How to Attack the Triangle from Mount

One of my personal favorite submissions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the triangle choke. As a grappler with longer legs, I find success with the triangle quite well and have made it one of my staple submissions.

Although the triangle choke is mostly considered a guard submission, it can be attacked from a wide variety of positions. In the article, we will be discussing how the triangle choke can be attacked from mount.

To get any triangle choke, the grappler executing the submission must trap their opponent’s head and one arm with their legs.

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In the guard this is easy because we can manipulate our opponents upper body while our legs are very mobile. The problem with attacking this submission from mount is that all of our weight is on our legs, making them quite immobile.

However, it is easier to control our opponent’s upper body from mount because we can apply downward force, with the support of gravity, to their arms. The effort to resist these attacks from the defender is therefore more difficult than it is if you were attacking the triangle choke from the guard.

Anytime I begin an attack sequence from mount, I pretty much always start by pinning the arm down as you would if you were going for an Americana. When you pin the arm down, you can illicit a wide variety of responses that allow you to decide what submission you want to attack next.

For example, if I pin the arm down and the defender rolls to their side to grab their arm, I get a gift wrap grip and take the back or execute an armbar.

What if the defender doesn’t roll to their side because they know what you want? Well, you can attack the americana, which is generally a low yield submission. The other thing you can do is attack a triangle choke.

Lachlan Giles is a world renowned black belt competition and instructor. He is head coach of Absolute MMA and has trained some of the best competitors from Australia, including Craig Jones. In the following video, Lachlan shows how to set up the triangle choke from mount when the defender tries to stay tight after getting their arm pinned. See below:

After establishing the triangle set up, there are multiple ways of finishing it. You can stay on top and finish the choke by pulling the head, which is not the greatest way of finishing the strangle. You can also opt for the armbar like Craig Jones. If you are very comfortable with your triangle choke finish from guard, you can roll on to your side and finish it there, which is what I usually do.

His approach is simple, and makes sense. After watching it, your execution from the Z-Guard will dramatically change for the better.

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