In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, most techniques that end with unconsciousness are named as chokes. For instance, you may hear the term ‘Rear naked choke’, or ‘Darce choke’. Because of this, you may believe that most of these moves are chokes. This makes sense, considering their names – right?
Well, if we’re going to go into the finer details and technicalities, you would actually be wrong. In fact, most of the BJJ techniques that are called ‘chokes’ are actually incorrectly labeled so. Read on to learn more about the differences between chokes and strangles.
A strangle cuts off the blood supply
When it comes to BJJ, most ‘chokes’ are actually strangles, if that makes sense. For example, when you perform a rear naked choke, you’re actually strangling someone. This is because a typical RNC is designed to stop the blood going to the brain by cutting both carotid arteries supply by using the arms.
This is also known as the sleeper hold in self defense circles, for obvious reasons. Arguably, cutting off the blood supply to the brain is the quickest way to make someone go unconscious, meaning that strangles are more efficient and effective, compared to chokes.
When thought of like this, most neck attacks in BJJ are actually strangles, including the guillotine. This is why legendary coach John Danaher calls it the Rear naked strangle. This may sound picky but technically he’s right.
A choke is when the air supply is cut off
On the contrary, a choke is different from a strangle. The difference is that a choke is when a foreign object stops your air supply to your brain. For instance, you could choke to death on a piece of food – but the food isn’t strangling you either.
In terms of BJJ terms, a choke means that the foreign object would be your opponent’s body. It also means that this is when they attack your air supply, rather than your blood restriction. Therefore, there aren’t too many choke submissions in BJJ. Theoretically, a sloppy guillotine or ezekiel choke could put force on the windpipe as opposed to the arteries and could submit someone in the process.
The issue with relying on putting someone unconscious with a choke is that it typically takes far longer to do so than using strangulation. Whilst it’s still possible to do so, strangulations are considered as more of a clean technique because of this. They’re also far less painful compared to a choke which can cause physical discomfort for the person undergoing the submission.
Chokes can be strangles at the same time
A lot of the time, the two will go hand in hand. This means that you can simultaneously strangle someone, whilst choking them. For instance, if you got a deep collar grip for a bow and arrow submission, it could cut off the carotid artery flow, whilst also choking the windpipe at the same time.
This means that it not only puts people unconscious but also hurts as well. In this sense, it’s almost like a neck crank. You can strangle someone whilst applying a neck crank which means there’s often a lot of overlap. If you do manage to choke someone whilst strangling them, they may even tap earlier compared to a regular strangle due to the pain factor given by the choke.
Does it really matter?
Aside from semantics, it doesn’t really matter if people call it a choke or a strangle. So long as your main aim is to put someone unconscious whilst attacking their neck, then you’re on the right track as far as submissions are concerned. Even if you actively tried to choke someone, it would be quite difficult without it slipping into a strangulation.
Put simply, even though many people use the terms and words wrongly, it doesn’t really matter. Many of the world’s best BJJ competitors often call things chokes when technically they’re wrong. So, it doesn’t exactly harm your technique or ruin your understanding of the mechanics of strangulation either.
Conclusion
To sum it up, strangulation is when the blood supply to the brain is cut off. In comparison, a choke is when someone’s air flow is restricted. In the big scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter. However, if you’re interested in the nerdy side of BJJ then it may make for an interesting conversation starter.
On a similar note, if you want to annoy your training partners then next time they talk about a choke, you can always correct their terminology. Just hope that they don’t choke you in retaliation!
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