Kill Two Birds With One Stone (Triangle Choke)

Posted by Matt Bryers on February 13, 2019

Two Birds One Stone - Triangle by Neil Melanson

Today Neil Melanson is here at BJJ Fanatics head quarters to demonstrate a cool triangle set up that he calls the “two birds one stone.” This is a technique that comes straight off of his instructional DVD series “The Ground Marshal Guard By Neil Melanson.” This is a great technique for a tough opponent. If you love triangles then you will love this instruction. Watch the video below and then we will break down Neil Melanson’s technique. Check it out now!

The kimura is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful arm control "systems" in Jiu Jitsu. In fact it would be awesome if bad ass Neil Melanson did a whole DVD series on the kimura itself... oh wait.

LEARN MORE

Any time you use a tight closed guard system it can get so tight that you are actually battling yourself. Melanson starts off this technique with an emphasis on the over hook in a tight closed guard. He uses his other hand to grab behand his training partner’s neck, pulling him down into his guard, breaking down his posture. He places his foot on his training partner’s hips (same side as the over hook). This allows Melanson to shift his body off of the center line while controlling his opponent with his bottom leg. From here the first thing Melanson looks to do is take away his opponent’s ability to post on the mat with his free hand. Neil secures his grip and pulls the arm into towards him like he is setting up an arm bar. But what he does instead of the arm bar is switch his grip by using his over hooking arm to trap his training partner’s arm. Now your opponent is completely stuck, and you are doing this all with one hand. Now Neil can set up the triangle. The first thing he does is adjust his leg so it is over his training partner’s shoulder. From here he can either hook the leg or under his opponent’s arm. With this set up, Melanson can pivot and get into the position to nail his opponent with a triangle submission.

As you can tell, this is a really great way to his a triangle from the closed guard position. Just remember to get the under hook first and really work to get your body off the center line. Notice that there is a lot of detail in Melanson’s positioning, from where his legs are, to how he traps his opponent’s arms. Keep this in mind the next time you are working on your triangles. This video is a great example of how thorough Melanson is when it comes to teaching grappling. There are plenty of useful tips and advice on his DVD series, so check it out if you’re looking to add some new moves into your game. Thanks Neil for demonstrating this amazing triangle set up for us today!