In the video above and in the article below we’re going to talk about how to defend and escape the Rear Naked Choke.

There’s a reason that the Rear Naked Choke (or RNC) has finished so many matches in MMA, BJJ and submission grappling: it’s a very powerful and super-difficult to escape submission! This effectiveness is the main reason that we’ve devoted so much time to this choke on Grapplearts – (click here to see the RNC archives).

But even if your opponent is getting close to sinking this submission don’t give up hope! Keep on fighting to get out until you have no choice but to tap out.

When it comes to slipping out of the RNC (or any other submission for that matter) you can escape before, during or after a submission is applied. In general it’s MUCH easier to escape a submission in the early phases of a submission, before it’s fully sunk in.

And this goes double for the RNC. If you’re trapped in Rear Mount then do everything in your power to stop your opponent from cinching up his arm position into the full choking position. And work on escaping rear mount as fast as possible too!

But let’s say that you’ve totally screwed up: your opponent got behind you, he fought past your grip, manoeuvred his arms into position, and is now starting to apply the choke…

I’m not gonna lie: it’s going to be hard, but it is still sometimes possible to escape the RNC once it’s locked in. You can sometimes untie his grip and release the choke, but it really helps if you’re tough, move fast, and are alert enough to take advantage of any little mistakes made by your opponent.

Check out this video on Youtube How to Escape the Rear Naked Choke (also embedded at the top of this page) to get a sense of your escape options are when you’ve screwed up, given your opponent your back, and now he’s hunting relentlessly for that Rear Naked Choke.

This video is a short excerpt from my Submission Defense instructional which has got all of my highest percentage defenses and escapes vs the most common submissions (including the RNC, obviously).

The Submission Defense instructional lives within the Grapplearts BJJ Master app.  This is an app for your Apple and Android phones that’s free to download and gives you more than 457 minutes of free black belt video instruction the moment you download it.

Here’s how to get more information about the Grapplearts BJJ Master App in your preferred format:

• iOS: Get the Grapplearts BJJ Master App in the Apple iTunes Store FOR FREE by clicking here
• Android: Get the Grapplearts BJJ Master App in the Google Play Store FOR FREE by clicking here

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