D'Arce, Brabo and Anaconda Escape
D'Arce, brabo and anaconda escape — one grip, one early game. Near-arm discipline, square up and wrestle up, and three late answers by position.
Adapted from InGrappling, D'Arce, Brabo and Anaconda Escape. System Games did not invent this curriculum.
Manage injuries →Position map Connects to 10 positions across 3 relationshipsOpen in the map →1234567891011←Escape route from
This page covers escape from the D’Arce family — the D’Arce choke, the brabo choke and the anaconda choke. All three close the same loop: the attacker’s arm and the defender’s own near arm encircling the defender’s neck, shut with a figure-four onto the attacker’s own bicep. The defender’s near arm is one of the two compression surfaces in every version, pressed into its own carotid — which is why the arm, not the neck, is what the defence is really about.
⚠ What separates them is the order the arm threads and where the lock ends up — not whether it passes over or under the neck, which is how they are usually taught and is not the distinction. The d’arce threads arm-first: under the near arm, then across the front of the throat, and the lock closes beside the neck. The anaconda threads neck-first: under the neck, across the front of the throat, exiting through the far armpit, and the lock closes beside the shoulder. In no-gi the brabo is the d’arce under another name, taken from a top passing position against a defender on their back or side. Learning them as three submissions produces three half-defences. Learning them as one grip produces one defence with a stage-dependent ending.
For the attacks, see the front headlock hub, which covers the D’Arce, the brabo and the anaconda.
Guard D'Arce escape(the brabo — same lace from top guard or top half)
The three names matter to the defender for one reason: they decide what the late game looks like. The early answer and the middle answer are identical across all three. The last-resort answer is different for each, and it is different because the defender is in a different position when the lock closes.
D’Arce — met from turtle. The attacker rides the turtle or holds a front headlock and laces the arm from outside. The late answer rolls away to the far side and concedes the back.
Anaconda — met from turtle. The same ride, the arm threaded from underneath, finished with a roll. The late answer bases low and wide to deny that roll.