The Principle
The RNC and back attack system is one of the six submission hubs in the Danaher framework. Its unifying condition is the back position — the attacker’s chest to the opponent’s back with some combination of seatbelt, harness, and body triangle. From this single positional state, multiple submission paths emerge: the rear naked choke as primary, the back triangle and rear triangle as geometric alternatives, the crucifix and straitjacket as control evolutions, and the short choke and garrot variants as finishing details.
What distinguishes this system is the tight coupling of finish and position. Unlike the kimura or armbar systems — which produce their submissions from many positions — the back attack system produces all of its submissions from one positional family. The system’s strategic complexity lies not in where to apply it but in how to maintain the position long enough for the finish conditions to emerge, and in which finish to select once the conditions appear.
Invariables Expressed
Strangles require compression on both sides of the neck simultaneously.
The RNC satisfies this through the bicep on one carotid and the forearm on the other, with the attacker’s back-arm anchoring the grip. The back triangle satisfies it through the thigh on one side and the opposite shoulder pressure on the other. Every strangle in this system resolves the same two-sided compression requirement.
Body-to-body connection eliminates structural space and transfers weight.
Back control is the system’s purest expression of INV-01 in grappling: chest-to-back connection with seatbelt grip removes the opponent’s ability to generate independent rotation. Every back attack requires this connection — the moment connection is lost, all finish options pause until it is re-established.
Segmenting the body prevents unified defence.
The seatbelt segments the upper body. The body triangle segments the lower body. Combined, the two grips prevent the opponent from coordinating a unified rotation defence. The strangle’s success depends on this segmentation being intact during the finish attempt.
Arm-out strangles apply force more directly; arm-in strangles must compensate.
The standard RNC is an arm-out strangle — the opponent’s arm is not inside the loop, and compression applies directly to the carotids. When the opponent’s arm is trapped inside the choking arm (common escape attempt), the finish becomes arm-in and must compensate with the grip variant (figure-four, palm-to-palm, bicep-lock).
The Techniques in This System
Deploying the System
When to enter
The back attack system is active whenever you have back control — but the deployment choice within the system is governed by the opponent’s defensive state at the moment of entry. Three entry conditions determine which sub-system you run first. First — clean back control from a turtle break or mount transition: the opponent is on hands and knees or about to flatten, both seatbelt and body triangle can be set, and you have time to hunt the chin in hand-fight range. The RNC is the default attack. Second — scramble back take where control is thin and time is short: the opponent will explode to a side-escape any second. The standing RNC or the back-to-side conversion (headlock, short choke) is correct; do not waste the window hunting full seatbelt. Third — front of a belly-down opponent with hooks: the crucifix and straitjacket are the entries, and the rear triangle rather than the RNC becomes the lead finish.
The practitioner’s first internal question on every back take is: is this a maintain position or a finish position? Maintain means: the body triangle is set, the opponent is not imminently escaping, and you can afford to hand-fight for a clean RNC angle. Finish means: the window is short and you commit to whatever strangle the current grip configuration allows. Conflating the two is the most common failure mode — hunting the RNC from a maintain-eligible position wastes time; attempting to set the body triangle from a finish-eligible position loses the back.
Live reads inside the system
Four reads run while you work the back. First — where is the chin? Chin tucked to the sternum means hand-fight to break the tuck; chin lifted or rotating means the RNC is available in the next two seconds. Second — what is the opponent doing with their hands? Two-on-one on your choking wrist is a defensive commitment that leaves the far shoulder free for the triangle; one hand peeling and one hand floating is the state to drive the straitjacket. Third — is the opponent trying to roll toward their trapped side or free side? Roll toward the choking arm is a back-to-mount defence (commit to the choke); roll toward the free side is a back-to-side escape (convert to the arm triangle from the side). Fourth — is your bottom hip still pressed to the mat? If your hips are rising off the mat, you are being escaped; re-seat before continuing any finish.
When the system stalls
The canonical stall is the two-on-one chin-tuck — the opponent grips your choking wrist with both hands and presses their chin into their own chest. The tactical response is to switch sides via the shoulder swim or to trigger the back triangle by driving the trapped-side leg over the opponent’s far shoulder while they are committed to the hand-fight. A second stall is the slow belly-down — the opponent exposes their back to limit RNC access and posts on elbows to prevent rotation. The straitjacket and the crucifix are the correct answers; a stubborn RNC hunt from this state is the position failure mode. Recognising these stalls as cues to change finishing line — rather than as cues to try harder — is the core of running this system well.
How the System Creates Dilemmas
Finish vs maintain
The central strategic dilemma of the system — covered in depth on the back position objectives page. The attacker must choose between pursuing the finish (which reduces control to achieve submission alignment) and maintaining the position (which preserves control but does not finish). The opponent’s state determines the correct choice; attempting the finish from a maintain state typically loses the back entirely.
RNC vs back triangle
When the opponent defends the RNC by hand-fighting on the choking arm, the back triangle becomes available via the leg-over-shoulder geometry. The hand-fight that defends the RNC occupies both of the opponent’s arms on one side — the free side is the triangle entry.
RNC vs arm triangle (back to side)
When the opponent escapes the back by rolling to their back with the seatbelt still attached, the seatbelt often converts into a head-and-arm position from the side. The RNC becomes the arm triangle — see the RNC vs arm triangle dilemma page for the full treatment.
Progression by Ability Level
- Foundations: Seatbelt grip and the RNC from static back position. Understanding the chin as the primary defence and the grip-hierarchy to get past it.
- Developing: Body triangle, harness, and the finish-vs-maintain decision. The back triangle as secondary finish when the RNC is blocked.
- Proficient: Straitjacket control, crucifix transitions, rear triangle variants. The back attack as a system rather than as single finish.
- All levels: Standing RNC, scramble entries, and back-to-side transitions that preserve the attack when the position changes.
How This Connects to Other Concepts
The RNC system is the finishing layer for every back-take sequence in the framework. It connects directly to the back position objectives range (where the finish-vs-maintain decision is analysed), to the arm drag to back gripping sequence (as the submission layer that sequence delivers to), and to the RNC vs arm triangle dilemma. Many back-take scrambles documented in back take scrambles resolve into this system.