How to do the Teepee Choke in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, one of the first submission techniques that you will ever learn is the Triangle choke. In short, this is a move where you wrap your legs around the head of the opponent with one arm in, and their other arm out. You then create a tight enough angle by adjusting your hips to cut off both of the opponent’s carotid arteries. On the one side, their shoulder is choking them, on the other your thigh muscle is choking them.

However, what is less known is the Teepee choke which is a modified version of the Triangle. This choke is not as common and is mostly believed to be less successful. However, on certain occasions, it’s a great weapon that is especially effective against those with broad shoulders. Without further delay, here’s how to do the Teepee choke.

How to set up the Teepee Choke

For the record, we’re going to assume you already know the basic setup to the Triangle, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. In brief, the Teepee is only viable from the bottom guard position. Unlike the regular Triangle, it’s less versatile and can’t be hit from top mount or reverse positions. Instead, it almost always requires you to be on your back.

From here, imagine you’re shooting a Triangle. Let’s say it’s from your closed guard and you manage to trap an arm and shoot your legs over the opponent’s shoulders. Usually, you would go for a Triangle here. However, imagine the opponent is resisting too much and you just can’t quite get the angle to make your Triangle work.

As mentioned earlier, this is especially the case against those with broad shoulders, so this is something to take note of. Anyway at this point, you should keep the Triangle lock with one arm in and one arm out – and then you can start thinking about finishing the submission.

How to finish the Teepee choke

From the locked Triangle, you’ll then want to shoot your legs upwards, as if you’re doing a head scissors submission but with the arm in. Usually, when doing a Triangle, one foot is facing down to the floor, with the other across their head with your foot pointed towards the ceiling.

Instead, you’ll want to point both feet to the floor and clench your legs together. This is where the term ‘Teepee’ comes from, as your legs basically mimic the image of a Teepee tent. Like the Triangle, remember to keep your feet crossed and once again, these should look like the wooden tips of a Teepee.

The next step is to bring both of your arms behind your legs (and the back of their head) and create an ‘S-grip’ which means connecting your hands to mimic the ‘S’ shape. Once this is done, you can start finishing the Teepee.

Here, you’ll need to kick your legs up whilst doing the same with your arms. Simultaneously, you’ll want to squeeze all limbs together to put pressure on the arteries of the opponent. Mechanically, it’s meant to finish in the same way a Triangle would, by cutting off blood to the brain and is not a neck crank.

Teepee Vs Triangle, what is better?

If you asked 100 BJJ black belts, they’d tell you that the Triangle choke is better and there’s a few reasons for this. Firstly, the Triangle is more versatile and can be hit from various positions, on top or bottom. The Teepee isn’t as flexible and can only be done from bottom guard due to the leg positions to get the finish. Therefore, if you learn a Triangle, you can hit it from almost anywhere with multiple entries, however the Teepee isn’t as broad.

Secondly, whilst the Teepee may be easier to set up, it’s simply not as high percentage. The issue with the Teepee is that it typically relies on force rather than angles and technique to get the finish. In other words, if you lock in a Triangle correctly then it’s relatively easy to finish, regardless of size. Further, the Teepee requires more constant pressure and energy in comparison. As you’ve guessed, this means it’s easier to escape the Teepee as well.

However, a Teepee requires more of a squeeze and can burn out your muscles and energy quickly. Against tough guys, a failed Triangle has less severe consequences compared to a failed Teepee. This is probably the reason why the Teepee is rarely seen at black belt level or in MMA, as it’s simply not as effective. Having said that, this move was good enough to submit UFC’s Justin Scoggins when he once fought Yuki Motoya in Rizin. Elsewhere, Josh Cisneros also once hit this at a F2W competition.

Bonus: The Teepee body crunch/Scorpion lock

Want to alienate training partners and become known as the bad guy of your gym? If wrist locks and heel hooks aren’t cutting it, then try out the Teepee body lock which is also known as the Scorpion lock as well. This uses the same mechanics as the regular Teepee choke, but instead targets the ribs instead. In some rare cases, there have even been reports of people breaking ribs through this method, so it’s a pretty nasty move.

This works by doing a Teepee from closed guard. However, instead of targeting your legs around the head and shoulders, you instead place the legs on the ribs. From there, you then lock up the Teepee as you usually would with your arms together and then squeeze.

It should be noted that this is viewed as a gimmicky move and is not the same as the Teepee choke. Against most skilled BJJ practitioners, they’ll be able to escape, and it also relies on being significantly stronger than your opponent. Nonetheless, it’s certainly something to think about and play around with if you’re bored.

Conclusion

The Teepee choke is a legitimate choke that will render opponents unconscious if they don’t respect it. Also, it can sometimes even lend into a shoulder crunch submission due to the pressure placed on that part of the arm. Not only this but its best strength comes against naturally wider opponents, or when you simply can’t create the angle for a regular Triangle.

As mentioned, the Teepee isn’t as strong as a typical Triangle as is therefore seen as the inferior move. Nonetheless, against most BJJ practitioners, it’s still something that can be feared and is worth learning in case you ever need to finish a Triangle in an unorthodox fashion.

If you want to improve your Triangle game then check out the awesome book, Mastering Triangle Chokes by Neil Melanson.