The rear naked choke, called mata leão ("lion killer" in Portuguese) in Brazil, is the bare-handed choke from behind in BJJ. Your arm wraps the opponent's neck from the back with the crook of your elbow under their chin. Your other hand goes behind their head, and compressing both carotid arteries makes them tap within seconds. Judokas know it as hadaka-jime (naked strangle).
It is widely seen as the highest-percentage finish in jiu-jitsu, in the gi and in no-gi. It doesn't depend on any grip on the clothing, which makes it universal.
The starting position
The rear naked choke almost always starts from back control, with the seat belt and both hooks in. The arm that goes over their shoulder in the seat belt becomes the choking arm. The arm under the armpit comes in to complete it.
Without back control you can still hit it on a turtle or standing, but it is then much easier to defend. Win the position first, then attack.
The choking arm
Slide your forearm under their chin until the crook of your elbow lines up with their throat. Your biceps presses one carotid and your forearm presses the other. The crook of the elbow itself should not crush the windpipe: a well-placed rear naked choke squeezes the sides of the neck, not the front.
Your hand reaches your opposite shoulder, or the biceps of your other arm. Don't squeeze yet.
The hand detail
This is where a choke that makes people tap separates from one that just hurts their jaw.
- The hand of the choking arm grabs the biceps of your other arm, in the bend of the elbow.
- Your second hand goes behind their head, palm on the back of their skull, or flat on your own shoulder behind their neck.
- Bring your elbows toward each other and puff your chest forward. You finish by spreading your shoulder blades, not by pulling backward.
A simpler version to start with: hands clasped palm to palm (the S-grip), without going behind the head. It is less tight, but easier to lock when they are fighting your hands.
Keep your head glued to theirs, on the side of the choking arm. If your head drifts away, they create space and free their chin.
When the chin is tucked
An opponent who knows the defense tucks the chin. Your arm then lands on their jaw. You have two options:
- A temporary "face crank". Saw the blade of your forearm under their chin, without forcing, to win a few centimeters. The jaw pressure hurts without making them tap: it is a step, not a finish.
- Switch attacks. In the gi, go to the collar. Your top hand takes their far lapel and the other pulls the near lapel: that is okuri-eri-jime (sliding collar strangle), often faster than a rear naked choke against a tucked chin. Or go for the armbar from the back if they hold your wrist with both hands.
Rear naked choke defense
When someone has your back, the neck comes first. In practice:
- Bring both hands onto the arm around your neck and pull it down. People call this "clearing the wrist".
- Tuck your chin and turn your head toward the choking elbow.
- Slide your shoulders to the mat on the side of that arm, then bring your back down to the mat.
Never attack the hand behind your head. The arm under your chin is doing the choking, so that is the one to neutralize.
If the arm is under your chin and both hands are locked, tap. You don't "hold out" against a well-placed blood choke.
What a judoka already knows
Hadaka-jime is one of the judo strangles, but it shows up less in competition than lapel chokes. The opponent is rarely flat on their belly for long, and gripping the judogi makes collar chokes faster. A judoka starting BJJ mostly needs to learn to take the back with hooks before thinking about the choke. The arm movement is the same.
Safety in the gym
The rear naked choke puts people out fast. In training:
- squeeze gradually, over three or four seconds;
- release immediately on the tap, even if you are not sure it was one;
- after any loss of consciousness, even a brief one, the person stops training and sees a doctor.
The one thing to remember
Stop hunting the rear naked choke the moment you touch the back. Secure the seat belt and the hooks for ten seconds first. Then attack with the hand. White belts lose the back because they give up control to choke too early. You will find where this finish fits in the rest of the game on our Brazilian jiu-jitsu page, and its front-facing cousin on the guillotine choke page.