The triangle choke explained: Everything you need to know about the BJJ submission
A quick explainer on one of the most effective chokes in jiu-jitsu.
The triangle is a blood choke which happens to be one of the most effective and versatile submissions as it can be set up from most positions. In this article, we will do a quick dive into everything you should know about the triangle choke.
What is a triangle choke?
A triangle is a choke submission where a competitor locks a figure four with the recipient’s neck and one arm trapped inside, ideally moving to a perpendicular angle to tighten and finish the choke.
How do you set up a triangle choke?
In order to set up a triangle, the attacker must have one arm “in” and one arm “out” and then lock up a figure four around the opponent’s neck while breaking his posture and getting to a perpendicular angle to apply the choke.
A common misconception is that to finish a triangle, you need to pull on the head when this isn’t the case at all. The best method to finish the triangle is to move to a perpendicular angle, removing the opponent’s shoulder from inside the lock, and closing the space between your legs, their arm and neck, ultimately making it tighter.
In the video below, a young Nicky Ryan displays a triangle setup from seated guard and demonstrates the angle cut.
Ideally, the arm left in the figure four will be dragged across the centreline, aiding with cutting off the blood flow to the opponent’s brain. If not, the arm can be used to create space inside the figure four alleviating the choke.
What positions can you apply a triangle choke from?
As aforementioned, the triangle is also one of the most versatile submissions not only because of the multitude of positions it can be applied from but also how it can be chained together with other submissions, namely the omoplata and the armbar. You can see how these link together in the bonus section of our Charles Oliveira article.
Here are a few of the positions a triangle can be set up from:
Closed guard:
Mount:
Back control:
What are the different types of triangle chokes?
Locking up a figure four with one arm in, one arm out isn’t the only way of applying triangle chokes. In fact, there are quite a few variations of the triangle which we’ll go through below.
The cryangle:
The Cryangle involves an opponent’s leg inside the figure four lock rather than an arm. UFC featherweight Ryan Hall demonstrates this from 5050 guard in the video below:
The teepee triangle:
The teepee triangle works when an opponent manages to work the “in” arm back across the centreline and will usually tuck it behind his own leg, creating space inside the figure four and alleviating the choke.
In response, the person applying the triangle will shoot both legs high and cross them at the ankles and then gable grip his hands behind the opponents head making sure to keep their elbows directly behind their own knees.
The elbows will squeeze the knees together and the legs will extend - tightening the choke without having to lock a figure four or apply a huge squeeze due to the arm position of the opponent.
Own arm triangle:
There is a triangle variation where the person applying the submission can feed their own arm into the figure four instead of using an opponent’s to cut off blood flow and apply the choke. Romulo Barral used this to submit fellow jiu-jitsu legend Bernardo Faria at the IBJJF World Championship in 2010 as a counter to the double under guard pass.
Romulo also demonstrated his technique to Bernardo on his YouTube channel years later:
Overall, the triangle choke is one of the most fun, simple, reliable and adaptable submissions in the game and everyone should learn how to properly apply them, regardless of whether they’re a UFC fighter or are embarking on their own unique jiu-jitsu journey.