Agatsu West Classic: The "Why" of the Triangle Choke

Agatsu West Classics are articles I wrote in 2007 when I had just graduated from the Somatics Institute of Massage Therapy, and had just started BJJ. I wrote them to give a unique anatomical and pathophysiological point of view on the techniques I was learning, that inquisitive minds might better their understanding of "why" certain techniques worked the way they did, rather than just being satisfied with "how" to do them. Some were basic rehab and prehab concepts as well. This one features the triangle choke - and though my understanding of BJJ is now light years ahead of what it was at the time, everything in the article is still accurate and relevant. Hope you enjoy.

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I chose the triangle to cover today, because not only is it likely the highest-percentage of the three in high-level competition, it's also one of those subs where tiny things make huge differences, and attention to positioning and ice-cold technique is key. Thanks to www.lockflow.com for the demonstration pictures.



















1. Royce Gracie holds Jonothan Burke in his closed guard. He secures one of Burke's arms above the elbow. This is done for two simple reasons. The first is that he has more control over the dexterity of Burke's arm, and the second is that later on in the technique, when Royce wants to assert control on Burke's torso, he'll have more influence the closer to the torso he is. Which arm he chooses to secure will depend on which arm will be easier to pass through his legs. In this case, Burke is actually trying to separate Royce's legs with his left arm, so Royce controls the right.










2. This shows from another angle that Royce has successfully passed Burk's left arm through his legs. He still has control over Burk's right elbow in the same fashion as described in number 1. At this point he's also controlling Burk's left arm, the one he passed through, with his right hand, and driving it in toward Burk's body. This is done for two reasons. One reason is that Burk can't employ his left hand in any way to defend against the triangle choke, or in the context of MMA, he can't punch Royce with it.



The second reason is that in any style of martial arts, whether the practitioners do a good job of it or not, a fundamental rule is that the more off-balance your opponent, so long as you remain balanced, the more advantageous the situation is for you. At this point in the situation, Burk's upper body is overextended forward, and the majority of his weight is outside his realm of strength.



















This is another angle of the second position, but this is displaying another critical detail in Royce's expert execution of this technique. As he rests his calf across the back of Burk's neck in preparation for the choke, he moves his right hip in toward the arm he passed through, using his left foot on Burke's hip to speed up this movement, to make his body almost perpendicular to Burk's.



This is done for two reasons. The first reason is that if Royce remains in line with Burk's body, he is vulnerable to slamming. Check out Arona vs Rampage if you want to see a good example of that. Even in a fully locked-in triangle, it's possible for Burk to get to his feet. If he can get to his feet, and Royce is in line with him, he need only assume the proper head-up posture for a deadlift or squat in order to easily lift Royce's body.



The second reason has to do with the strength of Royce's choke in this position. With his body in line with Burk's, his right leg is internally rotated, which makes squeezing inward about half hamstrings, half adductor group (inner thigh). However, refer to my article about reciprocal inhibition. Anytime a muscle is working, its partner somewhere on the body is being sent signals to relax. The hamstrings and adductors, the muscles that you're trying to squeeze with, are all main players in EXTERNAL rotation of the flexed knee, which is the opposite movement. so if you're in line with the person you're choking, forcing you to internally rotate your leg, all the muscles you're trying to squeeze with are being sent signals by the brain to relax and lengthen, which means the strength of your choke is being halved without you even realizing it. By switching up the position attack from the side, you're making it a more direct hamstring effort, with much less interference from the brain.











Finally, the finished choke position. Not much to say about this, besides the actual location of the artery you're attacking. The mechanics of any choke with the arm inside is to bring the acromio-clavicular joint (bump about halfway between your neck and shoulder) into the common carotid artery, or one of its branches, on the side of the neck, just in front of the cervical spine, shown here:







If that artery isn't being pressured, the choke isn't working, so if he's been hanging out in your triangle choke for 30 seconds, look at his ear, then track straight down the neck from the ear. About halfway down the neck, in line with the ear, is your target, so shift around until his shoulder is there and then try squeezing again. Hope you guys found this useful, make sure to leave me some comments whether you did or not!