The Little Black Book of Violence

Guillotine Standing — step 1

Guillotine Standing — step 2

Guillotine Standing — step 3

You can grab your own hands, left to right, to apply the choke, or in this instance grab your own clothing with your right hand. This one-handed method is preferred, if possible, as it frees up the left hand for striking the opponent’s kidneys. Unlike a sports competition, you will want to augment your controlling techniques with striking techniques to help subdue your adversary. With the choke set, use your legs to push the opponent’s hips away from you so that you can stretch his spine. Arching your back can also create more stretch. This technique can be very fast, yet it can also work into it very slowly. Ratchet into position smoothly, getting each component in order or it is unlikely to work properly on the street.

Guillotine on Ground — step 1

Guillotine on Ground — step 2

Guillotine on Ground — step 3

Hadaka Jime — Rear Naked Choke

A “naked” choke is one that does not require an opponent’s heavy clothing or uniform gi to be effective. It only requires your arms to execute properly. When untrained individuals and practitioners who focus on sports competition are thrown or fall to the ground, they frequently give up their back, landing on all fours with their face pointing toward the ground. This is a common wrestling position as well.

If your opponent gives you his back, it is relatively easy to perform a rear naked choke. It is important to get his hips secured by wrapping your legs around the waist first though. This assures that you will have adequate control. You may wish to lock your feet together at the ankles for additional support.

The choke itself is done with the inside (thumb side) of the arm, placing the ulna bone against your opponent’s trachea (or the carotid artery of your adversary’s throat). Grip your off-hand arm in the crook of the elbow and wrap that hand across the top of your adversary’s head. Cinch your arms together like a nutcracker with his neck in between them. Rotating your choking arm can change the technique dramatically, depending on the placement of your arm and hands. Cinch your grip while driving your arm bone into the other guy’s throat to secure the choke.

Hadaka Jime — step 1

Hadaka Jime — step 2

Hadaka Jime — step 3

Gyaku Juji Jime — Reverse Cross Lock and Nami Juji Jime — Front Cross Lock

Gyaku juji jime is a reverse cross lock choke performed from the front with your fingers inside the lapel of your opponent’s jacket, shirt, or uniform gi, while nami juji jime is a front cross lock choke performed from the front with your thumb inside the lapel of your opponent’s clothing. These two applications are so similar that we’ll cover them together.

These techniques are very popular as they can be used from the guard (bottom) or the mount (top) when fighting on the ground. Each of these chokes requires a heavy piece of cloth (for example, coat, shirt, scarf, towel, belt) to execute successfully. The hands are placed differently in these two chokes yet they appear very similar.

Let’s begin with the hand positions: Gyaku juji jime places the fingers inside the opponent’s lapel. Your knuckles are placed across your opponent’s skin, gripping the collar in the palm of your hand as you are face to face. Nami juji jime uses the opposite grip with your thumb inside the lapel.

Whichever grip you choose, your hands must be placed deep alongside the neck in order to be effective. Grip deeply along the collar toward the back of your opponent’s neck, keep your elbows close to your ribs, and then pull downward. Yamada Sensei wanted us to actually touch the mat (or ground) with the knuckles of our hands to insure that the hands were deep enough around the opponent’s neck; this is a good rule to follow.

The legs are used once again to hold the opponent in check by immobilizing his hips as in the previous techniques. Not only can you control the hips, but you can also use your legs to once again stretch your opponent from head to hip. Often when the opponent has paused and has stopped fighting momentarily, you know that you have sunk the choke into their neck well. This may be followed by a sudden burst of frantic thrashing as he attempts to break free before his oxygen supply is cut off.

Throw Him to the Ground with Force

Unless you’re a very competent martial artist, the ground can hit a lot harder than your fists, particularly when you hurl the other guy onto it with force. The challenge is that many throws are commonly taught for sporting applications rather than for street combat, so the setups require you to turn your back on your foe or otherwise leave yourself open to a counterattack. Consequently, it’s good to know a few ways of dumping him on his butt without eating a fist while you do it. When executed properly these techniques can do much damage and facilitate your escape. When done poorly, however, throws can get you hurt so you need to choose the right distance and timing to pull them off.

Let’s pretend for a moment that the distance between you and your attacker has closed, closed fast and not by your choice. At very close range, your options become limited. You can shorten your weapon, for example, moving from using the fist up the arm to striking with the elbow. Similarly, you might be able to strike with your knee or forehead. Or, perhaps, you can turn your palm over and strike with an uppercut.

Gyaku Juji Jime 1

Gyaku Juji Jime 2

Gyaku Juji Jime 3

Nami Juji Jime 1

Nami Juji Jime 2