Dealing With The Amassa Pao

The “amassa pão” (or “amassa pao” or “punch choke”) is a choke executed from inside someone’s guard, usually to subdue or ward off attacks from the person holding the position. It is simple and effective enough to force the person holding guard to adjust and momentarily stop attacking. As one of the few attacks from inside the guard, it is usually a “last ditch” maneuver to stop a submission.

I love the guard and I hate getting “amassa pao’d” so I was happy to find a series on how to defend against the move. These videos are short and sweet, and were produced by Arashi-Do martial arts in Alberta, Canada.

Technique #1: Breaking the Posture

Breaking the attacker’s posture is probably the most obvious counter move to the the amassa pao. This video features some important details for executing this defense, details I would surely not notice if the instructor did not specifically mention them.

Technique #2: Arm Bar Setup

After seeing this video it seems so intuitive to “climb” the back in order to set up a position to attack your opponent with arm bars. After you get your leg over the shoulder the arm bar is right there.

Technique #3: Helicopter Arm Bar

This is the technique I was originally looking for when I started looking for ways to defend against the amassa pao. The helicopter arm bar is flashy and looks great, but seems like it would take a lot practice to master.