Last updated: June 19, 2026
Quick Definition
The north-south choke is a grappling submission applied from the north-south position, where the attacker lies chest-to-chest on top of a downed opponent with their own head pointed toward the opponent’s feet. The attacker wraps an arm around the neck and uses shoulder and bodyweight pressure to force a tap or put the opponent to sleep.
What is a north-south choke?
The north-south choke takes its name from the position it comes from. Picture two grapplers lying in a straight line, one flat on their back and the other face-down on top, heads side by side but bodies pointing opposite ways like the ends of a compass. From there, the top fighter snakes an arm around the neck and settles their weight down. The opponent slowly runs out of room as the pressure builds.
It belongs to the same family as the guillotine and the D’arce, the arm-around-the-neck strangles, but the angle sets it apart. Most chokes attack the neck from the front or the back. This one attacks it from directly overhead, with the bodies inverted. Grappling historians trace it to a Judo pin called kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame, and catch wrestlers used versions of it long before Brazilian jiu-jitsu refined the finish. The grappler most responsible for popularising it is Marcelo Garcia, a smaller competitor who built much of his game around it.
In MMA, it does not appear often. Rear-naked chokes and guillotines end far more fights. When the north-south choke does turn up, it usually comes from a wrestler or grappler who has flattened an opponent and worked patiently into the position.
How the north-south choke works
Recognising it on a broadcast is easier once the shape is familiar. The attacker lies almost flat and face-down, chest pressing on the opponent’s chest, head down by the opponent’s hip or shoulder. One arm is wrapped underneath and around the far side of the opponent’s neck, with the hands joined in a palm-to-palm or gable grip. From the outside, it looks like an upside-down guillotine.
The finish does not come from arm strength. Instead, the attacker drops a shoulder into the side of the neck and lets bodyweight and angle close the space. The squeeze lands on the sides of the neck, not the windpipe. That is why most coaches treat it as a blood choke. A tight one also works fast: grappling instructional site Digitsu puts the time to unconsciousness at roughly nine to ten seconds.
The weight is what makes it awkward to defend. A pinned fighter has a heavy chest on their face and an arm threaded around the neck, so the usual escapes, such as bridging or framing, become hard to start. That same heaviness explains why grapplers often arrive at the position by accident, while hunting a kimura or passing guard, then find the choke when the opponent raises their head to defend.
North-south choke vs the guillotine and D’arce
Most people searching this term just want to tell it apart from the chokes it resembles, and that is fair, because all three wrap an arm around the neck. The thing that separates them is simple. It comes down to where the attacker’s body sits relative to the opponent.
| Choke | Attacker’s position | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| North-south choke | Lying on top, head toward the opponent’s feet (180° opposite) | An upside-down guillotine applied from above |
| Guillotine | Facing the opponent, their head trapped under the arm from the front | Arm under the chin, attacker upright or on their back |
| D’arce choke | On top or to the side, arm threaded under the opponent’s near arm and across the neck | Like the north-south, but with the opponent’s arm trapped inside |
The closest relative is the D’arce. Wikipedia describes the north-south choke as comparable in procedure to the D’arce, with one defining difference: the north-south is applied with the attacker rotated 180 degrees from the opponent, and it usually leaves the opponent’s arm out of the strangle. The guillotine is the easiest to separate, since it comes from the front with the opponent’s head tucked under the arm, often while both fighters are upright or the attacker is on their back.
Is the north-south choke a blood choke or an air choke?
Grappling sources do not fully agree on this, and the reality is that it can do both. A clean north-south choke puts pressure on the carotid arteries at the sides of the neck and cuts blood flow to the brain, which fits the definition of a blood choke. That is how BJJ TV and instructional site Digitsu describe it. Wikipedia, by contrast, lists it formally as an air choke, the kind that compresses the windpipe.
The modern version taught by grapplers like Marcelo Garcia targets the sides of the neck and behaves like a blood choke, which works faster and carries less risk than crushing the airway. For a viewer, the practical signal is simple: when it lands cleanly, the opponent taps fast or goes to sleep within seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the north-south choke legal in MMA and BJJ?
Yes. It is a standard neck choke, legal in MMA and permitted at all belt levels under IBJJF and ADCC competition rules, according to Submission Searcher.
Why is it rare in MMA?
The position is hard to hold against an opponent throwing punches, and most fighters lean on the rear-naked choke or guillotine. It surfaces most when a grappler controls a flattened opponent on the mat.
Where does the north-south choke come from?
It is adapted from the Judo pin kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame and appeared in catch wrestling before becoming a refined jiu-jitsu submission.
Who is known for the north-south choke?
Marcelo Garcia is the grappler most associated with it. Olympic wrestler Shinobu Ota also drew attention by finishing a Bellator debut with the choke.
How do you defend it?
At a basic level, defenders try to frame against the attacker’s shoulders and create space before the grip locks, since escaping after the weight settles is much harder.
Sources
- Wikipedia. “North–south choke.” Accessed June 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North%E2%80%93south_choke - Evolve Daily. “What Is The North-South Choke In BJJ?” Accessed June 2026.
https://evolve-mma.com/blog/what-is-the-north-south-choke-in-bjj/ - Sportskeeda. “What is a north-south choke?” Accessed June 2026.
https://sportskeeda.com/mma/news-what-north-south-choke-japan-s-olympic-medalist-stuns-bellator-rare-submission-finish-debut-fight - Submission Searcher. “North South Choke in BJJ & MMA.” Accessed June 2026.
https://submissionsearcher.com/technique-type/north-south-chokes/ - Digitsu. “North South Choke Breakdown (BJJ).” Accessed June 2026.
https://digitsu.com/t/north-south-choke - BJJ TV. “North South Choke.” Accessed June 2026.
https://bjj.tv/category/submissions/chokes/north-south-choke/
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