Also known as: NS Choke · Kami Shiho Jime · Marcelo Choke (colloquial)
A patient strangle from north-south: your arm scoops under their neck, your shoulder drops over their jawline, and the choke closes as your hips sink and walk back — famous for finishing without any visible squeeze.
Submission · Strangle (blood choke) · Gi & No-gi · Difficulty 4/5 · Usually learned at Purple belt
Starts from North-South as the top player → ends the match (submission).
The details that make it work
Scoop the neck with your arm as you rotate to north-south; their chin ends in your armpit.
Drop your shoulder to the mat past their far ear — the choke is your shoulder and bicep, not your forearm.
Sink the hips low and walk them back slowly; impatience makes them crank the jaw instead of the carotids.
Where it goes wrong
Staying high on the toes with hips floating, letting the chin slip out under pressure.
How opponents counter it
Chin tuck and answer the arm scoop early
Turn in and knee through as the hips lift
Is the North-South Choke legal in competition?
Legal in all major rulesets at all levels (IBJJF, ADCC, sub-only). Rules change — always confirm against the current official rulebook for your event.
History & naming
Refined into a system and popularized by Marcelo Garcia.