Hadaka JimeHow it works and how to improve it

01 / AT A GLANCE

A strangle built from behind, without the jacket

Hadaka-jime, the naked strangle, is one of the twelve shime-waza (strangling techniques) in the Kodokan list of technique names, inside the katame-waza (grappling) group. “Naked” refers to the absence of any judogi grip. The IJF definition describes it from behind the opponent: the right inner forearm goes across the front of the neck, palm down, the hands clasp above the opponent’s left shoulder, and pressure is applied across the front of the throat through the combined action of both arms, “without gripping his judogi in any way.”

That last clause is what makes the technique distinctive. In okuri-eri-jime the lapels anchor your hands. Here nothing anchors them except your own clasp, so the quality of the position behind uke decides almost everything. An arm reaching round the neck from a loose, distant position gives uke time to turn round.

Reader: someone whose coach has already shown the class how strangles are applied and released; text cannot replace that lesson. In practice the partner taps or says “stop” and tori releases immediately and completely. Practice never continues towards unconsciousness, and the rules on strangles differ by age group and event, so check what applies to you before using it outside a supervised drill.

Names you will meet: hadaka jime, hadaka-jime and “naked strangle” refer to the same Kodokan technique.

02 / WATCH THE TECHNIQUE

An official demonstration and a coach’s tips

The Kodokan clip is the reference for the official form. Watch it with the IJF wording beside you and look for four things: where tori’s chest is relative to uke’s back before the arm moves; which forearm crosses the neck and which way the palm faces; where the two hands meet; and whether the pressure comes from the arms acting together rather than a backward pull on the head. If the camera angle hides one of these, mark it “not visible” rather than filling it in from memory.

We have not reviewed this coaching video by playback, so we do not attribute specific instructions to it. Its publisher chapter list is useful as a map of topics: definition (0:00), risk to the esophagus (0:37), shoulder placement (1:04), keep your elbow down (1:19), turn, don’t pull (1:30), wrist placement (1:51), perfect practice makes perfect (2:40), defending against hadaka-jime (3:26), another defence (4:41), uchikomi practice for both parties (4:54), hadaka-jime from kata-gatame (6:14), from kesa-gatame (6:55) and another variation (7:55). Those times are the publisher’s cues, not checked timestamps.

Use the chapter titles as questions to bring to your own coach. “Turn, don’t pull” invites the question of what rotation replaces a backward pull. “Risk to the esophagus” signals that pressure across the front of the throat has its own hazards, which is a reason to apply slowly. The two hold-entry chapters are discussed as questions in section 9.

03 / WHEN TO APPLY IT

Opportunities come from uke turning away

Hadaka-jime needs you behind uke with the neck reachable, which usually appears only when uke turns away from you.

Uke turtles after a throw attempt

A partner who lands face down or goes to hands and knees to avoid a score presents the back. If you can settle your chest on uke’s upper back with your weight controlled, the right forearm may be able to slide in front of the neck. If you are still standing or kneeling at arm’s length, the first job is closing that distance, not reaching for the neck.

Uke turns away to escape a pin

Escaping kesa-gatame or kata-gatame sometimes involves turning onto the front. During that turn the neck and back may briefly become available. The publisher chapter list of the coaching video names entries from both holds, which is consistent with this idea, but the particular route must come from your coach.

Uke sits up with you behind

In some drills uke sits with tori behind. The upper body is upright, which makes the forearm line clearer to see and easier for a beginner to control at low pressure. It is a teaching start; in live groundwork, expect the turtle and turn-away situations instead.

When it is not available

If uke faces you, you are not behind them, and an arm round the neck from the front is a different (and often unsafe) action. If uke’s chin is already down on the chest and both hands guard the neck, a forced forearm will land on the jaw or face. That is a cue to change the plan: keep back control, switch to a lapel strangle such as okuri-eri-jime if the jacket is available, or work a turnover.

04 / HOW IT WORKS

Position first, then the forearm line, then slow pressure

The stages must happen in order: skipping the position makes the arm fail; rushing the pressure is a safety problem. Forearm depth, head position beside uke’s and which hand clasps on top are left to your coach.

1. Back control: chest to back, hips close

   Get your chest onto uke’s upper back and your hips close enough that uke cannot turn round to face you just by rotating. When uke is on the knees, your knees or feet need to stay behind uke so that you can follow a sideways roll. When uke is sitting, your legs on either side of uke’s hips help keep the back facing you; check with your coach which leg positions are permitted, as crossed-leg squeezes of the trunk are a separate rules matter. Check: uke tries a slow quarter-turn towards you. If uke’s shoulder reaches your chest without you moving, the back control was not there yet.

2. Lay the right forearm across the front of the neck

   The IJF wording is precise: the inner forearm, palm down, across the front of the neck. Bring the right arm in past uke’s right side of the head so the forearm lies under the chin, not on the jaw and not round the side of the head. Shoulder and wrist placement are chapter topics in the coaching video; have your coach set both. Check: before any pressure, uke tells you where they feel the forearm. “On my jaw” or “on my face” means reset.

3. Clasp above the left shoulder

   The hands meet above uke’s left shoulder. Your left hand is now the anchor that the judogi would otherwise provide. Keep the clasp close to uke rather than out in space where uke can easily pull it apart. Ask your coach which elbow the chapter title “keep your elbow down” refers to in their version. Check: uke tries to peel your hands apart with one hand at low effort. If the clasp opens immediately, look at where it sits before squeezing harder.

4. Apply pressure slowly with both arms together

   The definition says the pressure comes from the combined action of both arms across the front of the throat. Your chest stays on uke’s back, so pressure comes from closing the space rather than leaning backward and dragging uke’s head with you. The chapter title “turn, don’t pull” points in the same direction. In practice, raise the pressure gradually, starting from almost nothing, so uke can tap long before it is strong; the drill ends at the tap, not at a set level of pressure. Check: the coach can see uke’s hands free to tap and uke reports a pressure building across the throat, not a sudden jolt or a twist of the neck.

5. Release is part of the technique

   On a tap, a “stop”, a sudden limpness or any doubt, open the clasp and take the forearm away from the neck immediately. Do not hold “just a moment longer” to be sure. If uke stops responding at any point, release at once, call the coach and end the drill; never “test” whether a partner is all right by continuing. Because uke defends this strangle with the hands on your right wrist, agree before every round that a spoken “stop” counts as a tap, so a partner whose hands are busy still has a signal. Check: the coach watches the time between tap and full release; it should be immediate every time, including when tori is tired.

What closes uke’s escape paths: chest contact stops uke turning in; your base behind uke stops a forward roll from throwing you off; the forearm under the chin stops the chin from dropping further once it is in; the clasp stops uke stripping the arm with both hands. Each control has a clear way to fail, which is why the problems section treats them separately.

05 / KEY POINTS

Five checks for a controlled hadaka-jime

The checks in section 4 are made on a still partner. These five cues are for moving rounds, where the order breaks down first. Choose one per round and record it.

1. Chest arrives before the right hand passes uke’s ear

   Check: film a positional round from the side and pause at the frame where your right hand passes uke’s right ear. Count the entries where your chest was already on uke’s back at that frame. Entries without contact are the ones uke turned out of.

2. A tucked chin is a decision point, not an obstacle

   Check: after the round uke says how many times the forearm met the chin or jaw and you kept pushing. The target is zero: each one should have become “hold the back” or a switch to the lapel.

3. The clasp sits above the left shoulder under a real pull

   Check: in a round where uke defends at agreed intensity, note whether the clasp drifted in front of uke’s shoulder before it was broken. Drift first means position; no drift means grip method, a coach question.

4. Uke’s head stays in line with the spine

   Check: from the side, the coach watches uke’s head while you close the arms. If it is being bent back or twisted, the pressure is going to the cervical spine instead of the front of the throat. Release and reset; that repetition does not count.

5. Your hips follow uke, the arms do not chase

   Check: when uke shifts sideways on the knees, does your chest move with uke’s back, or does your right arm stretch to keep its place? A stretching arm means you are holding the neck to hold the position, which is when lines slip onto the jaw.

06 / PROBLEMS & ADJUSTMENTS

Why does your hadaka-jime fail?

Look for the first thing that went wrong, not the last. Most failed strangles were lost before the arm reached the neck.

07 / SETUPS & STRANGLE SWITCHES

Link the strangle to what uke defends

A good strangle attempt changes uke’s priorities: hands go to the neck, the chin drops, the elbows leave the body. Each of those responses opens something else. Each sequence below lists the start, the first action, uke’s response and the next action, with a stop condition.

Record the response you actually got (tuck, strip or turn); after a few sessions it tells you which branch to practise first.

08 / DEFENCES & ESCAPES

Defend the neck early, then recover the position

Distinguish three things: prevention (not letting the forearm in), defence (stopping pressure once the arm is there) and escape (getting out of back control). The coaching video’s publisher chapter list includes two defence chapters and an uchikomi drill “for both parties”; ask your coach which defence they want you to learn first.

Prevention: do not give the back cheaply

When you go to the knees, keep the elbows close to the knees and the chin down. Avoid lifting the head to look around while tori is behind you; that is exactly when the forearm finds its line. If you are escaping a pin, know where you are turning: turning away from tori may expose the back.

Defence: hands on the strangling arm, chin protected

For our right-sided convention, tori’s right forearm is the threat. Uke’s hands control that wrist and forearm, keeping it from settling under the chin, while the chin stays low. The aim is to stop the line forming, not to wrestle tori’s whole arm. Do not grab tori’s fingers or bend them back; that is not a judo defence and can injure a partner.

Escape: recover a facing position

Once the neck is safe, work on removing tori from the back: turning towards tori as the chest contact weakens, or clearing a leg so you can face. The direction and steps of the escape are something to learn from a coach, because a wrong turn can tighten the line. If the strangle tightens while you are escaping, tap. The escape drill is not a test of endurance.

Counters and exposure

Escaping the back may leave you in a position where you can work for a hold yourself. Treat that as a separate positional task. Never use a counter that pulls on tori’s neck or twists a trapped arm to escape.

09 / TRANSITIONS FROM HOLDS & TURNOVERS

How groundwork arrives at the back

Hadaka-jime is usually the end of a chain: a throw, a hold, an escape attempt, a turn.

From a hold when uke turns away

Suppose you hold kesa-gatame from uke’s right side and uke escapes by turning onto the front, away from you. The coaching video’s chapter list names entries from kesa-gatame and kata-gatame; we have not inspected them, so ask your coach. What you can check yourself: when uke turns away, can you follow with your chest onto the back before uke settles on the knees? If not, the hold-to-back link is your training focus.

From a throw that ends in turtle

After an attack, uke may land on the front or the knees. Move behind uke rather than staying at the side, then establish chest contact. Grabbing for the neck from the side tends to give uke a moment to sit out or face you.

From the strangle to a hold

If uke frees the neck and rolls onto the back, the position may now suit a hold. Release the strangle first, then establish the hold’s controls. A hold reached by dragging uke over by the neck is not a technique to practise.

When you lose the back

If uke turns to face you, the strangle is gone. Recover a safe top position or reset the drill. Chasing the neck from the front is where accidental neck cranks happen.

For session design that ties these links together, see the ne-waza drills guide and the ne-waza training plan.

10 / POSITIONAL ROUNDS

From a still forearm line to a live positional round

Add one source of difficulty at a time and agree the stop signal before each stage. Round lengths here are editorial suggestions to adapt with your coach, not a prescription.

1. Placement only, no pressure

   Uke sits; tori settles behind and places the forearm line and clasp. Uke reports where the forearm is. The coach checks the line, head alignment and clasp. Progress when uke consistently reports the forearm across the front of the neck.

2. Light application and the release drill

   Tori applies slow, light pressure; uke taps early; tori opens fully. Repeat with the coach occasionally calling the tap. Progress only when every release is immediate. This stage also teaches uke to tap early and calmly.

3. Back control without the strangle

   Uke on the knees tries to turn and face tori; tori may only use chest, hips and base. Short rounds. This isolates the position that problem four exposes.

4. Back control with the strangle as one option

   Uke defends the neck with an agreed defence. Tori may establish the line at controlled intensity. Uke taps if pressure arrives. Count line established, line blocked and back lost as separate outcomes.

5. Start from a hold

   Begin in kesa-gatame or kata-gatame. Uke escapes by turning away; tori follows to the back. Then the stage four task. This tests whether you can reach the position, not just use it.

A successful stage four round with one partner does not mean the skill transfers to a stronger or more defensive partner. Change one variable at a time when you try a new partner: first a partner of different size at the same agreed defence, then the same partner with a freer defence.

Who supervises: a coach who can see both players should be present for any strangle practice. If you train without one, keep to placement and back-control drills only.

11 / COMPETITION REPLAYS

Two IJF replay leads, and what they do not prove

The IJF athlete technique pages list contests under a technique tag. We checked two such listings on October 10, 2026. Each listing sits on an athlete page headed “Hadaka-jime by …”, which credits the tagged action to Igor Wandtke and Francisco Garrigos respectively. We have not verified whether it scored, the time it happened, or any tactics, and we have not watched the footage.

Grand Prix Upper Austria 2025: Garrigos vs Ray

The IJF hadaka-jime selection lists Francisco Garrigos (ESP, white) against Kelvin Ray (FRA, blue) at the Grand Prix Upper Austria 2025.

Budapest Grand Prix 2019: Wandtke vs Khomula

The IJF hadaka-jime selection lists Igor Wandtke (GER, white) against Artem Khomula (UKR, blue) at the Budapest Grand Prix 2019.

Viewing questions for either replay

1. Before the arm: how did the attacker get behind? Throw outcome, turtle, a turn away from a hold, or something else?
2. Back control: where is the attacker’s chest relative to the defender’s back when the arm first moves?
3. The line: can you see which forearm crosses the neck and where the hands meet? Mark it unknown if the angle hides it.
4. The defence: what does the defender do with the hands and chin, and does it change the attacker’s choice?
5. The ending: is there a tap, a referee intervention or a break? Record only what you can see.

Contest footage reflects the rules at that event for senior athletes. It does not tell you what is permitted in your age group or competition.

12 / VARIATIONS & COMPARISONS

Hadaka-jime among the Kodokan strangles

Informal variations: coaches and the publisher chapter list (“another variation”) mention versions that differ in the clasp, the position of the head or the starting position. Treat each as its own lesson. If a variation grips the jacket, it is no longer hadaka-jime in the IJF sense; check whether it has a different official name.

Seated or turtle start: the same arm line on a sitting uke and on a turtled uke is a different positional problem. On the knees, uke’s base and forward roll matter; seated, uke’s turn and hip escape matter. Practise them separately.

Other sports: similar arm-only strangles from the back exist in other grappling sports under other names and rules; do not import their leg positions into judo without checking.