How to Perform a Samurai Karate Choke Defense Against a Sword Strike

While this defensive choke was originally designed to counter an overhand sword swing, it's also quite effective against an opponent using a club or striking with a bare fist.

Step 1:
Allow your opponent to step toward you and begin to stab at your upper body and swing his weapon in an overhand strike.

Step 2:
Sidestep and step inward toward your opponent as his/her attack begins to let the attack brush past you. You must sidestep in the direction which places you outside your opponent’s range of attack, meaning his arm is past you and you are pressed at an angle against his back.

Step 3:
Lower your body at the knees in order to get the top of your shoulder underneath of your opponent’s arm. When pressed against your opponent the top of your shoulder should be wedged underneath your opponent’s armpit.

Step 4:
Wrap that arm up and around the front of your opponent’s collar. Do not worry about holding onto your opponent with this hand, which is not its purpose. Instead your arm should be wrapped around your opponent’s chest, terminating on the opposite side of his neck. Ideally the side of your arm just a few inches about the wrist should be pressed into his neck.

Step 5:
Grab the wrist of your arm with your other hand and pull both arms toward you to place pressure on the side of your attacker’s neck.

Step 6:
Press the foot of the leg furthest from your opponent firmly against the back of his heel to sweep his leg off the ground. Fall onto your side as you do so, pulling your opponent down with you onto his back. As you fall, increase the pressure against the side of your opponent’s neck as much as you can, twisting with the arm crossing the front of his chest. Make sure to hit the ground so that the upper portion of the arm wrapped around the back of the neck lands flat. If done correctly the force of the impact against the ground combined with the pressure you’ve exerted will break your opponent’s neck.