Kurt Osiander's Lapel Choke: A BJJ Move of the Week
Who doesn't love Kurt Osiander's Move of the Week? For a whole generation of BJJ players, the gruff Ralph Gracie black belt filming a technique in a garage — deadpan, no music, no fuss — was the…
Words: Jiu Jitsu Style
Who doesn't love Kurt Osiander's Move of the Week? For a whole generation of BJJ players, the gruff Ralph Gracie black belt filming a technique in a garage — deadpan, no music, no fuss — was the internet's first real Jiu Jitsu classroom. This particular week he broke down the lapel choke, and he had some special help: the late Anthony Bourdain, a genuine blue belt who fell hard for grappling in his fifties and never stopped talking about it. Watching the two of them work a collar strangle a decade on, the clip has only gotten more charming.
Watch it: Kurt Osiander's Move of the Week — the lapel choke.
How Kurt Osiander's lapel choke works
The lapel choke is one of those moves that reminds you why the gi is a weapon and not just a uniform. There's a strap of thick cotton hanging off your opponent's chest, and Kurt's whole point is that it's already a rope — you just have to be willing to feed it, follow it, and finish with it. Peel the lapel, thread it across the throat, trap the far side, and let the mechanics do the squeezing. It's not flashy. It's the kind of submission that wins you a match at a smoky local tournament and then wins you the next thousand rolls in the gym.
Why the lapel choke still belongs in every BJJ game
What makes a move-of-the-week clip like this age so well is that the lesson underneath it never dates. The athletes have changed — today it's Mikey Musumeci turning gi chokes into an art form, the Ruotolo brothers hunting the neck from everywhere, Ffion Davies squeezing world titles out of tight collar grips — but the currency is identical to 2015. Control the collar and lapel and you control the fight. Every serious Brazilian Jiu Jitsu game, from white belt to black, is built on the neck, and the gi hands you the shortest route to it.
There's a second lesson in the way Kurt taught, too. He never sold the move as magic. He showed the grip, showed the mistake most people make, growled a bit, and told you to go drill it. That's still the whole job. You don't need a subscription app or a slow-motion breakdown to own the lapel choke — though there are more of those than ever now if you want them. You need a patient partner, a gi with a decent collar, and a few hundred honest repetitions. The move Kurt and Bourdain showed off all those years ago is waiting in your training partner's own jacket tonight.
See you on the mats.
Originally published in Jiu Jitsu Style, December 2015. Refreshed for 2026.