According to celebrated coach John Danaher: Your canvas is the human body – learn as much as you can about it and your jiu jitsu will improve. A choke refers to the act of obstructing the passage of air to the lungs. So for example, if you swallow food too clumsily, you can be choked. Strangulation refers to the very different action of restricting blood to the brain, usually by constricting the carotid arteries in the neck. Chokes can take up to several minutes to render a well conditioned person unconscious. Strangles will do the same in around ten seconds.
So why don’t we dedicate much of our training to the neck?
Neiman Gracie recently shared:
“I do about three times a week to strengthen my neck,” explains Neiman. “I perform in the form of three to four sets, from 20 to 25 repetitions, with weights around 5kg. Helps me in Jiu-Jitsu practice and boxing. Having a strong neck is always good. “
There’s tons of approaches to this. The most basic being Neck Exercises For Jiu Jitsu such as neck rotations, side bends and others.
A good source for Neck Exercises For Jiu Jitsu that will help with posture and in general keep your back balanced come from wrestling.
If you haven’t done wrestling we strongly recommend you try because just a small amount of work will make a huge difference long term when it comes to neck strength.
