5 Counters to Your Opponent Standing in Your Triangle Choke

20 Sep, 2018

If you’ve got someone in the triangle choke then you want them on their knees. You really don’t want them standing up while they’re in your choke.

Here are the main reasons why you don’t want them to stand…

There are more counters and escapes to the triangle choke when someone is on their feet…
If it’s an MMA or self defense situation they can punch you much harder…
If they’re really clumsy they can fall on top of you and hurt your neck…
And if they’re really strong they can pick you up and slam you.

Here are 5 ways to stop someone from standing up in your triangle choke (or at least not letting them slam you):

To recap the 5 basic strategies I covered in more detail in the above video, they are:

Pull his head down to break his posture. It’s hard to lift something when your neck is bent forward
Walk your shoulders back to stretch him out. The further something is away from you the harder it is to lift
Underhook his shoulder – not only does this tighten the triangle choke itself and make it easier to finish the guy, it’s also a lot harder for him to pick you up
If he manages to stand up anyway then underhook his leg with your arm. He might be able to lift you a bit, but not high enough to slam you and do real damage
Release your triangle choke and go to the open guard.

Hope this helps keep you safe on the mats!

Cheers

Stephan