An Update On the BJJ Triangle vs. the Whizzer

I wrote a post a few days ago called, “Finishing a BJJ Triangle Against a Whizzer.” In the post, I included a video, like I oftentimes do. I explained that this looked like a good Jiu-Jitsu setup for the triangle and we should all give it a shot.

Well, that’s what I did last night. Before class began, I pulled John aside and asked if he would go over the move with me. John, being John, quickly agreed, so I pulled him into my guard and told him what I was going to try to work through.

Okay, I’m going to dig into this thing because I am beginning to get frustrated with all the thousands and thousands of Youtube videos showing extremely elegant BJJ techniques that simply don’t work. With this one, I’ll start at the beginning (and I suggest you watch the video again if you haven’t already).

– The first thing you are supposed to do with this setup is to, with both hands, grab your opponent’s right sleeve – easy.
– Then, you’re supposed to break his grip from your gi and pull his hand and arm over the back of your head.

This doesn’t work. John had never seen the video and had no idea what I was going to do and completely blocked any attempt I made at pulling his arm over the back of my head.

– Then, once the arm is in place, you are supposed to get an entangled arm.

This doesn’t work. Once your opponent is stretched out from having his arm around the back of your head, there is no room for your own arm to wrap around his.

– After you have the entangled arm, you are supposed to shift and block your opponent’s other arm and slide your leg through to begin the triangle setup.

This doesn’t work. As soon as I shifted, John naturally hid his elbow so I had no chance to either push his arm or pull my leg through.

– Once your leg is through and you’ve crossed both, you are supposed to put your fist in the side of the guy’s neck and pull down on the back of your opponent’s head.

Which is very easily blocked by your opponent hiding his neck. I couldn’t get my fist anywhere near John’s neck.

John blocked every single area of this move. He had never seen it, which gives me great pause. Now, I may have been the wrong size for this one, perhaps it’s made for a smaller player, but I’m probably going to stop attempting these types of things myself. I’ll post the videos for your to watch, if I fond them interesting, but as far as my own game, I’m going to specifically work on what I find effective.