Choke Techniques

A good chokehold should render the opponent unconsciousness quickly and without injury. Basic requirements for applying an effective choke are:

• Make sure your body always has complete freedom of action so that you are in the best position for the technique you intend to use and that you are flexible enough to respond to your opponent's attempts to escape. Your position should be stable so you can use your entire body in applying the technique.
• Lead your opponent into a position where it is most difficult to put up resistance, and control all of his or her actions. Your opponent must be unstable and under your control as much as possible. Very often, this means stretching out your opponent's body backwards.
• Train your hands to get an accurate hold the minute you begin a technique, make your choke work in a very brief time, and once you begin the pressure refrain from continually releasing to adjust your position. Your techniques will have much greater effect if you are firmly resolved not to let your opponent get away but to continue until the end without slackening. Constancy of pressure, rather than extreme force, is what is called for. Excessive reliance on strength would indicate a defect in the technique since very little pressure is needed to compress an artery and render a person unconscious.
  

The following chokes start from the hands and arms being held in a basic guard position: Hands in fists held just below cheekbones with palms toward face, with forearms almost vertical.  

• Normal Cross Lock. From the front with arms crossed grasping the collars with the thumb inside.
• Reverse Cross Lock.  From the front with the fingers inside.
• Half Cross Lock. From the front with one hand fingers-in and one hand thumb-in.
• Naked Lock. Applied from the rear with the forearm pulled back across the throat.
• Front Naked Lock. Sometimes called the guillotine. From front, one hand grabs opposite shoulder with forearm pushing against windpipe, other hand grabs other side and pulls. 
• Sliding Collar Lock. Applied from the rear with one hand reaching around the neck grasping the collar with the other hand reaching under the arm to the opposite collar.
• Single Wing Lock. Sometimes called the sleeper. From the rear with one hand around the neck to the collar with the other hand under the arm and behind the neck.
• One Hand Choke. From the front or side reach across the throat to the collar.
• Two Hand Choke. From the front grabbing the collars with the thumbs inside and turning your fists into the sides of the neck.
• Sleeve Wheel Choke. From the front reaching around the back of the neck with one hand and across the front with the other and grabbing your own sleeves.'
• Thrust Choke. From the front grasping a lapel and pushing the fist directly into the side of the neck.
• Triangle choke. From the front using the legs in a figure-four position around the neck and arm.
• Hell Strangle. From the rear with one leg and one hand across the throat while the other leg and hand controls the opponent's arms.
• Sleeper Hold. From rear place arm around person’s throat using the biceps area and the inner forearm of the arm against the carotid arteries on either side of the neck. The hand of the choking arm hooks into the inside elbow of the other arm, and the hand of that arm goes behind the head of the person, locking it in. Then pull the arm around the neck upward and inward while tensing the biceps.

Sources

Ohlenkamp, Neil. (1995). Principles of Judo Choking Techniques.  [Online]. Available: http://Judoinfo.com/chokes.htm [2004, December 31 ]. Used with permission.