The Triangle choke and Spider guard go hand in hand. This combination is even more effective is if you’re a lanky, long-limbed grappler. In short, the two combinations match very well and this triangle setup can be quite sneaky. Because of this, the triangle from spider guard is usually one of the first submissions a new student is taught when looking at the position.
Table of Contents
Setting up the Triangle Choke
The setup starts from a conventional spider guard position. Here you should be gripping the opponent’s sleeves with your fingers. For a more effective spider grip, you should punch your knuckles into the opponent’s wrists. This makes the grips tighter and more difficult to break. Otherwise, the opponent can force grip breaks easier by posturing up and pulling away from your fingers.
After the grips are established you should put both feet on the opponent’s bicep muscles. The next step here is to have one leg fully stretched and one bent inwards. This forces tension and uses push-pull mechanics which are key for any successful guard in BJJ. By pushing and pulling simultaneously, it puts the opponent off balance and threatens sweeps and submissions.
Without this constant tension, the opponent can begin to start passing as the guard isn’t offering a threat. A key part of spider guard is also to pick a side, you often don’t want to be flat as it lessens the tension on the extended leg, so a sideways position is optimal.
Entry and finish into the Triangle
Once spider guard has been established, you want to kick a leg out over the opponent’s arm. By doing this you can then hip up and shoot into the triangle choke. As you’re doing this remember to remove both feet from your opponent’s biceps to connect the Triangle lock. This is often easier if the opponent is crouching down with bad posture.
Sometimes people will naturally do this to avoid being swept by the Spider guard and to stop the tension on their arms. This is the perfect time to shoot the triangle whilst their posture is low. To finally enter the triangle you should also pull their arms in with the initial spider grips. This brings them towards the choke and offers less chance of escape.
With the triangle entered, it will not always be a perfect finish to begin with. With triangle chokes the adjustment to finish the submission is often as difficult as the entry itself. Because of this, a lot of new students struggle to finish the final stages of the submission due to inexperience. With this accounted for, a good idea is drilling the finishes to the Triangle choke.
Here you always want to keep a lock around your opponent’s head. This means if you kick off your opponent’s hip to make a tighter angle, you should grab your shin which is over their neck with your arm. This makes sure the triangle is always shut and the opponent can’t posture upwards.
With the angle now tightened you can then squeeze your knees inwards, push down on their head with your hand, whilst simultaneously hipping up. Another option here is to underhook their leg to stop them from posturing as a final escape.
Summary
The Triangle choke from Spider guard is a fundamentally sound move that all students new and old should be versed with. Not only from an attacking perspective, but it’s also equally as important to fear the possibility of Triangle setups from the Spider guard and be wary of the possible attack. With this said, the move is a good position to learn for all interested in the Spider guard position.
