In the Rear Mount you can end up on either the ‘strong side’ (your overhook side) or on the ‘weak side’ (your underhook side) (In fact here's a link to an article on Grapplearts.com about the strong side vs weak side debate) Ultimately though, the bottom line is that you can’t always be in charge of where you end up; your opponent gets a vote too! So sometimes you’re going to end up on the … [Read more...]
Triangle Choke
The 10 Second Choke Fix (or How to Tap Out More People)
How many times has a sparring partner told you "Man, I was SO close to tapping" after you'd been squeezing their neck like crazy in a desperate attempt to choke them, but then decided that it wasn't working and gave up on the submission? Frustrating, isn't it? Or have you ever held a choke for so long that you completely burn out your grips and have to fight the rest of the match with jello … [Read more...]
How to Make Your Chokes Tighter
Psst, wanna tap out more people with chokes, including that super-tough guy with the giant neck? Success in choking is all about the details and getting the underlying mechanics correct. Yes, you can get chokes to work with bad technique - people do it all the time. But it's difficult, wastes a lot of energy, and isn't very high percentage. But on the other hand as soon as you get the … [Read more...]
Are my legs too short to apply the triangle choke?
The first time I ever saw the triangle choke in action was in 1994, during the last match of UFC 4. Royce Gracie had just squared off against Dan Severn, a seemingly unstoppable wrestler with a huge weight advantage. I remember thinking, 'There's just no possible way that Royce is gonna win this one.' The fight went to the ground quickly, and after 15 minutes of getting manhandled Royce … [Read more...]
A Triangle Choke Escape that Requires Almost No Training…
Years ago I came back from an Indonesian Silat training camp led by Dan Inosanto. I showed up at BJJ class the next day and was telling a few guys about how much I had enjoyed the training. One guy with a slightly smartass tone asked me, "How would a Silat guy escape from my triangle choke then?" It turns out that there IS a very effective, super high percentage Silat escape to the … [Read more...]
Three BJJ Guard Posture Mistakes That’ll Get You KILLED on the Mats
Using the Power of Posture and Positioning to Prevent Problems (Note to the reader: this lesson #5 from of the Beginning BJJ Course. To receive the other lessons by email please sign up for the free email-based course) Whenever I've got someone in my guard I watch them very carefully for mistakes. If they make a mistake (and if I can capitalize on it quickly) then - boom - they're gonna get … [Read more...]
Pre-planning the Tap and Climbing Everest…
We'll get to the Mount Everest part later, but first let me tell you a story about the other day when I was sparring with a black belt training partner... My partner was using the spider guard, a position he's spent quite a bit of time developing in the last year. I got sloppy for a second and he slammed on a triangle choke from the double biceps spider guard position (using a variation of … [Read more...]
A de la Riva Guard Submission: the Triangle Choke
The de la Riva guard is often thought of as primarily being a sweeping tool. But you can also land a lot of different submissions from de la Riva guard too! The main submissions include the triangle choke, omoplata, armbar and a few leglocks. Here's one of my very favorite de la Riva guard submissions demonstrated by Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins. But before I go on I have to confess … [Read more...]
New T-Shirts: Keep Calm and Grapple On
We just released these brand new shirts. I had fun looking into the history of the classic 'Keep Calm and Carry On' meme - turns out it comes from just before World War 2 where the British government was trying to bolster the public morale in the face of imminent war. They might boost your morale too, but hopefully your situation is a little bit less dire than Europe in 1939... There are … [Read more...]
A High Percentage Triangle Choke from Half Guard
In this new video my friend, BJJ black belt and world champion Brandon ‘Wolverine’ Mullins shows how to set up and finish his favourite submission from the half guard. As you watch it pay attention not only to the details of the movement, but it's really the underlying pattern of bridging and shrimping that powers the whole technique. Breaking a technique down into its fundamental components … [Read more...]
Does the Spider Guard Translate At All to No Gi?
TONS of top BJJ practioners use the spider guard as their primary form of guard from the bottom. This position has won many BJJ tournaments, from local competitions to the Mundials. And although you'd think that these champions would be completely lost in no gi submission grappling competitions like ADCC that's usually just not the case. Even though there aren't any sleeves or collars to hold … [Read more...]
My Favourite Spider Guard Variation and Triangle Choke Setup
The Spider Guard is a very diverse position. Normally you start with the Double Feet on Biceps variation, but after that there are a TON of variations (including the Leg Lasso, de la Spider, Reverse de la Spider, Spider X, Collar-Spider, and Collar-Sleeve variations). Of all these Spider Guard Variations the Collar-Spider is probably my very favourite. We'll go into more detail about it in … [Read more...]
Spinning Triangle Choke from Leg Lasso Spider Guard
The first time I saw this triangle choke setup was about 15 years ago when I was still working as a field biologist. At the time I was on a contract 3,000 miles away from home, and living out of a motel. To stay in shape I went for runs and lifted weights on alternate days, but once a week I would drive for 2 hours each way (4 hours in the car total) to go to the nearest BJJ school. Training … [Read more...]
A Spider Guard Triangle Choke Setup for No Gi
A lot of people think that Spider Guard is only applicable to BJJ with the gi. They're kinda right, but they're also mostly wrong. You see, it's more complicated than "no gi equals no Spider Guard..." First of all, if you get good at something as intricate and technical as Spider Guard then it develops your sensitivity, leg dexterity, coordination, strategic and tactical thinking like … [Read more...]
The Easiest Move in Jiu-Jitsu
This is the easiest move in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It's a move that you can learn today and use tomorrow (especially if you've been drilling your triangle choke details that we covered in another recent blog post). Hint: it's from the Double Biceps Spider Guard. Check out the video below - Elliott reminds me of a trapdoor spider exploding out of it's lair when he slams it on. Then give the … [Read more...]
How to Adjust Your Triangle for Maximum Tightness and Effectiveness
Some techniques just require a bit more tweaking than others... For example, when I was a whitebelt the armbar was fairly easy to learn. The triangle choke, on the other hand, was relatively easy to apply, but hard to finish, (which was very frustrating). It took a lot of experimentation, coaching and adjusting before I was able to successfully choke out even cooperating, non-resisting … [Read more...]
Spider Guard Masterclass is Now Live
After almost 6 months of planning, filming and editing Spider Guard Masterclass is now ready for release! I'm biased of course, but I think that this is an absolutely amazing project. It's an A to Z reference guide for the Spider Guard, which is arguably the most dominant form of open guard in modern BJJ. Checking out this instructional is also risk free: if you don't absolutely love it, … [Read more...]
A High Percentage Triangle Choke Attack from Half Guard
Some people are under the mistaken impression that you can only defend or sweep from the Half Guard. But it's a big mistake to ignore the powerful submission attacks that present themselves from that position! One of the most powerful, most effective, and most popular attacks from the Half Guard is the Triangle Choke. You see this in high level competition all the time, both with and without … [Read more...]
A Super Sneaky and Slick Triangle Choke Attack!
This is one of the sneakiest, slickest submission attacks I have ever seen. The first time I saw this technique was when BJJ world champion Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins used it at the IBJJF European Championships in 2013. At first I just didn't understand what I had seen. One minute his opponent was in the X Guard, and the next he was tapping out from a super-tight triangle choke. I had to … [Read more...]
How to Not Get Slammed in Your Closed Guard or Triangle Choke
Getting picked up and slammed when you've got your opponent in the closed guard is one of the most dangerous things that can happen to you in grappling. It's definitely a legitimate technique for big and strong guys to use. And in MMA and self defense slamming an opponent is one of the best ways to open the guard, or to escape a tight triangle choke. Getting power-bombed and then and having … [Read more...]