Drill 1 of 5
Guillotine Defense
Protect neck during shots and scrambles.
How to practice
- Partner wraps the guillotine at walk-through speed. First answer: get your head to the same side as their arm.
- Posture up hard, driving your crown into their chest while your hands fight the grip off your neck.
- Learn the Von Flue counter: pass to side control on the opposite side and drive your shoulder into their neck.
- Practice both the early strip (break the grip before it sinks) and the late escape (Von Flue pass).
- Finish with rounds where the partner hunts guillotines and you score by escaping or counter-passing.
Coaching cues
Stay balancedKeep guard/position safeMove with purposeReset cleanly
Common mistakes
- Rushing the drill
- Poor posture or guard
- No reset after the action
Video references
External YouTube references — third-party content, not affiliated.