Chokes and Sleeper Holds – Why You Should Learn Them

Chokes and Sleeper Holds are great techniques to add to your self-defense tool box. Sometimes, due to a variety of reasons, pain compliance techniques have little or no effect.  This may be due to a drug that alters the attacker’s mentality and pain perception, or possibly plain old determination that allows a person to continue through the worst pain and injury.  Regardless of the reason, we don’t want to solely rely on pain compliance techniques to defend ourselves or control others.

This is one of the reasons I like chokes and sleeper holds, and believe it is important to learn and include training in these involuntary compliance techniques with our self-defense and defensive tactics programs.  Okay, I understand that many law enforcement and security departments now prohibit the use of coke or sleeper type techniques.  While I don’t necessarily agree with this, by all means, obey your department’s policies and don’t get yourself in trouble.  However, I’d still advise learning and practicing various choke and carotid restraint techniques to have in your arsenal – just in case.

Of the two, chokes that restrict airflow to the lungs and sleeper holds or carotid restraint techniques, I prefer the latter.  If you cut, or actually reduce, the blood supply to the brain, an attacker has no choice but to go to sleep.  I don’t care how much pain a person can feel or withstand, if blood to the brain is reduced by cutting it off by applying pressure to the carotid arteries, the person will go out.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  Apply a proper sleeper hold and the person goes night-night.  I don’t care how tough a guy is or if he’s on drugs. Absence of oxygen will make him sleep.  This can be from either a choke or sleeper, but sleeper holds will put him out more quickly. (Think about how long you can hold your breath.  Chokes restricting oxygen to the lungs can take time to render a person unconscious. However, cut the blood supply to the brain, and a person can be out in only a few seconds.)

Therefore, I believe everyone who trains in martial arts or self-defense programs should learn and practice chokes and sleepers.  Personally, I’m always looking for ways to apply these techniques, and they have saved me on a number of occasions.  (They have saved the other person too, since putting him out with a choke was a lot better than hurting him bad with striking techniques.)  This does not mean you should forgo all of your other training.  You need those techniques too.  Sometimes you’ll need those striking techniques to end confrontations, and other times you might need them to set up your choke or sleeper technique.  The goal it to be prepared, and knowing different techniques to handle various attacks and situations increases your preparedness.  So make sure you learn and practice these fight ending techniques.

 This is a sample we filmed before filming my Chokes and Sleeper Holds DVD  with Aiki Productions:

Chokes and Sleeper Holds: Proven Techniques for Both Competition and the Street

Click here to see more about the Chokes and Sleeper Holds DVD with previews and behind the scenes clips!