3 Part Technique — Marcelo Garcia’s style of BJJ is immensely unique in many different aspects of the traditional art form, but no one example sets him apart from the rest more than his controversial stance on the omission of certain attribute-based submissions (i.a. The Arm Triangle) from his competition game. Instead, Marcelo wisely chooses to spend his finite training time as efficiently as possible by discarding all techniques whose successful application relies upon phenotypical advantage, and he only trains moves into his repertoire that work irrespective of size or strength. The sole tenet of BJJ is that the knowledge of bio mechanical leverage can allow for a small, weak person to defeat a larger, stronger person in unarmed combat. Surely, the possession of such physical traits such as long limb length, flexibility, and heavy musculature can multiply one’s leverage in a fight considerably, but the point isn’t about the size of your lever, it’s about where best to place your fulcrum. Nearly all of the movements that Marcelo personally uses in his competition game are techniques that have been consistently proven to work against opponents of any size, with or without the aid of the gi.
The Arm Triangle Choke (viz. Anaconda, D’Arce, Katagatame, RAT) is a technique that ceases to work effectively against an adversary who i) has superior strength, ii) has a large girth, and iii) provides technical resistance. Though it is not impossible to finish the choke despite this seemingly insurmountable combination, your chance of success dramatically approaches nil if your opponent correctly defends your attack via these physical advantages.
Although the Arm Triangle is far from Marcelo’s specialty, he has finally decided to teach his class one particular variation of the choke (The Anaconda) to the best of his ability, in lieu of the aforementioned perspective, for 2 reasons:
a) it is important for his students to develop an awareness of the danger inherent from a specialist in this attack,
and b) there is no reason not to try the submission if your opponent is blatantly, carelessly, or inadvertently giving it to you. Marcelo demonstrates 3 scenarios in which he would be so inclined to attempt the Arm Triangle Choke:
1) While holding the Front Headlock, if your opponent overextends his arm to reach for a takedown, sink in the choke and roll him onto his side, clocking your belly into the back of his neck until you can catch his legs with yours.
2) If he steps up with his foot to posts against your initial roll, flip him onto his opposite side and once again capture his legs for the final squeeze.
3) If you encounter difficulty enclosing the Triangle around his Head & Arm, apply pressure down onto his elbow with a Gable-gripped forearm and your topside knee.