hadaka jime

Hadaka jime is the judo name for a strangulation applied from behind without any clothing-based grip — the configuration English-speaking grapplers call the rear naked choke.

Etymology. Hadaka (裸) means “naked” or “bare” — referring to the absence of a sleeve, lapel, or collar grip, not to the attacker’s state — and jime (絞め) means “strangle.” The term is from the Kodokan judo lexicon’s shime-waza (strangulation techniques) and emphasises the bilateral compression of the carotid arteries via the attacker’s arm rather than any gi-driven mechanism. Because the technique requires no clothing grip, hadaka jime translates one-to-one into no-gi grappling without modification — making it one of the few judo strangulations that the no-gi game inherits without architectural change.

Mechanics. The strangle requires simultaneous compression on both sides of the neck — typically the biceps and the forearm closing the bilateral vascular pathway against the cervical spine — while the secondary anchor (the seatbelt grip’s free arm or the figure-four behind the head) prevents the opponent from rotating their chin into the crook to defeat the compression.

Cross-reference. Portuguese-speaking BJJ communities use mata leão; English-speaking BJJ uses rear naked choke or RNC. Full mechanical coverage on Rear Naked Choke.