Easily Triangle Anyone from Side Control with Travis Stevens

 

Side control offers a great deal of comfortability as far as controlling your training partners and opponents go. Oftentimes it's the first dominant place we become comfortable, due to the stabilization that we can achieve and there's a whole host of great options here including sneaky chokes, armbars, and shoulder locks, just to name a few. You name it, and the side control probably offers it. But there are also other attacks that aren’t quite so conventional. How often do you attack the triangle from side control?

The triangle from side control may not be your go-to submission from the position (yet), but maybe that’s because you haven't learned how to properly attack it. It's easy to flub this one up as there are some positional details that are integral in successfully launching a triangle from the side mount. 

Travis Stevens has some pointers for you on this concept that you might find incredibly illuminating and highly applicable. Stevens has one of the most feared side controls in the game. He pours on loads of pressure and positions his body in a manner that seems to command submissions before he even has to hunt for them. In this video, Stevens will give you some critical details to consider when attacking the triangle from side control, so that you can take your success rate to new heights. Check out this technique from Travis's YouTube!

 

Dealing with an incredibly common set of frames from the bottom player, Stevens begins by using his chin to attempt a wristlock. This will cause his partner to retreat the hand and bring it down close to his body, exactly where Stevens wants it. At this juncture, Stevens will remove his partner's lapel (the one closest to the trapped hand) and wrap it over the top of his partner’s wrist,  trapping the hand in close proximity to the body. Stevens then passes the lapel to his cross face hand, solidifying the trap and leaving his partner with only one limb available to defend. You could also be a bit more preemptive here and remove the lapel earlier in the exchange so that it’s ready at a moment's notice. 

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Next, Stevens will need to gather his partner's free arm, using his knee, and move it up high above his hip, where the arm is now disconnected from the body and unable to be used for defensive measures. He then positions his leg nearest to the head in line with his partner's spine, running his shin along the body, rather than allowing it to point straight out. The configuration of the legs is almost reminiscent of an s-mount. This will afford Stevens the mobility to transition his leg up and over his partner's body with more ease when it's time. 

This next piece of instruction is more than likely where this technique goes wrong for many of us. Here, Stevens begins to lean his body toward his partners head, allowing his own head to travel all the way to the mat. This creates the space necessary for Stevens to throw that back leg over unobstructed. As he swings his leg over to the opposite side, Stevens uses the lapel grip to facilitate the transition and then blocks the hip with his foot as they arrive on the other side, where he lands directly in the triangle set up position. 

These are some great details for a fantastic technique that gives many of us a lot of trouble. I hope this helps you shore-up this highly effective, yet widely misunderstood triangle attack! 

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