When it comes to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, practically everyone knows about the rear naked choke which is widely regarded as the most dominant position and submission. However, in terms of speed, is this choke still the best? It’s fair to say that whilst the RNC is dominant in terms of control, it actually isn’t the quickest choke to put someone to sleep. This study took part against unresisting participants. It should be noted that this changes the reality of the situation as some chokes may be easier to defend or escape compared to others whilst done in a real-life scenario.
Looking at the data below may be surprising. As a disclaimer, this data taken for nogi chokes. As a result, the likes of bow and arrow and cross collar chokes were not counted or included. Obviously, with gi chokes involved, the data would look far different.
As seen, on average – the rear naked choke is in the middle of the table and takes roughly 8.9 seconds to put someone out. The average time in total was 9 seconds, so the RNC is bang in the middle. At the bottom of the list is the Von Flue, which may be down to positioning the choke and setting it up. This can be a very tricky choke to master and often needs small, micro adjustments to hit the right part of the carotid artery to work.
As said, the top of the list may be quite surprising. The quickest choke to create unconsciousness is the bulldog choke which has its origins in wrestling. When attempted, this takes a mere 6.2 seconds to finish which means it is the quickest choke hold out there.
So, what does this mean exactly? In all honest, not much. The reality is that the bulldog choke is incredibly rare and has happened a handful of times in MMA, and even less in high level grappling promotions. At the other end of the scale, the Von Flue is also a very niche choke that is also highly unusual.
This means that whilst the study is interesting and may appeal to some of the BJJ boffins out there, it still doesn’t take into account the principle of control. Controlling the opponent is the reason why the rear naked choke is simply so effective. Even if the opponent escapes, you still have their back and can start going for submissions again.
With this said, this study isn’t completely useless and is a fun read, however – the main objective is to specialize in controlling positions and chokes, rather than ones that finish quickly. This means that even though the bulldog choke is nice to know, the reality is that it lacks the control to finish, unlike the rear naked choke. Secondly, it also is far less common and needs a unique set of circumstances to materialize. In conclusion, this means that you shouldn’t give up on the rear naked choke just yet…
Reference: Stellpflug, S. J., Menton, W. H., Dummer, M. F., Menton, T., Corry, J., & LeFevere, R. (2020). Time to unconsciousness from sportive chokes in fully resisting highly trained combatants. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 20(4), 720-728.
