Nothing beats a strangle: Jiu Jitsu has three major categories of submission attacks – upper body joint locks, lower body joint locks and strangles. All are superb weapons that can end a match in a second, but strangles have a special set of qualities that elevate them over the others. In any joint lock, your opponents choice to tap is exactly that – a choice. If he is fearless he may well decide to let the limb break and continue fighting. In the case of strangles there is not choice – you either submit or pass out – but you don't get the choice to fight on. In addition, strangles offer offer a flexibility level of intensity to the match. You can apply a strangle in ways that range in intensity all the way from a gentle constraint, to a TKO all the way up to killing someone. Joint locks have no flexibility in their application – it's all or nothing – it either breaks him or no effect, and even if you break him he may elect to continue fighting. As such, strangles are the ultimate weapon of Jiu jitsu. Work all your submission skills, but set aside special time for your strangle training. Develop a good strangle from the back and one from the front and you will have a weapon that will never let you down. Here, Nicky Rod applies a very tight strangle with perfect head and arm positioning. It's easy to see the mechanical tightness of the hold and how even in the most competitive matches, this will never let you down.
