Also known as: Triangle · Sankaku Jime · Triangulo · Tri-Choke · Front Triangle
Strangle your opponent with your own legs: one of their arms in, one out, your legs locked in a figure-four around their neck and trapped shoulder. Their shoulder does half the choking for you.
Submission · Strangle (blood choke) · Gi & No-gi · Difficulty 3/5 · Usually learned at White belt
Starts from Closed Guard as the guard player → ends the match (submission).
The details that make it work
One arm in, one arm out — the whole choke is this asymmetry. Break their posture and shoot the leg over the out-side shoulder.
Cut perpendicular BEFORE locking the figure-four; a square triangle is a stalled triangle.
Finish: pull the head down, squeeze the knees, lift the hips — in that order of importance.
Where it goes wrong
Locking the ankle over the neck instead of the shin behind the knee.
Ignoring the trapped arm’s position — pull it across the center line to sharpen the strangle.
How opponents counter it
Posture and stack before the lock closes
Answer the diamond early: shoulder pressure and knee slide around the locked legs
Is the Triangle Choke legal in competition?
Legal in all major rulesets at all levels (IBJJF, ADCC, sub-only). Rules change — always confirm against the current official rulebook for your event.
History & naming
Sankaku jime from judo newaza, developed in the early 1900s Kosen era.