Kata Juji JimeHow it works and how to improve it

01 / AT A GLANCE

Crossed arms, two different hands

Kata-juji-jime is the third of the twelve shime-waza (strangling techniques) in the katame-waza group of the Kodokan list of technique names, directly after nami-juji-jime and gyaku-juji-jime. “Juji” means a cross, describing the crossed forearms; “kata” here means one side or half. The IJF gives the English name “half cross-handed strangle.”

The IJF definition reads: “A strangle. Facing your opponent, cross your arms to grip his left lapel with your left hand, fingers inside, and his right lapel with your right hand, thumb inside, then strangle him using the actions”. On the date we checked it, the published sentence stops there, so this page does not complete the IJF wording from memory. What the text does fix is the grip: one hand goes in fingers first, which turns that palm up towards you, and the other goes in thumb first, which turns that palm down.

That mixed grip is the whole identity of the technique. In nami-juji-jime the IJF puts both thumbs inside, so both palms face down. In gyaku-juji-jime both hands go in fingers first, so both palms face up. Kata-juji-jime takes one hand from each: this is why the name means “half” cross, and why its feel on uke’s neck is not simply a copy of either neighbour.

Who this guide is for: judoka who already practise supervised ne-waza and have been shown shime-waza by a coach. Strangles are not self-taught from text. In every repetition the partner can tap or say “stop” and tori opens both hands immediately; practice never continues towards unconsciousness. Strangle rules depend on age group and event, so check what applies to you before using it in a contest.

Names you will meet: kata juji jime, kata-juji-jime, “half cross strangle” and “half cross-handed strangle” are the same Kodokan technique. Some coaching material calls the juji-jime group “cross chokes” or “lapel chokes”; those are descriptions, not separate techniques.

02 / WATCH THE TECHNIQUE

The Kodokan clip and a class on all three cross strangles

We inspected this clip by sampling still frames across its length on October 14, 2026, rather than by continuous playback, so the observations below are limited to what those frames show. The demonstration opens with both players kneeling and then seated face to face, before moving to uke lying on the back with tori kneeling astride. In a close-up during the kneeling part, the first hand reaches far round the side of uke’s neck, well past the front of the collar. In the ground part, tori’s upper body comes down over uke as the crossed forearms close at the neck, so tori’s head ends beside uke’s head. The clip also contains a short comparison segment captioned “Nami-juji-jime,” and later a kata-juji-jime segment with the caption “1 Thumb out / 1 Thumb in.”

When you watch it, follow four questions in order: how far round does the first hand go before the second one starts; which hand is palm up; where tori’s chest goes as the pressure comes on; and how quickly uke’s tap would be seen. Mark anything the camera hides as “not visible.”

We have not reviewed this class by playback and do not attribute specific instructions to it. The class covers all three cross strangles, so only part of its publisher chapter list is specific to this page. The chapters we use here are: closing the blood flow, not the air flow (0:18); it doesn’t matter which hand is on top (0:32); keep your elbows bent (2:02); fusegi (defence) practice and four escapes (3:02 to 5:24); people generally attack with one arm at a time (5:50); doing kata-juji-jime as fusegi from the bottom (6:21); a solution to stalling (7:05); these are generally done from the bottom (7:34); and “roll, roll, roll” (8:01). The times are the publisher’s cues, not timestamps we checked.

Two chapter titles shape this guide. Because the class says the top hand does not matter, our convention fixes only which hand is palm up and which is palm down, not which forearm crosses over. “Generally done from the bottom” and “as fusegi from the bottom” tell you that this group is taught from underneath as well as from on top, which is why section 3 treats both. A further coaching clip, Kata Juji Jime Turnover by Steve Scott’s Welcome Mat channel, is described by its publisher as a way to open the opponent up for a turnover into the choke and a pin; we cite it from that description only.

03 / WHEN TO APPLY IT

Facing uke, with the collar open enough for a deep first hand

All three juji-jime start facing uke, so kata-juji-jime appears in different places from the back strangles. You need three conditions together: you face uke, uke’s collar is not clamped shut by the chin or hands, and the first hand can travel deep before uke reacts. Check all three before committing.

On top, kneeling astride uke

With uke on the back and you kneeling astride the trunk, the lapels lie open in front of you and gravity helps the forearms settle. This is the position shown in the ground part of the Kodokan clip. The risk is the base: once both of your hands are in the collar, neither is free to post on the mat, so a strong bridge from uke can tip you. If your knees are not wide and low, fix that before the hands go in.

Underneath, with uke between your legs

The coaching video’s chapter titles say these strangles are generally done from the bottom. When uke kneels between your legs and leans in, both lapels hang towards you. Your legs, not your hands, have to stop uke posture up or pass; if your legs are open, uke simply straightens away from the crossed forearms. Treat legs control as part of the technique, not an extra.

Uke kneeling or turtled in front of you

If uke is on hands and knees facing you, the near lapels may be reachable but the neck is often protected by the chin. The first hand can sometimes slide in from the front while uke is busy with your legs or your arms. Without a way to turn uke over or keep uke from backing away, this is usually a grip to hold, not a strangle to finish.

When it is not available

If uke has the back towards you, the juji-jime group is the wrong family; look at okuri-eri-jime or hadaka-jime. If uke’s chin is jammed onto the collar and both hands guard the lapels, forcing the first hand in drags cloth over the jaw. If your category does not allow strangles, practise the grip and the pins only.

04 / HOW IT WORKS

One deep palm-up hand, one palm-down hand, then close

The steps below describe the IJF grip from on top, kneeling astride. From underneath the hands do the same jobs, but your legs replace your knees as the base and the angle of your forearms changes. Keep each check before moving on.

1. Settle the base before the hands

   Kneel astride uke’s trunk with your knees wide and your weight low, sitting towards uke’s hips rather than high on the chest. Your hands will both be in the collar shortly and cannot help you balance. Check: have uke give one gentle bridge before any grip; if you tip forward onto your hands, the base is not ready.

2. Left hand in first, fingers inside, palm up

   Your left hand reaches across to uke’s left lapel and goes in with the fingers, so the palm faces up towards you. Slide it high and deep round the side of the neck; in the Kodokan close-up the first hand travels well round the side of the neck before anything else happens. The deeper this hand goes, the less work is left for the second. Check: ask uke where your fingertips are. Fingertips still at the front of the collar mean the hand is too shallow.

3. Right hand crosses, thumb inside, palm down

   Your right hand crosses to uke’s right lapel and goes in thumb first, so the palm faces down. Your forearms now form an X in front of uke’s throat, with your left wrist turned palm up and your right wrist palm down. Whether the right arm crosses over or under the left one is the coach’s choice; the coaching video’s chapter list says it does not matter. Check: look down. You should see one palm and one back of the hand. If you see two palms or two backs, you have drifted into gyaku- or nami-juji-jime.

4. Close with the forearms, not by lifting uke

   The IJF text is cut off before it describes the strangling action, so we do not invent angles or directions. What the Kodokan frames show is tori’s upper body coming down over uke as the arms close, with tori’s head beside uke’s head. The coaching chapter titles add “keep your elbows bent” and “closing the blood flow, not the air flow,” which points at the sides of the neck rather than the windpipe. Apply slowly and let your coach shape the elbow and chest action. Check: uke reports pressure on both sides of the neck, not on the front of the throat, the chin or the face.

5. Open both hands on the tap

   On a tap or “stop,” open both hands and lift your forearms off the neck. Relaxing the fingers while your forearms still press across the throat is not a release. With both your arms busy, agree before each round that uke taps on your back, your leg or the mat, or says “stop.” If uke stops responding, open both grips, call the coach and end the drill. Check: after release, both of uke’s lapels are free and your forearms are clear of the neck.

Control points and the escapes they close: the wide, low knees deny the bridge-and-roll; the deep first hand means the second grip, not a long pull, finishes the strangle; the forearm X keeps the pressure on the sides of the neck; your chest coming down over uke takes away the space uke needs to push your elbows. Losing one of these opens a specific escape, which is how section 6 is organised.

Why the mixed grip matters: because the left hand is palm up and the right palm down, the two wrists sit differently against the neck. Uke may feel the two sides differently; ask uke to describe each side separately during low-pressure repetitions, and let the coach decide whether the difference needs correcting. This is an editorial suggestion for feedback, not a measured effect.

05 / KEY POINTS

Five checks for a controlled kata-juji-jime

Section 4 checks each step on a still partner. These cues are for rounds in which uke moves and defends. Pick one per round and write down what you saw.

1. The first hand is deep before the second moves

   Check: have a partner or coach call “where?” at the moment your right hand starts to move. If your left fingertips are not yet round the side of the neck, count that repetition as early.

2. One palm up, one palm down, every time

   Check: film from above or from the side and freeze the frame when both hands are set. Count the repetitions in which the grip was actually the kata-juji-jime grip. Under pressure, the second hand often switches to whatever is easiest.

3. Your base survives a bridge with both hands in

   Check: with both grips set and no pressure, uke bridges once at agreed intensity. Did your hands leave the collar to post on the mat? If yes, rebuild the base before adding pressure.

4. Pressure on the sides of the neck only

   Check: uke reports where the pressure sits on every repetition. Pressure on the windpipe, the jaw or the face means stop and reset, and that repetition does not count.

5. Choose to stop when the collar is closed

   Check: when uke’s chin and hands block the first hand, do you keep forcing it or change plan? The decision you want is to keep the pin, work the turnover branch in section 7, or reset.

06 / PROBLEMS & ADJUSTMENTS

Why does your kata-juji-jime stall?

Find which part failed first. Most pressure problems trace back to the first hand or the base.

07 / SETUPS & STRANGLE SWITCHES

Use uke’s reaction to choose the next action

Each branch names the starting position, tori’s first action, what uke does, and the action that this reaction makes possible. If the condition for the next action is missing, reset rather than forcing.

Write down which reaction you meet most often. If partners regularly give the back, your next session belongs to the back strangles; if they regularly guard with both hands, the hold branch deserves more time than the strangle.

08 / DEFENCES & ESCAPES

Close the collar, crowd the elbows, recover the base

Separate prevention (no deep first hand), defence (no pressure once hands are in) and escape (out from under the position). The coaching video’s publisher chapters list four escapes and a section on defence practice; your coach decides which ones you learn first.

Prevention: deny the first hand

The whole technique depends on the first hand going deep. Keep the chin down and the elbows in, and meet tori’s first hand at the collar before it slides round the side of the neck. Holding your own lapels can slow it, but do not lift your head to see what tori is doing; that opens the collar.

Defence: attack the hand that is not yet set

The coaching chapter list notes that people generally attack with one arm at a time. That gives uke a window: while tori has only one hand in, uke can control the second hand at the wrist or block the second lapel. Once both hands are set, pressure on tori’s elbows is a common defence, but grabbing fingers or twisting wrists is a safety problem, not a defence.

Escape: use tori’s missing base

From underneath tori’s mount, both of tori’s hands are in your collar and neither is posting. That is the moment a bridge-and-roll is most likely to work. Which side to roll to and how to trap tori’s leg are coaching details; turning the wrong way while the forearms are tight can increase the pressure. Once the forearms are closing and you feel the pressure building, stop escaping and tap.

Counters and exposure

If uke rolls tori, both players land in a scramble with tori’s hands still in the collar. Tori should let go rather than hold on through the roll. Uke, now on top, may have a chance to work towards a hold, which is a new positional task, not a reason to keep fighting the strangle.

09 / TRANSITIONS BETWEEN HOLDS & STRANGLES

Getting to the front, and leaving it safely

Kata-juji-jime rarely comes from nowhere. It follows a hold, a scramble or uke pulling you between the legs. Practise the arrival and the exit as carefully as the grip.

From a side hold to astride

From yoko-shiho-gatame or kesa-gatame, uke may push your hips away and create space over the belly. If your coach teaches the step over into astride, keep your chest heavy while one knee slides over; only when both knees are down and wide should the first hand look for the lapel.

When uke pulls you into the legs

If you end up between uke’s legs, the juji-jime group is now uke’s attack, not yours. Protect your collar first, and posture up as described in the defence section. This is the situation the coaching chapter “kata-juji-jime as fusegi from the bottom” addresses from uke’s side.

From the strangle to a hold

If uke defends the strangle well but stays flat, release the collar and change to a hold. Do not keep one hand in the collar as a handle while you change position; it is too easy to drag across the neck.

When uke escapes to the back or to the knees

The juji-jime is over. Follow to the back and treat it as a new problem: back control first, then a back strangle, a turnover, or a reset.

See the ne-waza drills guide and the ne-waza training plan for how to fit these transitions into a session.

10 / POSITIONAL ROUNDS

From a grip drill to a live choice

Change one variable per stage. Repetition counts and round lengths are editorial suggestions to adapt with your coach.

1. Grip sequence with no pressure

   Uke lies on the back; tori kneels astride. Left hand fingers-in deep, right hand thumb-in across, release. Uke reports where each hand sits. Progress when uke reports both hands on the sides of the neck in most repetitions and the grip is visibly mixed.

2. Light pressure and immediate release

   Tori closes slowly; uke taps early; both hands open. The coach calls random taps. Do not move on until every release is immediate, including late in the session when grips are tired.

3. Base test with both hands in

   Grips set, no pressure. Uke gives one agreed bridge. Tori keeps the base without posting. This isolates the vulnerability created by having both hands in the collar.

4. A real choice: strangle or hold

   Uke chooses one defence per round without telling tori: guard the collar, push the elbows, or turn away. Tori must pick the matching branch from section 7. Record what uke did and what tori chose.

5. From underneath, then from a scramble

   Repeat stages 1–2 with uke between tori’s legs. Then start from a side hold with uke escaping, so tori must arrive astride before the grips. This tests the arrival as well as the strangle.

Supervision: stages 2, 4 and 5 put pressure on the neck and are run only with a coach watching both partners. With no coach present, limit the session to stage 1, stage 3 and the hold branch.

11 / COMPETITION REPLAYS

Two IJF replay leads and their limits

On October 14, 2026 the IJF kata-juji-jime page listed one athlete under “most used by judoka” (Axel Clerget, France, three tagged contests) and ten competitions with tagged videos, most with one video each. We have not watched these replays, and we have not verified whether the tagged action scored, when it happened, or what tactics were involved.

World Championships Mixed Teams 2024: Clerget vs Babutsidze

The IJF selection “Kata-juji-jime by Clerget Axel” lists Axel Clerget against Luka Babutsidze at the Abu Dhabi World Championships Seniors 2024 Mixed Teams.

World Championships Baku 2018: Trippel vs Clerget

The same selection lists Eduard Trippel against Axel Clerget at the World Championships Seniors Baku 2018. Because the page credits the action to Clerget, he appears to be the one tagged with the technique even though he is listed second; we have not confirmed this from the replay.

Viewing questions for either replay

1. Position: is the attacker on top, underneath with the defender between the legs, or in a scramble?
2. The first hand: how deep does it go before the second hand starts, and is it palm up?
3. The grip: can you see one palm up and one palm down? If not, the tag may reflect a related grip; mark it unknown.
4. The base: what does the defender try with the hips while both of the attacker’s hands are in the collar?
5. The ending: a tap, a referee intervention or a break? Record only what you can see.

Senior contest footage reflects senior rules at that event. It does not show what is allowed in your age group or competition.

12 / VARIATIONS & COMPARISONS

Kata-juji-jime beside the other cross strangles

The quick test: look at your hands once both are set. Two backs of the hand: nami-juji-jime. Two palms: gyaku-juji-jime. One of each: kata-juji-jime. The names are official Kodokan techniques, not grip variations of one strangle, so record which one you practised.

Top hand and first hand: which forearm is on top and which hand goes first are functional choices within the technique. Our convention follows the order of the IJF sentence; a coach may prefer the palm-down hand first. Practise one order consistently before mixing them.

Top or bottom: astride and from underneath use the same grip but different bases. On top, the base is your knees and hips; underneath, it is your legs controlling uke’s posture. Treat them as two drills and record them separately.