Electric Chair

Last updated: June 16, 2026

What is the electric chair?

The electric chair is both a position and a submission that comes from Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu system. A grappler on the bottom traps one of the opponent’s legs using the lockdown, a figure-four leg entanglement, then reaches under the opponent’s free leg and lifts it up and away with a hip drive. With one leg pinned low and the other hauled high, the opponent’s legs are forced into a wide split. That split stretches the adductors and groin muscles past their working range, and the opponent taps before something tears.

Two things make the position worth knowing. It attacks from half guard bottom, a spot where most grapplers are busy defending rather than threatening anything, and it gives the attacker two ways to win at once. If the opponent fights the stretch, they usually have to roll, which hands the attacker a sweep and top position. The lockdown anchors the low leg, the underhook on the far leg does the lifting, and the hips supply the power behind all of it. The name is misleading, though. Nothing here touches a joint the way a kneebar or heel hook does, because the electric chair works on muscle rather than on a joint.

How the electric chair works

Picture two opposing forces pulling on the same body. The lockdown holds the opponent’s trapped leg pinned and low, while the attacker’s underhook and hip bridge send the other leg up over the shoulder. Because the legs are being driven in opposite directions, the hips are forced open into a position the groin simply cannot reach. The adductor muscles run out of stretch long before the attacker runs out of leverage.

That is also why the position carries a built-in dilemma for whoever is caught in it. Defending the stretch tends to mean turning and rolling, which gives up the sweep. Refusing to roll leaves the groin exposed to more stretch. The name itself is borrowed from professional wrestling, where the “electric chair” describes hoisting an opponent up across the shoulders, and the spread-legged shape it creates is where the jiu-jitsu version got its label.

Electric chair vs banana split

Newer grapplers mix up the electric chair with the banana split, and the confusion is fair because both belong to the same family of groin stretches. The simplest way to tell them apart is where they come from and which legs get split.

Feature	Electric chair	Banana split
Usual position	Bottom of half guard, from the lockdown	Behind or on top of the opponent, often from a cross-body ride or turtle
What gets stretched	Opponent’s trapped leg held low while the far leg is lifted	Both of the opponent’s legs pulled apart in opposite directions
Primary outcome	Submission or sweep	Submission
System it is tied to	10th Planet lockdown game	Wrestling and back-attack systems

A third cousin, the crotch ripper, sits in the same group. All three pry the legs apart to attack the groin rather than cranking a joint, which is why grapplers often treat them as variations on one idea instead of separate inventions.

Is the electric chair legal in competition?

This is where the leg-lock confusion matters. Because the electric chair is a groin stretch and not a knee or ankle attack, most major rule sets allow it. The IBJJF has stated through its head referee that there is no rule against groin stretches such as the electric chair, crotch ripper, and banana split at any belt level. No-gi events, including ADCC, permit it as well.

The gray area appears when an attacker adds a twisting action to the trapped knee from the lockdown rather than keeping the technique a clean groin stretch. That variation behaves more like a leg attack and gets judged by stricter standards in some gi rule sets, which is part of why the move’s legality gets debated online. Practitioners on the receiving end are usually advised to tap early, since the adductors can tear before the pain becomes a clear warning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the electric chair a leg lock?

No. It stretches the groin and inner-thigh muscles by forcing the legs apart, rather than torquing a joint the way a kneebar or heel hook does. Rule sets generally classify it as a groin stretch.

Who invented the electric chair submission?

Eddie Bravo developed it as part of his 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu system in the early 2000s, building it off his lockdown half guard.

Is the electric chair dangerous?

Yes. It targets the adductor muscles, which can strain or tear under the stretch. The damage can arrive quickly, so training partners are coached to tap at the first strong sign of the split.

Is the electric chair a submission or a sweep?

Both. It finishes as a submission if the opponent endures the stretch, or becomes a sweep to top position the moment they roll to escape it.

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Sources

1. Fight Encyclopedia. “Electric Chair Submission.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://fightencyclopedia.com/techniques/submission/choke/10th-planet-choke/electric-chair-submission
2. Strusnik, Benjamin. “Electric Chair BJJ.” BJJ Fanatics. Accessed June 2026.
   https://bjjfanatics.com/blogs/news/electric-chair-bjj
3. Jiu-Jitsu Craft. “Electric Chair Submission and Sweep.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://jiujitsucraft.com/electric-chair-submission-sweep/
4. Elite Sports. “Banana Split Submission Jiu Jitsu Guide.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://www.elitesports.com/blogs/news/banana-split-submission-jiu-jitsu-the-ultimate-2026-guide
5. BJJaccessories. “Is Banana Split Legal in BJJ?” Accessed June 2026.
   https://bjjaccessories.com/is-banana-split-legal-in-bjj-explained/
6. 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu Forum. “IBJJF Rules Clarifications.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://www.10thplanetjj.com/forum/threads/21753-IBJJF-Rules-Clarifications
7. Bravo, Eddie. Mastering the Rubber Guard. Victory Belt Publishing, 2006.

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