drive your shoulder into their jaw, frame against their hips or upper chest, and make them regret trying to curl into you. Use your elbow to post or frame their neck away from yours. If they can’t crunch, they can’t choke.
Reposition for Escape
If you’re caught mid-setup, shift your hips, circle toward their legs, or step over if you can. Creating space and angle kills their leverage and gives you the chance to pass or reset. If you’re really jammed up, you might even bait them into burning out their arms before you explode out.
Importance of the Buggy Choke in Modern BJJ
What makes it so important is how it flips the usual BJJ script. Traditionally, you need dominant positions to hunt submissions. But the buggy choke works from the bottom, often from side control, which is typically a position where you’re just trying to survive.
It acts as both a defensive and an offensive weapon. You’re under pressure, your opponent’s feeling in control, and then bam! You’re locking them in and turning their advantage into a mistake. It challenges the way we’ve been taught to think about positional control. Side control used to be the end of the line for the bottom player. Now, it’s a potential trap. Grapplers who sleep on their posture or get lazy with pressure are finding themselves caught in a choke they never saw coming.
What’s wild is that this submission has forced top players to adapt. You can’t coast anymore in side control. You’ve got to be active, aware, and precise or you risk getting tapped from a spot that used to be safe. The buggy choke has become a symbol of how modern BJJ continues to evolve.
A Game-Changing Choke
The buggy choke is a testament to how far positional creativity and biomechanical precision can take you in modern Jiu-Jitsu. It leverages space, structure, and timing to generate a high-pressure submission from a position traditionally seen as purely defensive.
To master it, you’ll need to drill key movements with intent: the hip angle, the leg trajectory, the depth of the elbow placement, and the lat engagement that compresses your opponent’s frame. This move demands repetition, flexibility, strong awareness of your body, and constant refinement. But once it’s in your toolkit, it introduces a new threat to your game.
For long-time practitioners, the buggy choke has changed how we view side control, and now it’s your turn to embrace the shift. Get on the mats. Work the details. And start turning defense into submission.