Sensei K. D. Lintott

Neck Restraints & Chokes

There are only two types of neck restraints; carotid (loss of blood to the brain) and asphyxia (loss of oxygen).
So it seems simple loss of blood or air, you pass out. That is about the basic of these types of techniques, they are generally taught this way. I was shown to apply these types of techniques from as early as yellow belt level. Scary. If there is a safer method of using these techniques? I would say that the carotid is safer.

STOP!

I am not saying that these are safe techniques just that one is safer than the other if done the right way. Now, there are several things that can happen during the application of the carotid restraint. You can send the heart into an abnormal beat, and thus cardiac arrest may occur or you can induce a seizure, or worse (depending on the age of the person you are applying the restraint to) brain aneurysm.

There is also a sensor located high and lateral on the neck, behind the sternocleidomastoid muscle, an inch lower than the jawbone. If the right pressure is applied to this sensor, the sensor will tell your brain your blood pressure is too high and then your brain will tell your heart to slow down. So if held long or hard enough your heart would stop! This could happen with either the carotid control or asphyxia.

Asphyxia restraints or better know as chokes, produce a loss of air to the lungs and can kill very easily. These types of techniques are even worse if the person's head is down. This hold takes a lot more effort than the carotid, as the trachea is flattened to prevent airflow. The bad part is after the release of this hold the trachea might remain crushed and death will occur.

The good thing about the vessels is they recover completely from being flattened. It takes 5 pounds of pressure per square inch to occlude the carotid arteries and thirty-two pounds to close the airway.

The asphyxia technique will also induce a much greater fight within the person it is being applied to, and can take a long time and who knows about the recovery. The carotid restraint works in about 5 to 20 seconds, and recovery is about the same.

When I was working a nightclub someone used some sort of asphyxia technique on this guy. I was asked after the fight to come and help this guy (as I was a nurse at the time). The guy's trachea had been almost completely crushed, I started CPR and then he was transported to the hospital. He apparently was in a coma for 6 months and never fully recovered brain function. All that from a two-minute fight.

So I guess the final choice is yours to make, should you use a neck restraint or choke hold? How real is the threat to your life?

Sensei K.D. Lintott