Arm Triangle
Submission · Side Control
A blood choke: your arm closes one side of his neck and his own shoulder, driven in by your head and shoulder, closes the other. From side control with the crossface, when he pushes your neck to make space, drive that arm across his face so the elbow crosses his centre line and drop your head onto his upper arm to pin it against his neck. Wrap your arm under his neck and lock your hands or grip your biceps, so neck and arm are in one loop. Then walk to the head side and off his body until you are nearly perpendicular; only at that angle do your chest and shoulder push his arm into the neck. Squeezing from on top only crushes. If he pulls the arm out, the neck stays in your arm for the guillotine.
How to do it
- From side control, wait for their near arm to push on your neck or hip, then push that arm across their face so their elbow crosses their centre line.
- Drop your head on that arm and trap it against their neck, your ear on their upper arm, so the arm cannot slide back out.
- Wrap your arm under their neck and lock your hands or grip your own biceps, so the neck and the trapped arm are inside one loop.
- Keep the grip and walk your feet toward the head side, off their body, to the side where your head is, away from the trapped shoulder, until you are almost perpendicular to them.
- Sprawl your legs back and drop your hips low, so your weight goes through your chest into their upper body instead of into the mat.
- Finish: squeeze your shoulders together and drive your chest down. Your shoulder pushes their own arm into one side of the neck while your arm closes the other side; squeeze steadily and release on the tap.
Key details
- Get off their body to the head side: with your chest on top of them there is no angle and you only crush.
- The arm must stay across the neck, elbow past their centre line, pinned by your head: if it slides back, the choke opens.
- Your head, shoulder and chest do the squeezing; the arms only hold the loop closed.
- Turn almost perpendicular to them, hips low: the angle drives your shoulder into the side of the neck.
- Before you get off his body, bring your head to his head, ear to ear: it drives his shoulder into his neck and closes the gap his arm would use to slip back out.
- Choking arm palm down, hands locked palm to palm (or S-grip) instead of the biceps grip: the lock adjusts tighter, and it works against big shoulders.
Common mistakes
- Squeezing while still on top of their chest. — There is no angle, so it only crushes and they can breathe. — Walk to the head side, off their body, away from the trapped shoulder, before you squeeze.
- Squeezing with the arms only. — The arms tire quickly and the loop stays loose around the neck. — Drop your chest, sprawl your hips low and pinch the shoulders together.
- A loose head on the trapped arm. — They pull the arm back out of the triangle and the choke is gone. — Keep your ear tight on their upper arm the whole time you move to the head side.
- Your shoulder presses on his jaw or face instead of under the chin. — He tucks the chin, the pressure lands on bone and he only feels discomfort, not a choke. — Scoot your hips back a little and dive the shoulder under his chin; arm and shoulder go below the jaw line, onto the neck.
If they defend
- They turn into you. → Walk further to the side and keep squeezing.
How to drill it
Arm triangle setups from mount and side control, 8 reps; then with the partner pulling the arm.
Safety
A blood choke: squeeze steadily, never with a jerk, and release at the first tap. Partners should tap early, before they fade.
What comes next
Where it comes from