The gift wrap from mount is a very powerful control position. From there, you can easily take the back, or look for an armbar or arm triangle choke. In MMA or self defense, it also has obvious applications for striking. Rickson Gracie specialized in using this move in his MMA fights.
Here’s Henry Akins, a Rickson Gracie black belt, demonstrating a back take from the gift wrap. As a side note, he’s demonstrating on Sean Patrick Flanery, who was one of the stars of the movie Boondock Saints.
Rickson Gracie used it against David Levicki (skip to 2:40 to see it):
Rickson Gracie used it against Funaki (skip to 6:40):
BJ Penn used it to defeat Duane Ludwig in conjunction with an arm triangle. Skip to 2:52.
Here’s Rener Gracie demonstrating the position. The Gracie Academy calls it “Twisting Arm Control”. In some circles, it’s also known as the “Total hold down”.
Here’s Karl Tanswell demonstrating how to use striking to set up the gift wrap.
and here’s black belt Ty Gay showing ‘The Rickson Gracie Choke’, which involves taking the back from the gift wrap.
Here’s Matt Damon getting put in the gift wrap in the movie “Green Zone”.
