Brazilian Jiujitsu Technique Analysis - The Gogoplata

The gogoplata is a highly effective choke submission in Brazilian Jiujitsu. It also exists in Judo and is called a Kagato-Jime in Judo, though it is more popular in Brazilian JiuJitsu.

It is accomplished by pressing the shin against the opponent's throat while pulling his head down with your arm. It is executed from a "rubber guard" position, where the legs are held very high against the opponent's upper back. You then slip one foot in front of the opponent's head and under his chin, locks your hands behind the opponent's head, and choke the opponent by pressing his shin or instep against the opponent's trachea. A variation called a Locoplata is when the bottom man uses his free foot to push up on the choking foot and increase pressure.

The one drawback is that it does take quite a bit of flexibility to use this submission. Unless you are already very flexible, you will need to work on your flexibility by practicing a lot of stretching to be able to perform the technique. When working on your flexibility for this move, you will want to focus on stretching the hamstrings and glutes. The best practice is to mimic the hold itself and be working as far as you can go into it until you develop the flexibility to fully hold the choke comfortably.

The name for the choke gogoplata comes from the Portuguese word "gogo" which is the front part of the throat or trachea and "plata" which comes from the ancient Greek meaning back. (As in, Omo-plata, meaning shoulder-back). The name gogoplata came from it's closeness to the omoplata move which also has the leg wrapping your opponents arm.

The technique basically looks like this:

- The bottomfighter has an open guard. 
- From the open guard the fighter brings his right leg up and passes it over the opponent's head or pushes his head to the side to slide his foot in front. 
- The shin is placed against the front of the throat. 
- The fighter tries pulling down on the head with both his hands. 
- He then places his hand behind hia opponent's head and grabs his foot and pulls down on his foot. This gives him extra leverage.

This choke is more painful than usual chokes which block the carotid arteries. This is due to the pressure being applied directly to the throat rather than the side of the neck which makes it more painful to have your windpipe compressed than the arteries in your neck. The tap out might be due to pain rather than a lack of oxygen.

The gogoplata is usually an air choke if applied to the front of the throat but if the opponent turns his head to the side, this becomes a blood restricting choke.