Rear Naked Choke Escape
Defending the rear naked choke — chin tuck, grip fight, seat drop and strong-side turn, before the strangle closes. Prevention is the first defence.
Adapted from InGrappling, Rear Naked Choke Escape. System Games did not invent this curriculum.
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This page covers defence and escape from the rear naked choke (RNC) — the primary submission from back control. The RNC applies a blood choke by wrapping the choking arm under the chin and locking the figure-four with the second arm. The geometry is worth knowing precisely, because it is what the defence is fighting: the choking arm encircles the neck and closes both carotids on its own — forearm on one side, its own bicep on the other — while the choking hand grips the second arm’s bicep and that second hand goes behind the head to push it forward into the loop. The second arm shortens the loop; it does not do the compressing. It is the highest-percentage submission in competitive grappling from the back position.
The RNC escape is primarily about prevention, not late-stage escape. A properly applied RNC by an experienced practitioner — once both arms are locked and the choke is deep — is extremely difficult to escape. The majority of this page covers the prevention and early-stage defence system.
For the back position defence from the positional perspective, see: /technique/back/defence-seatbelt — this covers the full back escape system. This page adds the submission-specific defence layer on top of that positional framework.
This is where RNC defence lives. The chin tuck is the single most important defensive action — and it is not reactive. It must be habitual, applied the moment back exposure begins. The chin tucked hard to the chest prevents the choking arm from clearing the chin to reach the neck. Every other defence on this page assumes the chin tuck is already in place. Without it, no other technique has time to work.
Committed Stage — choking arm positioned but figure-four not yet locked
Both hands fight the choking arm simultaneously. The strong-side hand grips the choking wrist; the weak-side hand pushes the choking elbow. The goal is to prevent the second arm from locking in — without the figure-four, the choke cannot be finished. The seat drop is the mechanical escape action at this stage, documented in the back defence system at /technique/back/defence-seatbelt.
Late Stage / Deep — figure-four secured, both hooks in, finishing pressure applied