There seems to be a lot of confusion between an air choke and a blood choke. Many people cannot even differentiate between the two. We'll go ahead and clear up some of the differences and myths right now. Some common questions are as follows:

Which choke is more effective?

Let's start off the answer to this one with a little overview of the differences. An air choke is basically what it says. A choke that cuts off the airway of the person being choked. It takes a considerable amount of strength and time to pull off as a person can stay conscious without air for a few minutes.
The blood choke on the other hand compresses one, or both of the carotid arteries and/or the jugular veins without crushing the airway. What this does is cuts off the blood supply to the brain, therefore cutting off the cells bringing the brain oxygen. If applied correctly, a blood choke can render a person unconscious in between four to ten seconds.

Are blood and air chokes safe to practice?

Blood chokes are considered safe for practice as no part of the throat is permanently damaged. As soon as the choke is released the blood begins to flow again and the person the choke was applied to will be fine.
Air chokes on the other hand are not considered safe for practice. Since an air choke requires more strength, take much longer, and are applied to the crushable airway, there is a much higher risk for someone to be injured.

How many different kind of blood chokes are there?

Here are a few examples, rear naked choke, guillotine choke, triangle choke, and anaconda choke. If you would like to see some videos of these chokes, so you can see them in application, visit www.getsnooky.com and click on the training videos on the right side.

Thank you and I hope this information is very useful for you!