Rear Naked Choke Tutorial for Beginners and Advanced Grapplers

[MuscleMaverick]

If you want to do the rear naked choke well, you need to be very strong, but you also need to know how to do it correctly. You will need to grab the seatbelt, put the hooks in, and keep the link between your chest and back tight.

From there, the wrist and bicep of the arm that is choking you will squeeze both carotid arteries at the same time, but not the airway. Making small changes to the position is more important than pushing harder.

Seat Belt, Hooks, and Control​

It's important to get your back control locked in before you can think about ending the rear naked choke. It starts with the seatbelt grip and your hooks.

When you use the seatbelt grip, you put one arm over your opponent's shoulder and the other under their elbow. Your hands should be on your opponent's chest. It makes them close to you and makes it hard for them to turn or make room.

Your opponent can't turn or get away because the seatbelt grip locks them tight against you.
With both feet tucked inside their legs, your hooks hold your positional control in place from below. The hooks and seatbelt work together to make it hard to get out of the car.

Do not hurry to get to the end. When you have good back control, your opponent has to defend, which is exactly when you can cleanly submit them.

How the Rear Naked Choke Actually Works​

After you secure your back control, the rear naked choke works by squeezing the carotid arteries on both sides of the neck, not the mouth. That difference is important. When you choke someone properly, you stop blood flow to the brain but not air flow to the lungs. It is why the choke finishes the fight in seconds.

Your bicep presses on one carotid, and the wrist of the arm that is choking you presses on the other. When you're in back mount, it's almost impossible to get out of that pressure without a good submission defense. It's not about pressing harder; it's about putting your arm right under your chin and making the structure tighter.

To help you remember this, do grappling drills that focus on neck positioning so that the movements feel normal before you go into real sparring.

Step-by-Step Rear Naked Choke Mechanics for Beginners​

If you break the rear naked choke down into five clean steps, it's much easier to learn when you're first starting. For starters, pay attention to each step before going on to the next.

First, put your chest tight against their spine to keep your back control.

Second, get a good grip on the seatbelt by putting one arm over your shoulder and the other under your elbow.

Third, put your elbow right under their chin and slide your arm across their throat while you choke them.

Fourth, if you don't want them to strip, hide your hand behind their shoulder while you choke them.

Fifth, put your second hand behind their head and press steadily inward and upward.

When fighting by submission, rushing through the ending moves is the main reason why most fights fail. Take charge of the place first, then finish. That process is the difference between a good rear naked choke and a desperate squeeze.

Advanced Rear Naked Choke Entries That Catch Experienced Grapplers​

Simple back takes don't work to catch experienced grapplers with a rear naked choke very often. They've seen those moves too many times. Instead, you should use hand-to-hand combat to hide your true plans. This way, they'll have to focus on protecting one threat while you take back control.

To make openings, use an application chain. Attack first with a triangle or armbar, and then move to the back if they fight back hard. When faced with instant threats, experienced opponents respond quickly and strongly, which gives you the movement you need to take a position.

Don't rush the advanced rear naked choke once you have back control. Here, patience is more important than speed. Let them use up all of their defensive grips in hand-to-hand fights, and then use their tiredness to get a clean choke finish.

Why Your Rear Naked Choke Isn't Finishing​

Most grapplers who have trouble finishing the rear naked choke aren't weak; they're having trouble with how the move works. There is something wrong with your setup if your back naked choke doesn't finish.

Some common mistakes are putting your arm too high across the throat, losing the chest-to-back link, or rushing to finish before you have control. Another problem that isn't given enough attention is bad elbow positioning. If your elbow isn't lined up with your opponent's centerline, the pressure doesn't stay on the carotid arteries but spreads out.

To fix your finishing skills, you must first slow down. First, focus on control, then adjust the angle and depth at which you place your arms. You don't have to squeeze harder to have good grapple technique. Instead, you need to make small changes to your opponent's position so they have nowhere to go.