Crucifix North-South Choke
The north-south choke closed from the crucifix — the arms are held by the legs and the clamp is inverted.
Adapted from InGrappling, Crucifix North-South Choke. System Games did not invent this curriculum.
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The north-south choke closed from a crucifix rather than from a north-south pin. The strangle is the same clamp — the head shut into the attacker’s armpit, with the armpit and chest closing one side of the neck and the biceps and forearm of the choking arm closing the other — but the arms doing the trapping belong to the legs here, and the orientation is inverted.
What that changes is the finish. From the pin, the compression comes from the attacker sinking their shoulders and hips in a straight line toward the head. From the crucifix the attacker is alongside rather than above, so the sink is not available in the same way and the closure comes from shortening the arm structure while the legs keep both of the opponent’s arms out of the exchange.
★ This is the one crucifix strangle on the site with documentation behind it — the north-south choke page names the inverted crucifix configuration itself. Three other crucifix threat edges were ruled out of the census as undocumented; this one survived because the family’s own attack page asserts it.
Elevated RiskCrucifix North-South Choke is an elevated risk technique. A vascular strangle. Both surfaces close on the neck at once — the attacker's armpit and chest on one side, the biceps and forearm of the choking arm on the other — producing unconsciousness within seconds once the clamp shortens. ⚠ The crucifix removes the defender's arms entirely, so the usual early signals a defender gives by hand-fighting are absent and the attacker gets less feedback than they would from a pin. Serious injury can occur Seconds once both surfaces close. There is no arm-fighting phase to read, so the tap is the only signal..
If you are new to this technique: read this section before anything else. Understanding the danger is part of understanding the technique.
The person applying the technique is responsible for releasing immediately.
Communicate before drilling. Know your partner's experience level with this position.