Japanese Necktie

Last updated: June 18, 2026

What is a Japanese necktie?

The Japanese necktie belongs to a small group of grappling submissions known as “neckties,” all of which attack the neck from a front headlock or top position. Like the D’Arce and anaconda, it is a head-and-arm choke: the attacker traps the opponent’s head and one of their arms together, forming a tight noose around the neck. Both the trapped shoulder and the attacker’s forearm press into the sides of the neck, squeezing the carotid arteries and cutting blood flow to the brain. That makes it a blood choke rather than a windpipe choke, putting it in the same category as the rear-naked choke.

The name is a little misleading. Despite sounding traditional, the Japanese necktie is a modern grappling innovation rather than an old technique carried over from Japanese jiu-jitsu, and it picked up its name simply by following the “necktie” family convention, where most variations are labelled after a country. Commentators and coaches usually reach for the term when a grappler finishes from a failed D’Arce, which is why a viewer hears it during no-gi matches and the occasional MMA bout, including Oliver Enkamp’s finish of Emmanuel Dawa at Bellator 248 in 2020. It matters because it catches opponents who think they have defended the more common D’Arce, a position most grapplers know far better than the necktie that hides right next to it.

How the Japanese necktie works

The submission lives in the same neighbourhood as the guillotine and the D’Arce, sitting almost exactly between them as a front-headlock attack. An attacker who threatens a guillotine or a D’Arce and gets stuck halfway can often arrive at the Japanese necktie without much extra work.

Mechanically, the head and one arm get trapped together. Instead of threading the choking arm deep and gripping the bicep as in a D’Arce, the attacker clasps both hands behind the opponent’s neck in a vice-style grip, then traps one of the opponent’s legs and rolls. The body becomes a wedge: the forearm and the opponent’s own shoulder close on the neck while the rolling motion and a leg behind the head add compression. According to BJJ World, that combination of grip, body weight, and rotation is what makes the necktie one of the tighter chokes available from the front headlock, even though relatively few grapplers use it.

Is it a choke or a neck crank?

This is the question that follows the Japanese necktie around. The honest answer is that it can be either, and often it is both at once. Done cleanly, the carotid pressure arrives first and the opponent taps to a blood choke. Done loosely, or rushed, the same position tends to wrench the neck before the choke fully sets, so the tap comes from a crank instead.

Jiu Jitsu Legacy describes the finish as part blood choke, part air choke, part neck crank, and part chest compression, which captures why the line is so blurry. For the person on the receiving end the distinction rarely matters in the moment. For competitors, though, it shapes whether the submission is allowed at all, which is the next question worth answering.

Is the Japanese necktie legal?

Under IBJJF rules, the Japanese necktie is legal because its primary action is a choke. The IBJJF treats it as an arm-triangle variation, and the governing principle is that neck pressure is permitted as long as a genuine strangle is the main intent. A standalone neck crank, applied with no choking component, is banned at every belt level. Any cranking that happens as a by-product of the necktie is treated the same way as an overzealous rear-naked choke: a side effect, not a foul.

In practice, the grey area is real, and some referees scrutinise the necktie more closely than a textbook choke because the crank is so easy to fall into. The technique is fully legal in MMA, where no such ruleset restriction applies.

How it differs from the D’Arce and Peruvian necktie

Most searches for the Japanese necktie come from confusion with its close cousins, the D’Arce choke and the Peruvian necktie. All three are arm-in chokes that attack from a front headlock, but the grip and the finishing motion set them apart.

Submission	Grip	Finishing action	Origin
Japanese necktie	Hands clasped in a vice/gable grip behind the neck	Trap a leg and roll, wedging the body across the neck	Modern necktie variation, inspired by the Peruvian
D’Arce choke	Choking arm threaded deep, hand on the opposite bicep (figure-four)	Squeeze the figure-four and drive the shoulder in	Long-established arm-in choke
Peruvian necktie	Hands clasped from a front headlock	Throw both legs over and sit back, often from turtle	Created by UFC veteran Tony De Souza

The D’Arce is the one people mix up most, since both start from a similar head-and-arm position. The difference is the grip: a D’Arce relies on a deep figure-four with the hand on the bicep, while the Japanese necktie uses a clasped vice grip and adds a trapped leg and a roll. That distinction is also what makes the necktie useful, because a grappler who has stuffed the D’Arce by straightening up can still be caught by switching to the necktie. The Peruvian necktie came first, developed by Tony De Souza, and the Japanese version was one of the early variations it inspired, which is why the two share a clasped grip but finish from different positions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it called the Japanese necktie?

It follows the naming convention of the “necktie” family of chokes, which are mostly labelled after countries such as the Peruvian and the Mexican. The name does not point to a Japanese origin; the technique is a modern grappling development.

Is the Japanese necktie dangerous?

Like other neck attacks, it can injure the neck or spine if it is cranked rather than choked, because it angles the head to one side. Grapplers drill it slowly and tap early to keep it safe.

What positions can you attack it from?

It most often comes from top side control, top half guard, a front headlock, the turtle position, or a D’Arce attempt that the opponent has defended.

Is the Japanese necktie common in competition?

No. It is considered an underused submission, which is part of its appeal, since many grapplers do not recognise the position or know how to defend it.

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Sources

1. Evolve Daily. “Here’s How To Do The Japanese Necktie In BJJ.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://evolve-mma.com/blog/heres-how-to-do-the-japanese-necktie-in-bjj/
2. BJJ World. “Is The Japanese Necktie The Tightest BJJ Choke Ever?” Accessed June 2026.
   https://bjj-world.com/japanese-necktie-bjj-tightest-choke/
3. Jiu Jitsu Legacy. “The Japanese Necktie: Is it a Choke or a Crank?” Accessed June 2026.
   https://jiujitsulegacy.com/videos/japanese-necktie/
4. LowKick MMA. “Peruvian Necktie.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://www.lowkickmma.com/peruvian-necktie/
5. After The Mat. “Japanese Necktie.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://afterthemat.com/library/jiu-jitsu/japanese-necktie
6. International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF). Rule Book. Accessed June 2026.
   https://ibjjf.com/books-videos
7. Sky Sports. “Enkamp’s Japanese necktie submission.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://www.skysports.com/mma/video/33785/12101432/enkamps-japanese-necktie-submission

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