MatthieuFrederickW
Specialist
- Feb 6, 2023
- 302
I read this answer from a Quora user about the carotid blood choke and he says that the fingers don't have a large enough surface area to properly compress the carotids enough to cut off blood flow to the brain when you apply blood choke on yourself. Does this mean that with full or partial suspension hanging that a 20mm rope is more recommended than one that's 10mm? I've read several here say that 20mm is too thick to use. Anyway, here is the Quora comment:
I'm neither a martial artist nor a human physiologist, but I did become a cop in an era and a department where the "carotid control" was used widely and with great effectiveness. It was banned when a colleague "choked out" a gentleman who was under the influence of cocaine at the time, and he died as a result. Up until then, I probably used the carotid control a hundred times or more with no harm to myself or the people who were resisting. This might sound barbaric, but we saw it as a technique that worked every time, no matter how big the subject was, and no one got hurt. I've been choked out, hit with batons, sprayed with pepper spray and subjected to numerous pain compliance holds (we do, after all, have to practice on each other), and while the choke hold is a little frightening at first, it's painless and harmless when used properly and on healthy people. This is not the case with the other methods I've experienced.
That said, I don't think it would be possible to put yourself out with a carotid control. First, it's close to impossible to do this with your hands. The fingers just don't have enough surface area to properly compress the carotid arteries enough to occlude blood flow to the brain. When the hold is properly and typically applied, the inner surfaces of the arm above and below the elbow joint make a "V" on the front lateral aspects of the neck, with the point of the elbow directly below the chin. The arm compresses the carotid arteries against the muscles of the neck, momentarily cutting off the blood flow to the brain and producing unconciousness. I doubt that anyone could get their arm into the proper position to do this to themselves, and in any event the arm would relax as you lost conciousness. I think you would wake up before you went out.
As you pointed out in the question, people do regularly end their lives accidentally through autoerotic asphxiation, but the typical tecnique is to tie a cord or other constrictor around the neck, suspended from above. The length of the cord is adjusted so that it goes tight as the subject bends their legs. When they're on the brink of consciousness, they straighten their legs and release the pressure on the cord. If they go too far, they lose consciousness, the legs go limp, and the brain dies of blood-oxygen deprivation.
This is a good illustration. Also gotta love how there's like a 100 different terms for each thing. Any help would be appreciated.
I'm neither a martial artist nor a human physiologist, but I did become a cop in an era and a department where the "carotid control" was used widely and with great effectiveness. It was banned when a colleague "choked out" a gentleman who was under the influence of cocaine at the time, and he died as a result. Up until then, I probably used the carotid control a hundred times or more with no harm to myself or the people who were resisting. This might sound barbaric, but we saw it as a technique that worked every time, no matter how big the subject was, and no one got hurt. I've been choked out, hit with batons, sprayed with pepper spray and subjected to numerous pain compliance holds (we do, after all, have to practice on each other), and while the choke hold is a little frightening at first, it's painless and harmless when used properly and on healthy people. This is not the case with the other methods I've experienced.
That said, I don't think it would be possible to put yourself out with a carotid control. First, it's close to impossible to do this with your hands. The fingers just don't have enough surface area to properly compress the carotid arteries enough to occlude blood flow to the brain. When the hold is properly and typically applied, the inner surfaces of the arm above and below the elbow joint make a "V" on the front lateral aspects of the neck, with the point of the elbow directly below the chin. The arm compresses the carotid arteries against the muscles of the neck, momentarily cutting off the blood flow to the brain and producing unconciousness. I doubt that anyone could get their arm into the proper position to do this to themselves, and in any event the arm would relax as you lost conciousness. I think you would wake up before you went out.
As you pointed out in the question, people do regularly end their lives accidentally through autoerotic asphxiation, but the typical tecnique is to tie a cord or other constrictor around the neck, suspended from above. The length of the cord is adjusted so that it goes tight as the subject bends their legs. When they're on the brink of consciousness, they straighten their legs and release the pressure on the cord. If they go too far, they lose consciousness, the legs go limp, and the brain dies of blood-oxygen deprivation.
This is a good illustration. Also gotta love how there's like a 100 different terms for each thing. Any help would be appreciated.
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