The necktie, or Thai Clinch, is predominantly used in MMA for striking, with under/overhooks used for takedowns mainly. However, in sub wrestling, people will grab the back of your head a lot. This is mainly because it’s easier to grab someone’s head than get a decent underhook, and holding on to something is better than nothing, right? 
From the photo above, you can see that a) if my shoulders are low, it’ far easier for Conor to grab the back of my neck, and b) that camera angle adds 10lbs
As you can see from above, active shoulders cuts off your neck as a decent handle to grab onto. All defences should start with shrugged shoulders. In fact, in all wrestling, your shoulders should be shrugged.
Defence 1: The Shrug Off
This is an early defence against neck grabs in the clinch. It’s dependent on your opponent not having a great hold of your neck. It’s best employed as they reach for you.
Reach up with your opposite hand and catch your opponent’s wrist (not elbow) with a thumbless grip. A thumbless grip is one where your fingers are in line with your fingers, rather than wrapped around his wrist.
Turn violently away from your opponent and use that elevated shoulder to knock his wrist off. Think like you’re doing some esoteric Aikido move and snapping his arm like in a Bruce Lee movie. It’s very important that you turn away, not down. There shouldn’t be any forward bending at the hips here. If it’s done completely right, your opponent should fall slightly forward.
With your near hand (in the picture it’s my right) grip his upper arm, in a similar motion as a normal underhook. This is called a two-on-one, and is useful for a lot of takedowns in submission wrestling. In MMA it’s use is limited because you’re left vulnerable to strikes. However, you can transition from a two-on-one to a shoot or underhook grip quickly enough.
This is called the Russian two-on-one, and is useful for pain compliance to get a takedown, or escorting someone out the door.
- Push your left hand down (his wrist towards his crotch)
- Shove your right fist in between his arm and yours. Note how I keep the ’sharp’ part of my arm in contact with his wrist. This is useful for pain compliance.
- Pull your left hand back up as you push down sharply with your right hand. For those of you who’ve done traditional martial arts this is a downward block motion. See, it’s all there in your kata!
Defence 2: Push Off
This is used against a Thai Clinch, and is a stronger defence than the shrug off so it can be used when the grip is tighter. However, the earlier you start your defence, the better your chance of escape.
As the Thai clinch comes on (in this photo Conor’s just grabbing with one arm so you can see mine) reach up through his arms and hook onto the inside of your opponent’s elbow.
As above, but with the actual Thai Clinch on.
With your right hand, push his face back hard. In MMA, this can be done as a strike, but still it’s best as a push. The key is to get your arm straight. In most cases, you’ll need to walk/run into your opponent to really drive him back.
If your arm is locked out straight, your elbow should be in between his arms. Drop your elbow down (again, it’s all in your Kata!) to completely break the Thai clinch.
From here, transition to an Underhook.
As stated before, the earlier you defend against a neck attack like the Thai clinch the better. Once a Thai clinch is on, it’s really hard to escape without a serious loss of balance or taking a few shots.
Conor wasn’t harmed in the making of this instructional post.