The Complete Triangle Breakdown

Welcome to the second edition of the Fighters Market Breakdown series, brought to you by your favorite social scientist black belt.

As I mentioned in the first edition – The Complete Armbar Breakdown – despite the impressive, and sometimes overwhelming, body of techniques in modern jiu-jitsu, there are just a handful of core principles that underlie them all. Some of these apply to Brazilian-jiu-jitsu in general, and some apply specifically to certain submissions and positions. 

In the previous article, I explained how this worked with the armbar. An armbar works the exact same way, whether it’s from guard, from top-side control, inside the triangle guard, etc. Understanding how an armbar works – the underlying principles – will allow you to make the necessary modifications to execute, no matter how far removed it is from the textbook scenario.

So, let’s examine every lanky BJJ practitioner’s favorite: the triangle.   

The Triangle Defined

Let’s return to the exercise in which you try to describe ALL triangles, as succinctly as possible, to someone who doesn’t know anything about jiu-jitsu. Go ahead. It’s hard, right? You probably found yourself explaining how to get into one, but not necessarily summarizing the defining characteristic of all triangles. 

For one, all chokes – no matter what kind, triangles or otherwise – work to constrict the airway, the arteries and/or the veins of the neck, or both. In all triangles, this constriction is created by compression on three sides of the neck; two of the sides by one of your legs, and the third side by some other obstruction or vehicle of force.

A Little Anatomy Lesson

This breakdown wouldn’t be “complete” if I didn’t delve a bit further into the specific bodily structures mentioned above. Jiu-Jitsu is often referred to as “anatomical chess.” As such, a deeper understanding of human anatomy will provide a competitive edge on the mat.

As mentioned, one way to execute a choke is to constrict your opponent’s airway, often called an “air choke”. This is accomplished by squeezing the trachea – also known as the windpipe – which is the large tube made of rings of cartilage that connects your larynx to your lungs. As you breathe, your lungs pull oxygen through this tube by way of your nasal pathways or your mouth.

Why is this important? Specifically, every single cell in our body needs oxygen to be able to carry out the functions it is designed to do. Without oxygen, our cells die… and we die. And according to research, it takes only 33 pounds of pressure to close off the trachea. To give you an idea of how little that is, the average grip strength is approximately 73 pounds for men, and 44 for women.

Another way to execute a choke is to constrict the veins and/or arteries running alongside the trachea. Specifically, these are the carotid arteries (the pipes delivering oxygenated blood to the brain) and the jugular veins (the pipes that move de-oxygenated blood away from the brain. We’ve already discussed how important oxygen is for the cells. It is also important that deoxygenated blood is carried away from those cells because they also transport waste products, such as carbon dioxide, back to the lungs to be respired out. 

If this natural circulatory process to the brain is interrupted, it will cause unconsciousness. If interrupted for too long… brain injury or even death can occur. Particularly for the carotid arteries, it takes as little as 5.5 pounds of pressure, for as little as 10 seconds, to put your opponent to sleep.

The Third Side

When you think about the typical “textbook” triangle from guard, you know that your thigh forms one side, with the back of your knee close against the side of your opponent’s neck, and the length of your lower leg across the back of his/her neck forms the second side. To finish the triangle, you know that your opponent’s arm should cross his/her body to form the third side. The combined compression of all three sides constricts the air and blood ways.

But not all triangles must be – or are – finished this way. For one, and the most common, is if your opponent wraps his/her arm around your thigh, preventing you from passing the arm across and closing off the third side. Or, think about a triangle from the back. Your leg provides the two sides alongside the neck, making the arm across the neck redundant. The third side in this scenario is alongside the back of the neck. Or, what about a no-arm-in triangle?

In each of these, you must make modifications to account for the third side. For example, in the first scenario you might use your fist against your opponent’s throat to replace the arm (same thing with the third scenario). Or you might reverse your triangle lock to the “incorrect” side, so as to apply pressure in such a way that his/her shoulder drives into the side of the neck, regardless of the thigh wrap. In the second scenario, you might recognize the leg against the back of the neck merely served to help push the neck toward the front V of the triangle, and you can simply push the head away from you with your hands.   

Once you understand that you simply have to address the three sides in some way, you’ll find yourself coming up with any number of creative adjustments. And hey, you might even invent a new technique!

Bonus Black Belt Tips

What would a breakdown be without a few spicy black belt bonus tips? Here are a couple of my favorites:

• No Ballerina Feet - With your foot on the ground, lift you’re the front of your foot, keeping your heel in place. This activates your “hook”. But also notice how that simple movement engages the muscles of your calves and hamstrings. The most common error I see people make with the triangle is failing to activate their hooks, which weakens their ability to execute a quick and effective submission. Remember: no ballerina feet.
• Boycott Thigh (Knee) Gap – Another problem I see – especially with you long-legged people – is too much space between the back of the thigh and knee and your opponent’s neck. This defeats the whole mission of using your legs to compress around the neck. Boycott that gap by pulling your lower leg across their shoulder until you get connection. Then, depending on how much “extra leg” you have on the other side, you might also consider locking your triangle further up your shin, to eliminate space on the other side.

That’s all I have for you today. Happy training, and stay tuned for another Fighters Market in-depth breakdown.