A lot of people thought that Toby Imada’s triangle choke was the best MMA submission of 2009.  And they may be right – it was a stunning display of quick thinking and ‘sticktoitness’ on Toby’s part.  Here’s the clip of the match highlights including the spectacular submission:

Last week I uploaded posted an article and video called 5 Triangle Chokes You Need To Know, and shortly thereafter some people asked me to break down Toby’s famous triangle.

The thing is, that although Toby used a different entry and finished it in a standing position it’s still exactly the same choke as the Side Triangle (or ‘Yoko Sangaku’) that I show at 2 minutes and 41 seconds the 5 Triangles Video.  All the same principles and adjustments apply.

But I’ll do you one better!  Here’s a video I found of Toby breaking down how to get into the Side Triangle when your opponent is in the turtle position (don’t worry, you don’t have to get your training partner to stand up to train it):

Judo players successfully use this choke all the time, but the majority of BJJ players and no-gi grapplers don’t even know it exists.  So add it to your repertoire, and then go forth and ambush your training partners with it!