This class was focused on attacking triangles and reverse triangles from dominant positions.
Triangle from Side Control
In our first example, we are looking to lock up a conventional triangle from side control. The first step is to secure the near arm between our elbow and our hip. We do this by isolating the arm in modified scarf hold then switching to our knees trapping it in our hip. Next we want to grip the head and apply crossface pressure. This will generally leave our opponent with only one arm to defend. Our hip side arm that was previously an underhook, now looks to pin the far wrist to the opponents chest. If this is difficult because their arm is pointing down at their feet, we would more likely attack kimuras or 180 armbars, but most decent grapplers will have that hand up by their face trying to defend. Pressing the wrist to their chest, we lean heavily on our crossface to make our hip side foot light enough to throw over their body, clearing the arm we have pinned to their chest. It is best to have the head side hand open and waiting to grab our own ankle as soon as possible. We are close to locking our triangle now but are not quite ready. It is necessary to drop the knee to the mat on the far side and pull the ankle deeper beneath our opponents neck. Feel free to use your hand to lift their head in this step. Now that we have a mounted triangle locked up, we can attack the trapped arm fairly safely. the armbar is available without taking the arm out from our own armpit, but, I prefer to bring it in front of my chest for added dexterity. If you feel like your balance is not great in the position, you can choose to roll off across their body to your back and finish the triangle in a more conventional bottom position. Just be aware that you may finish the roll at a less than ideal angle and likely will need to dig for the near leg to get the most secure finish. This is especially true if you did not bring the trapped arm in front of your chest while still on top and instead rolled while their arm was still in your armpit.
Reverse Triangle from Side Control
This is a technique I used a lot when I was a lower belt. It still has a lot of value, I just stopped doing it for some reason. Beginning again in modified scarf hold, this time we look to force the near arm between our legs. People will often be worried here that we are looking for judo style armlocks from this position and will seek to defend them. This often makes it easier to step over the arm completely and come onto our knees. Do not hang out here thinking you have their arm trapped and are thus safe. I don’t care for the amount of control they will have over our center of mass, and strong people can often give you a hard time in the position. Instead we will quickly look to lift their head and step over it with our head side leg. When our foot hits the mat it can feel difficult to lock our triangle from this position. If we lean far forward and place our head and knee on the ground it becomes much easier to lift their head and lock our triangle. Although some people do like to reach back and attempt to pull the trapped arm across the opponents face to finish the triangle, I have always found this finicky. Instead, I opt to view the position as only a control and attack the far arm instead. With our hip side hand, we pin the far wrist to the mat. Don’t worry about the orientation of the wrist or the direction of the thumb, it won’t end up mattering. Here it can be difficult to reach under their elbow to secure our kimura grip, but by sitting back and lifting their head with our locked triangle the elbow will lift off the mat and be free for attack. This motion will also fix the orientation of the wrist. From here it is a simple matter to finish our kimura.
Rear Triangle from Back Control
This is a sequence I like a lot. It begins from back control with a hybrid seatbelt / kimura grip. The first step is to maneuver our opponent to the underhook side. While doing so, we want to move the foot on the same side across the body to the opposite hip. This will give us more control and help ensure it does not get stuck in Uke’s legs complicating things later. We should now have a low leg on the underhook side and a high leg on the overhook side. Our high leg should base on the ground or on the hip to help us shrimp up toward their head. We began hip to hip but we would like to end hip to shoulders. The high leg now looks to stomp on the wrist of our opponents high arm. If they are gripping their hands to defend, our superior leg strength should win the fight. Once the grip is broken and their arm is trapped beneath our high leg, our low hand (my left in the example) will let go of our own wrist and reach under it, not over, to grab the ankle of our high leg. Our high hand should be in control of their low hand the whole time. Do not let go of this grip. Once we have the ankle, we need to switch hips, this is best done by basing on the mat with our free leg. In drilling you may be able to just roll, but live you will need to base. It is best to shrimp again mid switch to ensure we are at that hip to shoulder height. From here we lock out triangle again and tuck our free foot behind their back. You may be able to squeeze out a choke here but I have always found it easiest to attack the shoulder of the trapped arm. Just grab the elbow and pull while pushing the wrist down toward their feet. No need to bother with a full figure four grip, quick and dirty gets it done.
