From the outside, chokes look like the most dangerous thing in BJJ. Someone has an arm around another person's neck, and that person's face turns red. For many people thinking about starting BJJ, that is the moment they hesitate.
The research on chokes is limited, but it paints a fairly clear picture: chokes work fast, serious consequences are rare, and that is exactly why so much rests on two rules. Here is what the studies show, where they fall short, and how we teach chokes. How often people get injured in BJJ overall, and where, is covered in our article Is BJJ dangerous?
What does a choke do to the body?
There are roughly two kinds of chokes in BJJ:
- Blood chokes press on the carotid arteries at the side of the neck, so less blood reaches the brain. Most chokes in BJJ, such as the rear naked choke or the triangle, are blood chokes.
- Air chokes press on the windpipe. They are less common in BJJ.
How fast does a choke work?
Very fast. A video analysis of 89 chokes from professional MMA fights, 81 of which led to unconsciousness, found that from the moment the choke was fully on, it took about nine seconds on average to lose consciousness, between just over 6 and 10.5 seconds depending on the technique (Stellpflug, Menton et al., 2020).
The times were measured from video, and these were professional MMA fights, not BJJ training. The order of magnitude is still clear: there are only a few seconds between "this is getting tight" and "gone". Wait too long and you miss the moment to tap.
How often do people get choked unconscious in BJJ?
More often than many people think, and with rarely reported consequences. The largest survey on this is an online survey of 4,307 grapplers from two combat-sports internet forums, so not BJJ alone (Stellpflug et al., 2020):
- about three in four had been choked close to passing out at least once;
- just over a quarter (28%) had been choked unconscious at least once;
- 2 people (0.05%) reported ongoing symptoms.
The authors concluded that sportive chokes appear to be safe. But the 0.05% is a lower bound, not a true rate: people who had serious consequences and stopped training rarely take part in surveys like this.
A figure that doesn't say what you think. You may have read that more than half of BJJ athletes have signs of a neck artery injury. The figure comes from an online survey of 521 BJJ practitioners (Harrington et al., 2024). It asked whether people had ever had symptoms after training that "could be consistent with" such an injury, such as dizziness, headache or neck pain. Almost everyone has those after training at some point, and they are almost always harmless. The authors themselves write that it is highly unlikely all of these participants had an artery injury. It is not a rate of artery injuries.
Can a choke cause a stroke?
Yes, in very rare cases. The medical literature describes cases in which a choke damaged the wall of a carotid or vertebral artery. This kind of injury is called a dissection, and it can lead to a stroke.
- A case series collected ten such cases from grappling: five carotid artery dissections, three vertebral artery dissections and two strokes without a visible artery injury (Stellpflug et al., 2022). Nine of the ten survived.
- Two single cases from BJJ show the range. A 27-year-old was left with lasting neurological deficits (Demartini et al., 2017). A 37-year-old had a small stroke; his symptoms disappeared within an hour, and the artery healed completely (Martinet et al., 2025).
How often this happens cannot be said. Nobody knows how many millions of chokes are applied every year without consequences. So the only honest summary is this: very rare, but serious.
Chokes in competition
In competition, chokes barely show up in the injury data. At eight BJJ tournaments in Hawaii where doctors recorded the injuries, one of 46 injuries came from a choke: a neck strain from a triangle (Scoggin et al., 2014).
You often read that this study found no injuries from chokes at all. That is not quite right: it was one in 46.
How we teach chokes
We built Imperial Ground as a place where everyone feels safe and welcome. With chokes, that means safety first. A choke works in seconds, so our training rests on two rules. You tap early. And whoever taps is released immediately, without exception.
- Tapping comes first. You learn to tap on your first evening with us, before you practise a choke: with your hand, with your foot, or by saying "tap" out loud when both hands are trapped. Any audible signal counts.
- Let go immediately, without exception. Whoever taps is released. Anyone who doesn't let go breaches our code of conduct. Under our published infraction system, that is one of the breaches that can lead to a suspension or expulsion without a prior warning.
- Control before intensity. In drills you apply a choke with control, matched to your partner, not at full force. Nobody here has to "endure" a choke. Tapping early is not a weakness.
- Supervised sparring. In our Foundation classes you roll under a coach's eye.
- No neck cranks. Neck cranks are not allowed here.
You learn chokes with us from your first class, in a controlled form. And anyone who does get choked unconscious in training stops for the day.
More on the ground rules you start with here: Starting BJJ in Düsseldorf.
To be honest: what the studies don't show
- The times to unconsciousness come from MMA videos, not from BJJ training.
- The large survey comes from combat-sports forums, not from BJJ alone.
- Surveys underestimate the risk, because people with serious consequences rarely respond.
- There is no rate for artery injuries from chokes, only case reports.
- What many chokes do over years has, as far as we know, not yet been studied in a long-term study.
Frequently asked questions
Are chokes in BJJ dangerous?
They are not harmless: a choke works within seconds. Serious consequences have rarely been described. In a large survey, 2 of 4,307 grapplers reported ongoing symptoms, which is more likely a lower bound. So the rule is: tap early, and whoever taps is released immediately.
How long does it take to pass out from a choke?
In a video analysis of professional MMA fights, about nine seconds on average from the moment the choke was fully on, between just over 6 and 10.5 seconds depending on the technique.
Is it bad to be choked unconscious in training?
Most respondents report no ongoing effects, but it is still not harmless: a choke works within seconds. That is why you tap early. And anyone who does get choked unconscious in training with us stops for the day.
Can a choke cause a stroke?
In very rare cases, yes, through an injury to a neck artery. No rate can be given.
Do beginners learn chokes with you?
Yes. First you learn to tap, then the choke itself in a controlled form, both in your very first class. Whoever taps is released immediately, without exception.
Sources
- Stellpflug SJ, Menton WH, et al. Time to unconsciousness from sportive chokes in fully resisting highly trained combatants. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport 2020;20(4):720–728. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2020.1780873
- Stellpflug SJ, et al. The safety of sportive chokes: a cross-sectional survey-based study. The Physician and Sportsmedicine 2020;48(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/00913847.2020.1754734
- Harrington WB, Fugler PR, Midkiff T, Christensen SJ, Miller E. Exploring Choke Holds in Brazilian Jiujitsu Athletes: A Demographic Study. Cureus 2024;16(5):e60618. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.60618
- Stellpflug SJ, Dummer MF, Martin CD, Vera JA, LeFevere RC. Cervical Artery Dissections and Ischemic Strokes Associated with Vascular Neck Compression Techniques (Sportive Chokes). Journal of Emergency Medicine 2022;63(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2022.04.015
- Demartini Z Jr, Freire MR, Lages RO, et al. Internal Carotid Artery Dissection in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Journal of Cerebrovascular and Endovascular Neurosurgery 2017;19(2):111. https://doi.org/10.7461/JCEN.2017.19.2.111
- Martinet P, Holloway OG, Phatouros CC, Wallefeld W, Prentice D. Traumatic Carotid Artery Dissection Following a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Chokehold: A Case Report. Cureus 2025;17(9):e91604. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.91604
- Scoggin JF 3rd, et al. Assessment of Injuries During Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Competition. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine 2014;2(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2325967114522184
About the author. João Macedo is a 1st-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, has been on the mats for more than 14 years, and is co-founder and head coach of Imperial Ground Martial Arts in Düsseldorf-Derendorf.
Read on: Is BJJ dangerous? · Starting BJJ in Düsseldorf · Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Düsseldorf: all questions