Every martial artist should practice rear naked choke defense. Why? Because it’s one of the most effective finishes in MMA, which means bad guys everywhere are becoming very familiar with the “lion killer” choke.
Fortunately, I know Stephan Kesting. Stephan is the founder of both Grapplearts.com and Self Defense Tutorials.com, and is also one of the most trusted authorities on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and self-defense on YouTube.
In this video, Stephan shares some tried and true strategies to stop the choke and stay in the fight. Summary below if the video won’t play.
Rear Naked Choke Defense
To defend a rear naked choke, keep these tips in mind…
1. Don’t turn your back!
Allowing an attacker to get behind you gives them many choices to take you down. So, if someone tries to spin you around, keep spinning!
As always, the best defense against a choke is to prevent the choke! Keeping the bad guy in front of you is a good start.
For a deeper discussion on preventing trouble, check out, How to Spot a Bad Self-Defense Teacher.
2. Pull the arm and drop your weight!
Getting the choking arm off your neck is priority #1. That’s why your first move should be to dig your fingers inside the bad guy’s arm.
Keep in mind—even if you’re only able to open up a little space, that can be enough to keep blood flowing into your brain. So, don’t worry if you can’t rip the arm down to your belly. Just get that arm off your neck, pin it to your chest, and get busy turning around.
When you pull down the choking arm, be sure to make it a full body effort. Bend your knees and crunch forward as hard as you can. This will keep you from getting arched backwards.
The frightening truth is if the bad guy locks on the rear naked choke and is also able to pull you backwards, you’re chances of escape are almost zero.
Almost.
Last ditch idea: If you get arched back, you might be able to run backwards and slam the attacker into a wall or crash down to the ground on top of him. That might shake the choke loose… and it might not.
Good luck with that!
3. Get your chin down!
Because the rear naked choke targets the SIDES of the neck, dropping your chin doesn’t really stop the choke… but it might buy you an extra second or two. So, do it!
Yes, pressure on your chin or cheekbones hurts… but at least you’re still awake!
4. Grab his fingers!
It’s not easy to choke someone with one arm. That means if you can’t stop the first arm from starting the choke, you can try stopping the second arm from finishing the choke.
Depending on the bad guy’s experience, you might feel that second hand on top of your head or behind your neck. Either way, reaching back to grab the fingers is worth a try.
If you can peel that second hand off your head, yank it down and pin it under your arm. That will definitely stall the choke help turn the tide.
5. Control the hands!
At any stage of a fight—early, during, or late—if you can seize and direct the bad guy’s hands, it will be very difficult for him to strike or choke you. So, always try to track and control the bad guy’s hands, whether he’s choking you or not.
Now, grab a partner and practice your rear naked choke defense… while you still can! 🙂
