Arm Triangle

What it is

The arm triangle is a strangle with your arm and their own shoulder: their arm is pushed across their neck, your arm wraps the head on the other side, and you squeeze while walking your hips to the opposite side. It is the usual payback for pushing up with straight arms from under mount or side control. It works equally in gi and no-gi and is one of the most reliable top submissions.

When to use it

• From mount, when they push on your chest or neck with a straight arm.
• From side control, when their near arm is pushed up across their face.
• When they try to recover guard and leave an arm across their own centre line.

How to do it

1. Push one of their arms across their neck so their bicep touches their own jaw.
2. Thread your arm under their head on the other side and press your shoulder into the trapped arm.
3. Clasp your hands, palm to palm or in a gable grip, with your head low on the trapped side.
4. Slide off mount to the side opposite your head, the side the trapped arm comes from, so your weight comes across their chest.
5. Sprawl your legs, drive your head down and squeeze your arm toward your shoulder until they tap.

Key details

• Their bicep must press into their own neck. If there is space between the arm and the neck, nothing closes.
• Head low on the mat, ear beside their trapped arm, so the arm cannot slip free.
• Walk your hips to the side opposite your head. The angle is what tightens the choke, not the arms.
• Squeeze slowly and hold. It takes a few seconds for the choke to work.
• Tap early when you are the one caught. A choke works in seconds, and holding on only puts you to sleep.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: staying in mount to finish. The angle is wrong and they wait while you squeeze.
• Mistake: lifting your head. The trapped arm pops out and they recover guard.
• Mistake: squeezing with the hands instead of driving the shoulder. You burn your arms for nothing.

What they will try

• They turn toward you and walk their hips away while pushing your head to make space for the trapped arm.
• They answer the trapped arm by reaching across and grabbing their own shoulder to relieve the pressure.