The rear-naked choke/strangle is probably the most famous (and most successful) submission in grappling. However, it’s important to distinguish between strangles and chokes. A strangle attacks the carotid arteries, whereas a choke attacks the windpipe. Here are the details on when and how to use each submission.
There will be times when you can get your choking arm under your opponent’s chin, but you won’t have enough space to lock on a full rear naked strangle. In this case, you have another simple yet effective submission at your disposal: the short choke.
Even with your choking arm under your opponent’s chin, there is still a chance they can get their shoulders to the mat when you try to lock up the submission. The elbow prop is another tool that can help you create space to make it easier to finish a rear-naked strangle or a short choke.
Before anything else, you need to defend against the choke/strangle. The order of the next steps will depend on your positioning, your body type, and your opponent’s positions and attacks. Either way, you’ll need to find a way to get your shoulders to the mat, and remove your opponent’s hooks to ...
