Why Choking with One Hand is Better

One-handed chokes are superior.

There are many reasons why this is true, but the three I’ll detail in this article are enough to make any submission grappler reconsider a preference for two-handed chokes.

One-handed chokes in action. Some examples in sparring sessions and in competition.

Let’s kick things off with reason #3.

3. One-handed chokes are easier to set up

Two handed chokes are quite difficult to set up – after you set one grip, you must somehow get that second choking grip in.

Imagine trying to set up a cross-collar choke from guard. You set that first grip nice and deep into the collar. Your opponent looks at you and the expression on his face says it all. He knows what you’re trying to do, and he will do everything he can to get deny you that second grip.

You then must fight him to insert that second grip. He has two hands to fight you with, but you only have one free hand; the same hand your trying to sneak deep into his collar.

This task of setting the second choking grip in the collar can be hard to overcome. It’s not an issue if you have super human strength and you can easily overcome both your opponent’s arms with one hand. Or, perhaps you’re fighting an opponent from 1994 and he honestly has no idea what a cross-collar choke is.

Since I have average man strength and I exclusively fight people from the present, I prefer to use one hand when I choke.

This brings us to the number two reason one-handed chokes are better.

2. One-handed chokes are more powerful

Two-handed chokes rely almost exclusively on the strength of your upper body. And, since both arms are occupied during the choke, you only have your head to post with in order to keep your base.

A one-handed choke almost always relies on just one hand and the use of your legs. I know for a fact that both my legs and one of my arms are more powerful than just both my arms. Shocker, right?

The other benefit is that I have a free arm to post with or to secure a grip somewhere else on my opponent.

Because one-handed chokes are easier to set up and more powerful, they also have a high finishing rate. Anecdotally, I have noticed a much higher submission finish rate with one-handed chokes in my own game.

Finally, let’s look at the number one reason one-handed chokes are king.

1. One-handed chokes are sneaky

Every day I train I catch at least one person with a one-handed choke. In a one-hour training session I’ll average between one and five of these submissions.

What do I hear from my training partners?

“I didn’t realize what you where doing until it was too late.”

Even though one-handed chokes have been around a long time, they are still much less common than two-handed chokes. When you use a one-handed choke, there is a much better chance of surprising your opponent (I.E. it’s sneaky).

With one-handed chokes, I’m able to get into a choking position oftentimes without my opponent even realizing it.

One-handed chokes are my ace in the hole. And, they can be your ace in the hole as well.

I created a FREE one-handed chokes tutorial to teach you the basics of these chokes so that you can implement them into your game immediately.

Conclusion

One-handed chokes are easy to set up, powerful, and incredibly sneaky compared to two-collar chokes. Add them to you game and start finishing more opponents with less effort than you thought possible.