Every judoka has gone through a phase of fear concerning these maneuvers, and that is why, for the most part, it is difficult to embrace groundwork as enthusiastically as the more spectacular standing work, where throws are the forte. If the martial arts purport to show the human body’s fragility, no place is it more clearly demonstrated than in the strangleholds.

“Fear magnifies the technique,” Sensei always said. “When the stranglehold is applied correctly, the recipient feels as if he is going to die. With a blow, throw, kick, chop – you name it – the receiver feels, mentally and emotionally, that he has a chance. But, if you choke a guy and he is not a skillful martial artist, he will panic. Make no bones about it: Shutoff the blood supply, or air, to the head, and a person will panic. If someone is choking you with a perfect technique, or near to it, fear will hasten the end. That is why all martial artists must practice strangleholds and get used to strangleholds; if not, they will panic if a strangle-hold is applied to them.”
Sensei also said, “When a stranglehold is applied to you, you must keep calm, and that comes only through practice. There is no substitute.”

If a skillful stranglehold is applied against a person, it is only a matter of seconds before dizziness sets in, and then the person will black out. If the stranglehold is continued for a few minutes, the person will die. It is the most terrifying technique in barehand self defense, because everyone fears “the noose.”

Methods used in the martial arts are scientific, safe, and effective. There are many strangling methods, but when defending your life in a street encounter,the best method is the naked stranglehold, in which you use your hands and do not strangle with any part of the clothing. Sensei taught, “Because it does not need a hold or grip on clothing, the naked stranglehold is probably the only one that is useful in self defense during a life-and-death encounter.”

If you know the principles of the “wringer and the press,” you have it made in terms of martial arts holds, locks and strangleholds. If you develop a skill with the wringer and the press principles, it will stay with you far into old age, long after you have lost your ability to throw a person or knock him out. There is an old adage that, “when your legs go, you go”, but fortunately, even when your legs have lost their spring, you can rest assured that the wringer and the press will stay with you until the end.

To become proficient in strangleholds, it is of prime importance that you have the ability to control an assailant on the ground, utilizing the press principle correctly and effectively. It is impossible to strangle an assailant if you cannot control him on the ground by proper holding.

“When an opponent is trying to escape from the press, it is the opportune time to strangle him,” Sensei said, “because that is when he is wide open for the wringer.” In fact, it is the only time. “The secrets of the martial arts evolved out of battlefield case analyses, where physically inferior men triumphed against what appeared to be insurmountable odds. Various martial arts schools carefully systematized and secretly taught how to turn an opponent’s superior force to his disadvantage. However, irrespective of the many techniques devised, certain fundamental principles appeared which were universal, and formed the floor for all martial arts.

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The stranglehold is the great equalizer: Anyone can strangle anyone. Sensei said, “Let a person, male or female, get you in a correctly applied stranglehold, and you are in trouble. If you have not had strangleholds applied to you, then it is ‘bye-bye baby’, because you will panic and struggle the wrong way, a sure road to pushing daisies.” Sensei called the stranglehold a “wringer”. He always used to call out, “Wring, keep on wringing, do not let up until there is submission.” The difference between holding techniques as applied in a sporting event versus a street fight is a difference in philosophy. In a judo match, for example, a holding technique applied for 30 seconds scores a point and a win. The theory is that if you can hold a person for 30 seconds in a real fight, you can hold him indefinitely and nullify his effectiveness. That is essentially correct if you are fighting a mullet.

“Never, never practice the martial arts or self defense to fight an inferior opponent,” Sensei always lectured. Instead, “practice to fight or defend against a superior opponent. Martial arts are not sports, with rules. Throw rules out the window; you are fighting for survival out there in the streets.”

In the street, a holding or press technique sets up your opponent for the stranglehold or wringer, especially the naked stranglehold! In fact, you must execute your entry and takedown in a way that ensures that the opponent will be put in a position that enables you to use the naked stranglehold.

That is why when the age-old question was asked, of who would win in a fight between a boxer and a wrestler. “Between a boxer and wrestler of equal weight and abilities, I would have to put my money with the wrestler. The boxer’s only chance is his first blow – if he can knock out the wrestler, which is a highly improbable situation. Statistical studies show that a professional boxer clinches an average of seven times in a three-minute round. A wrestler with the proper takedown and follow-up stranglehold will kill a boxer.”

Most persons who have taken up boxing will use a left jab as an exploratory blow. If you are caught in an alley with a guy who comes at you with a left jab, you can slip, slide under, or block his jab with your right hand and hit him with a tackle, your left shoulder and left arm hitting his stomach as hard as you can. As you drive in, spin behind him, still holding his stomach area with your left hand, and wrap your right hand around his body from the back. You are now behind him. Place your right foot against the back of his right knee, push as hard as you can, crumpling his right leg, and bring him to the ground with you holding him from behind.

When you bring him to the ground, he will try to turn, to get up and escape from your hold; no matter what, he will struggle. As soon as you hit the ground, take your right hand and encircle his neck with your forearm, cutting into his neck like a vice – and this is the most important step: remember that the “steering wheel” of the body is the head. Place your head against his head, and push forward as hard as you can with your forearm cutting into his neck. As you push your head against his, forcing his head forward, your forearm will cut into his neck, shutting off blood supply and causing him to black out in a few seconds. You will have time to lock your left hand and your right hand together.In his panic. the opponent will give you time to do this. If you are experienced,you can do this in one motion. from entering, go-behind. and take-down to,strangle. Just a little practice is required.

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The best part of wringer is that you do not have to be an expert. As Sensei always taught, “The punk or bully that tries to push you around or attack you will not have the patience or emotional capacity to take the martial arts and attain a high decree of efficiency. It does not work out that way because a blackbelt is just the first step on the road to mastery. So most likely the punk who attacks you is just a punk.”

“I remember when I was teaching in Yokohama, Japan. One day, after a hard workout in judo and karate, the subject of the practicalities of principles in a street fight came up – especially against a jab. I made the class practice the takedown and stranglehold.”

“This was during the Korean War and merchant ships of all nations were coming in and out of the port of Yokohama. Quite a few street fights took place in Yokohama, Chinatown and in Omarudani, a red-light district. Many a reputation was made or broken in those fights. There was one particular tanker seaman who had a fearsome reputation due to a few fights in the ring. Seamen,as a rule being better lovers than fighters, did not have a snowball’s chance in hell, when our aggressor accosted them and challenged them to a fight. He never lost; he always set opponents up with a jab and knocked them out with a right cross. When he was drunk or feeling evil he picked on anybody.”

“One night he picked on one of my students, a small Japanese man not more than 125 pounds soaking wet. This student of mine helped out as a handy man in one of the bar-restaurants in Yokohama, Chinatown. The way I heard it, when the champion threw his jab, the student slipped under, executed the take-down, and applied the stranglehold exactly as he had practiced it in the gym one session. The champion blacked out, and when he came to he was so embarrassed that he jumped ship and flew back to the United States, chastised by a man who had taken just one lesson in the wringer and the press.”