Attacking your opponent's air supply is one of the most effective and most humane ways to end a fight. Choke Holds and Strangulations allow you to cut off the oxygen to your opponents brain, if your opponent does not submit by tapping, within several seconds they can be rendered unconcous. These two primary ways to attack your opponent's air supply are defined below.

• Choke Holds: cutting off their air supply by attacking their wind pipe.
• Strangulations: cutting off their air supply by attacking the atteries on either side of the wind pipe.

Choke Holds vs. Strangulations
Traditionally it is considered better to attack with a strangulation instead of a choke for a variety of reasons.

1. Since Choke Holds attack the wind pipe it often causes the opponent to panic and struggle. Where as Strangulations are applied through subtle pressure on the arteries and usually do not entice such a violent response.
   
2. Choke Holds take longer than Strangulations. Blocking the wind pipe can often take 30 secs to induce unconciousness. While Strangulations usually incuce unconciousness within 5-10 secs.
   
3. Strangulations are safer. Attacking the wind pipe with Choke Holds is considered much less safe than attacking the artteries with a Strangulation. The wind pipe is much more prone to damage, which can be fatal in extreme cases.

Choke Holds and Strangulations can be applied in a variety of ways.

• Attacking with the arms:
  Utilizing your forearms to attack with a choke hold or strangulation.
  (Eg: Rear Strangulation, Guillotine Choke)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Attacking with the legs:
  Utilizing your legs and knees to attack with a choke hold or strangulation.
  (Eg: Triangle Choke, Sissor Choke)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Attacking the collar:
  Utilizing your opponents Gi collar or cloathing to attack with a choke hold or a strangulation.
  (Eg: Cross Choke, Sliding Choke)
  
  
  
  
  
  

Joint Locks

This type of submission hold involves attacking a single joint with your entire body by putting it into a position where it can be taken beyond its normal range of motion. Your partner will will signal that his joint cannot go any farther by tapping, in a real life situation this type of attack will result in a serious hyper extension or a broken joint. Joint locks can be divided into two main categories based on what joint they are attacking.

• Armlocks:
  Involve attacking any joint in the arm such as the elbow, the shoulder, and the wrist.
  (Eg: Armbar, Kimura, Keylock, and Omo Plata)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Leglocks:
  Involve attacking any joint in the leg such as the ankle, the knee, and the hip.
  (Eg: Anklelocks, Kneebars, and Heelhooks)
  
  
  
  
  
  

Tapping (Tap Out)

Tapping is how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu players train with submissions in a safe manner. When a submission hold is applied on you and you feel that further application will result in joint damage or unconciousness, you signal your opponent to stop by tapping the person or the mat several times. At times your hands can be occuppied in such a way that you cannot tap, but this can also be accomplished by tapping with your feet or verbally giving up.

Note: We take safety very seriously at our club, and each of our members know to apply submissions in such a way that your opponent has time to tap out.