What the Hell is a Rear Naked Choke?

Ah, the rear naked choke.  My personal favorite submission.  As soon as I see a fighter going for it, I perk up.  What?!  I like a good submission!

A rear naked choke is pretty much just what it sounds like.  A fighter has to take his opponents back (the rear part of the name) and chokes him out with his arms (the choke part of the name, obviously).  Now, the choke part can take on many different forms depending on how he holds his arms, and which part of the arm he uses to complete the choke.  Finally, the naked part of the name.  No, you little pervs, it has nothing to do with actually being fully naked.  Rather, it refers to the lack of a gi, which if you remember from our What the Hell is the Rubber Guard article, is the uniform of BJJ fighters.

A final, optional component of the RNC is when a fighter locks his legs around his opponent, like BJ Penn did to Matt Hughes in the picture above.  Not required, but super cool.  When correctly applied, a rear naked choke completely cuts off the blood flow to the brain of your opponent, rendering him unconscious and you the victor.  Winning rules!

UPDATE:  Reader Idan commented that, "Actually, The “naked” part refers to the fact that the to-be-submitted fighter does not have one of his (or her) arms utilized as part of the choke, as opposed to various arm-in chokes like the D’Arce choke or the arm-in guillotine."  Doesn't he know I don't like to be corrected?!!  Rear naked choke time!