Rear Naked Choke

From Mixed Martial Arts Wiki

The Rear Naked Choke is used in two variations:

"Figure Four" variation

This variant is considered to be a "blood choke" because it restricts blood flow to the brain. When done correctly, it can cause temporary unconsciousness in a few seconds. The following is a description of this technique using the left arm.

Step 1: The attacker's left arm encircles the opponent's neck, with the opponent's trachea at the crook of the elbow.

Step 2: The attacker's left hand then grasps his own upper right arm biceps.

Step 3: The right hand is placed behind (or occasionally on top of) the opponent's head.

Step 4: The elbows are then brought together such that lateral pressure is applied to the neck on both sides.

Forrest Griffin, used this Figure Four variation to defeat Mauricio Rua at UFC 76.

When applied properly, unconsciousness occurs in about 10 seconds and recovery from the choke is just as quick. Since the technique only applies pressure on the arteries in the neck that take blood to the brain no permanent damage is done to the body.

"Clasping Hands" variation

This variation has the supporting hand clasp the hand of the choking arm, allowing more pressure to be applied to the neck, but losing some of the control of the head. This alters the choke somewhat so that it is more likely to be applied as an airway-restricting choke or mixed blood and air choke, which results in more pain but a slower choke-out. As such, this technique is less frequently used at advanced levels in Judo. Nonetheless, it has seen some successful applications in mixed martial arts competition: for instance, it was used by Fedor Emelianenko, a heavyweight champion in PRIDE, to defeat Kazuyuki Fujita at the PRIDE 26 event in 2003. Fujita tapped out about five seconds after the choke was applied. He used it again to defeat former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds. Syliva tapped out immediately once the choke was sunk in and after the fight described it as being very painful. It was also used by UFC fighter Matt Hughes to defeat Frank Trigg in their second fight which was transitioned from a hand-on-biceps version of the RNC. Some also still refer to this lock as the "Severn Lock" due to its usage by former Ultimate Fighting Champion Dan Severn.