15/05/2019 - Teaching | Side Control | Step over triangle from scarf hold

Teaching #864
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 15/05/2019

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From scarf hold, there are several attacks you can try on the near arm. Often, that will result with their arm between your legs, whether or not you're successful. From there, you can lift up their far shoulder, using your other hand to grab their head and lift that too. You might also find that they make the mistake of putting their arm between your legs when you're in side control, leading to the same opportunity of a triangle.

Once you have their arm secured, you can then step your leg over, sliding it under the head. Lock your shin behind your other leg, in as tight a triangle lock as possible. If you can't lock your legs, you should at least be able to drive your free knee tight to their shoulder, which might be enough for a similar control (though obviously much weaker as your legs are locked).

Squeezing your legs, tensing your calves and reaching back to pull their elbow towards you might be enough to get the triangle choke. This is possible, but usually, it is difficult, meaning I end up using this as a controlling position to help me attack their far arm. However, if you turn your hips over, then relock your legs in the opposite configuration, there is now a much better chance of locking that triangle.

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This variation also opens up a whole chain of submissions. The easiest is to grab their wrist, then slide their arm down your leg for a kimura. Wristlocks are also available on both their arms, along with a kimura on the far arm. It's a low risk position with lots of attacks and control, so well worth trying.
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Teaching Notes: Gripping the elbow as well as the wrist on the kimura against the leg makes sense, takes away that looseness. Speaking of which, I didn't emphasise taking away the space between the legs on the switch, though I don't think it was a big problem (and there was enough material to be getting on with). Still, next time don't forget about that. The hip switch to the other side triangle was definitely where people where having the most trouble.

16/09/2016 - Teaching | Side Control | Step Over Triangle

Teaching #560
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 16/09/2016

I ran through the step-over triangle today, which I first learned in a nogi class with Felipe Souza back in 2007. However, I rarely use the step-over triangle as a submission: normally I just use it for control, then attack the far arm. I have finished the choke occasionally, but most often that happens without a focused effort to get the submission: I just happen to be tighter on the neck than I thought while going for the arm, or the person I'm sparring is less experienced and taps before there is truly the threat of a choke.

The way I normally set this up is when they make the mistake of reaching an arm through your legs. Trap it by sliding your leg underneath. Step your other leg over their head, wrapping under their neck. Triangle your legs together, staying upright. You may find it easier to lock your legs if you grab their trapped sleeve and pull it towards you. From here, you can try squeezing and tensing your legs, pulling on their elbow. If that doesn't work, attack their far arm with the usual straight armlocks and americanas.

Alternatively, you can switch your hips and tilt, exposing their arm. It then becomes a simple matter of pushing the wrist up towards your knee. Be aware that this is much less secure than the previous upright position, so they may be able to roll to the top. You might still get a submission, but it is inherently riskier.
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Teaching Notes: This was a fun first attempt, but I reckon it needs more work before I teach it again. A lot of people had trouble locking the legs, with the details on that proving tricky for some of them. I need to streamline and simplify it: showing both of the variations I'm familiar with might have been too much. However, I like that it fits with maintenance, as it kind of turns into that a lot due to the submission being hard to finish. That makes for a pleasingly complete week of all maintenance.

The other problem is that to really make sense of this one, you need to already know the americana, kimura and straight armbar. This therefore might be one to save for the advanced class, whenever I manage to get that started. I hurt my neck a bit in drilling beforehand, which meant I couldn't train properly. Good reminder to not lead with my head: it's super important that I have at least one hand ready to frame and protect those delicate vertebrae.

09/09/2016 - Teaching | Side Control | Triangle from Underneath

Teaching #556
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 09/09/2016

Building on the shin-in-elbow escape, you can also use that position to attack. Use the space you've created by their arm to put your foot in the crook of their elbow rather than your shin. If you need more space for this, push off the ground with your free foot, shrimping away from them while still keeping tight on their arm.

Kick up with the foot you have in their elbow, keeping your other knee behind their arm. Your kicking foot then pulls back towards you, in order to shoot around the side of their neck you're facing. Lock your neck side shin under your waiting knee, pulling their arm in towards you to make sure you are pressing into their neck rather than their shoulder. You already have a grip on their wrist from earlier, so that pull should be easy. Bring your other arm under their near arm for control. Keep pulling on their wrist and squeeze your legs to finish.

It can be difficult to finish the triangle, but their near arm is vulnerable. You can attack with pressing armbars, kimuras and even americanas, due to locking that shoulder down so they can't relieve the pressure. If you're having trouble, straighten out your leg that's over their neck, to push their head down further. Turn your hips, then the leg that was across the back of their head becomes the leg that locks over the top. The legs are switching, changing the triangle configuration. The hard part is getting the lock in tightly enough by the shoulder, especially as you can't see what you're doing.

Related video here:


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Teaching Notes: This is a good bit more complex than the kind of thing I normally teach, but I was pleased to see that most people picked it up ok. The main difficulty was getting that lock. I know it's possible, because I don't have long legs and I can do it, but I need to work out the best option for creating enough space. I think that moving the hips away or into them could be the answer, which did indeed help a few people to lock in the triangle better, but it wasn't universal. I'll keep playing with it. There is also the option of a normal triangle, so I'll try that too next time. It isn't necessarily required to go reverse triangle: the reason I went with that this time was to fit in more from Chiu's awesome BJJ Globetrotter lesson. :)