Rear naked choke
Chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back
裸絞 · 后背裸绞
- Type
- Chokes and strangles, Grappling positions
- Martial arts
- Judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Jujutsu
- Japanese
- 裸絞
- Meaning
- Naked strangle
- Classified as
- chokehold
- Listed in
- Shime-waza (Kodokan judo), Shime-waza (judo techniques), Submissions (Brazilian jiu-jitsu), Chokeholds (Brazilian jiu-jitsu)
- Learning path
- Brazilian jiu-jitsu: step 20 of 39 (intermediate)
The rear naked choke (RNC), is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word naked in this context refers to the fact that this hold does not involve the use of a keikogi ("gi") or training uniform. The technique is also known as hadaka jime (裸絞, "naked choke") in Japanese martial arts and mata leão ("lion killer") in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
The choke has two variations: in one version, the attacker's arm encircles the opponent's neck and then grabs their biceps/shoulder on the other arm (see below for details); in the second version, the attacker clasps their hands together instead after encircling the opponent's neck. Recent studies have shown that the rear-naked choke takes an average of 8.9 seconds to render an opponent unconscious, regardless of the grip that is used.
Kanji in 裸絞
Other Judo chokes and strangles
- Arm triangle choke
- Chokehold
- Gyaku Jūji-jime
- Kata juji jime
- Nami juji jime
- Triangle choke
- Do-jime
- Ude hishigi sankaku gatame
- North–south choke
- Guillotine choke
- Koshi-jime
- Sode guruma jime
- Gogoplata
- Kata ha jime
- Kata te jime
- Jigoku-jime
- Okuri eri jime
- Hasami jime
- Ura juji jime
- Ryo te jime
- Tsukkomi jime
- Tawara-Jime
Japanese terms for chokes and strangles
| Term | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 裸絞め | hadakajime | rear naked choke; sleeper hold |
| 絞め技 | shimewaza | shime-waza (judo stranglehold) |
| フロントチョーク | furontochooku | front choke |
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q4845233 (CC0); text quoted from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); kanji data KANJIDIC2 and KanjiVG. Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); Subskills sports technique taxonomy (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.