An instructor of the Municipal Police Guard of Limeira, São Paulo, Brazil demonstrates a RNC, but fails to realize the trainee is unconscious, for 25 seconds. The trainee then goes into convulsions. it is very uncomfortable to watch.
A person can go unconscious from a choke with their eyes still open, and can appear conscious. You can hear the fellow trainees speaking to the unconscious man as if he was awake, telling him to resist. Sometimes in a combat sports situation, it takes even a highly trained referee moving a combatants arm to see if he or she is awake or asleep.
In this case however, the instructor’s behavior is unconscionable. A self defense instructor should know the effects of a choke applied, and at the very least, if the student is unmoving, should assume he has gone out.
7th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Sylvio Behring spoke with Brazil’s Combate about the outrageous incident.
This is lack of knowledge,” the master explained. “The student had already been unconscious for a long time! This can cause serious damage to the individual. It wasn’t just carelessness of the instructor, but nobody realized when the individual had fainted.
“If it were a arresting procedure of a dangerous individual and he was alone, it could be justified, but in this case it was the carelessness of the instructor. The student was unconscious for a total of 25 seconds. It’s dangerous because 30 seconds and the damage could be irreversible.
That’s why in some countries this technique for police use is prohibited and considered attempted murder, by lack of knowledge of who applies or teaches. I’m not condemning technical knowledge itself, but the way it is used in real situations and in training.
Chokes are generally categorized as either “blood/carotid” chokes, or “trachea” chokes. The former compress the upper airway (air/trachea, larynx or laryngopharynx) preventing air from reaching the lungs. This takes an extended period of time to induce unconsciousness (think holding your breath). However, it is causes excruciating pain, and can lead to a quick tap. Trachea chokes can also cause fractures of the larynx or hyoid bone, and can be fatal.
By contrast, blood chokes are relatively safe. These close off the carotid arteries and or jugular veins supplying blood to the brain, and can cause unconsciousness in seconds. They do however have to be released immediately upon unconsciousness, or in time, brain damage could occur.
