Submission profile

Rear naked choke: how often it lands in real training

The rear naked choke is the #5 submission in BJJBuddy logs, finished by 1,498 people. How the choke from the back works, common mistakes, gi vs no-gi, and by belt.

People who finished it1,498Logged it as their submission
People caught by it1,136Logged tapping to it
Rank#05Among 36 submissions
Gi share33.6%Of finishes on a logged gi day
Both sides of the exchange

Finished it. Got caught by it.

Finished it1,498
Caught by it1,136

The same person can be in both groups. Across all logs, 4,324 finishes and 2,681 taps were recorded on separate training days.

Training format

Gi vs no-gi

33.6%gi
Gi 33.6%No-gi 66.4%

3,453 finishes on days with a logged gi or no-gi session. Across all sessions the split is 51.5% gi.

The rear naked choke (mata leão) is the finish from back control: one arm around the neck, the other locked behind the head, compressing both sides of the neck. In no-gi it is the most important choke there is.

How the rear naked choke works

  1. Take the back with hooks or a body triangle, and a seatbelt grip: one arm over the shoulder, one under.
  2. Slide the top arm under the chin so the elbow lines up with the chin and the bicep and forearm sit on either side of the neck.
  3. Put that hand on your other bicep and place your other hand behind their head.
  4. Squeeze your elbows together and expand your chest. Keep your head tight beside theirs.

Common mistakes

  • Grabbing the jaw instead of getting under the chin.
  • Losing the hooks while you chase the choke, so they escape the back.
  • Pushing the head forward with your hand instead of squeezing your elbows together.

Learn and drill techniques with a qualified coach and a cooperative partner, and let go the moment your partner taps. This overview is not a substitute for live instruction.

How often each belt finishes it

White belt28.1%
Blue belt34.2%
Purple belt32.9%
Brown belt36.8%
Black belt31.1%

Share of each belt’s users (among those who logged any submission) who have finished with it. Belt is the rank set in the app today.

How to read these figures

“Finished it” means a user logged this move as a submission they got. “Caught by it” means they logged tapping to it. The rank orders all 36 submissions by how many different people logged them either way. From BJJBuddy training logs, November 2015 to November 2026. Duplicate uploads are removed, so a session is one person on one training day. Each person counts once per technique. Groups smaller than 10 people are not shown.