The triangle choke in BJJ is a strangle where your legs form a triangle around the opponent's neck and one of their arms. Their own shoulder presses one carotid artery and your thigh presses the other. You usually set it up from guard, and it only gets truly tight once you fix the angle by pivoting to the side.
In judo it is called sankaku-jime (triangle strangle). The mechanics are identical. It is one of the few submissions that is almost entirely a leg technique: the hands only guide the head.
The rule: one arm in, one arm out
The triangle rests on a single condition. One of their arms is between your legs and the other is outside. With both arms in, they push and escape. With both arms out, your leg squeezes only the back of their neck and does nothing to the carotids.
That trapped arm does half the work. When you squeeze, their shoulder drives into their own neck. That is why pulling the trapped arm across your belly, toward your opposite hip, so often makes the difference at the finish.
The setup from closed guard
From closed guard, the simplest entry goes like this:
- Control both wrists or both sleeves.
- Push one wrist into their belly and pull the other toward you.
- Open your guard and shoot the leg on the side of the pulled arm over their shoulder and behind their neck.
- Your other foot pushes on their hip so you can scoot back and make room.
- Grab your ankle over their back and lock it by tucking your foot under the bend of your other knee.
The leg across the neck has to sit high. If your calf rests on their shoulder instead of behind the neck, the triangle stays soft.
The angle changes everything
Once the triangle is locked, most beginners stay flat on their back, square to the opponent, and squeeze their knees. It barely works.
Pivot. Put your free foot on their hip on the side of the arm that is out, and use it to rotate your body. Your head swings outward, toward their leg. You want to finish almost perpendicular to them, like clock hands at three o'clock.
Only then:
- Pull their head down with both hands.
- Drag the trapped arm across your body.
- Lift your hips while squeezing your knees.
If you can grab their leg on the side you pivoted to, do it. They can no longer turn to relieve the pressure.
Other entries
The triangle appears almost anywhere their arm position leaves a gap. From mount, when they push with one arm, you can climb toward their head and fall into the triangle. From open guard, it often follows a failed armbar. They pull their arm out of the armbar, the other arm stays in, and the triangle is already half built. That armbar, triangle, armbar loop is the most taught combination from guard, and for a simple reason: it works.
Guard players also get a classic entry when the passer uses an over-under guard pass and leaves an arm inside.
Triangle defenses
Posture first. Inside closed guard, keep your back straight and your elbows close to your hips. Never post a hand on the mat with one arm in and the other out.
Don't stand up with the arm in. Straightening up while the triangle is going on tightens the choke. Drive forward instead, weight toward their head, stacking their legs onto them.
Free the trapped arm. As long as the foot isn't locked, slip the trapped arm back inside to escape, or push their leg back over your head.
Turn toward the outside arm. If the triangle is locked but has no angle, blocking the pivot by turning toward their leg can buy time to escape. If it is too late, tap.
A word on safety
The triangle is a choke, not a neck crank. When you pull the head, you are bringing it closer, not bending it forward with all your strength. With a less experienced partner, squeeze gradually and give them time to tap. If a choke leaves you with neck pain or headaches, see a doctor.
The one thing to drill
Before learning three different entries, repeat the pivot from a locked triangle a hundred times, first without resistance and then with it. The pivot off the foot on the hip is the move white belts forget, and it is the move that makes people tap. The rest of the submission game is laid out in our Brazilian jiu-jitsu overview.