Remember, you are in Judo to learn Judo - tackling a Judo competition from a Jiu Jitsu perspective is a surefire way of stopping yourself from progressing in Judo. However, a functional newaza game is arguably an important part of understanding traditional (historical) judo, and nowadays, a necessity for modern competition.
Important Note:
Grabbing the back of the head to finish the choke is somewhat inconsistently flagged in competition use due to a discrepancy in newaza education for referees. The reasoning is due to a healthy avoidance for neck/spine cranks, despite the fact that a crank requires the opposite effect on the neck as your legs impart during the choke as well as the restriction on the range of motion.
For competition, we suggest asking the head referees ahead of time.
Ryan Hall's videos will teach you how to properly finish the triangle without the head pull:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsNtpxKVn5M
4 Common Reasons Why the Triangle Fails For Judoka
It is impossible to cover every possible variation of triangle and what can happen, so I will break down how to best minimize the opportunity cost in training time as well as literal energy needed to have a functional triangle game for Judo by summarizing 4 common failure points.- Wrong Place, Wrong Time (Most Important)
- Under Judo rules, it's important to remember something about the Guard position:
If you're there, you messed up already
Ignoring the Jiu Jitsu arguments about how inherently powerful the closed guard is, within Judo rules, the closed guard is not an advantageous position. From instant stand ups, ease of stalling, and generally being 1-2 steps away from getting Osaekomi'd combined with the added risk of the latter when attempting the technique, one could argue from the get go that if you can avoid being in guard to begin with, avoid doing so.
When should you Triangle?
Since "don't bother" isn't a real answer, you need to identify what situations going for the triangle is appropriate.
While one should know how to set up the triangle from the time tested ways, pPractice the triangle under these 3 conditions, and opportunities will start to present themselves elsewhere: - Uke-side Scrambles from Gari-type throws
Ideal example: If you can manage to land on your side post-Yuko level Ouchi, Kosoto where the tori does not have upper body control and you have 1 sleeve of connection. - Tori-side Failed Tomoe Nage/Sacrifice ScramblesFor both this and above example, the technique is most useful when you and the opponent end up at about the range in the picture below (note the sleeve control, foot on hip, and right foot on the inside of the shoulder).
image by Stephen Kesting, grapplearts.com
- Also note that the descriptions read "scramble," as having a muscle-memory set plan under these conditions gives this technique its teeth in the midst of the chaos - In perfect position to shoot your legs into position and clamp the triangle on, less likely for the ref to call for stalling.
- Partial Triangle to Sweep Once Opponent Starts Stack Sequence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-V3tDXKUE4
See #2 below for avoiding this situation to begin with - Poor Distance & Posture Management/No Kuzushi
- You might think "Kuzushi? There's no balance issues here, it's a choke!"
Nope! For the triangle choke in particular, it's not just a step-by-step set of leverage movements as most judoka think of jiu jitsu techniques. Without off balancing, you are at a huge risk of either a stack or lift.
If you find yourself getting stack countered often, or just failing to get in position to begin with, look at these videos for proper positioning and posture tips (Jiu jitsu focused, will need modification): - Start to Finish Triangle Setup -
(Good explanation of how subtle movements and positioning work)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP3IfyPwc5o
Modifying the Triangle for Short, Medium, and Long Ranges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=livNj-5Ow8U
Gracie JJ tips of Posture Troubleshooting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjwdrCJAEgQ
Getting into Proper Triangle Position/Kuzushi using a Whizzer/Overhand
(Whizzer style setup is a very powerful, and more importantly, quick way to get somebody off-center and keep them there)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80mqoNPw3Ko
Self-Defense style that uses an exaggerated kuzushi setup, good for high-speed situations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCjSdHhGftg
Bonus - Leg Circles
(This simple motion with your legs will help every aspect of your Newaza game, and is one of the most common ways to get into + troubleshoot the triangle - eg swing your foot to the inside of your opponent's shoulder to get in position to push leg over the head)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkqX1gOlBe8 - Finishing the Triangle is Hard
- Due to an inability to finish the triangle and while opponents stall out the choke, a lot of people get frustrated and eventually give up on the triangle choke. Going through all the effort of getting the choke in place only to get stood back up leaves you spending TONS OF ENERGY both physically and mentally. This can be fixed with learning a couple of leverage tricks combined with improving your finishing squeeze (eg: If you just try to squeeze your knees together, this is the section for you).
- 4 Technical tips to finish the triangle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-QDTYnGyCw
Eddie Bravo talks about developing a good squeeze (Rear Choke, but mentality applies)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCgMoVz6904 - Sloppy Armbar/Sweep/Recovery Transitions
- Finally, this last one takes into account that you need to understand that most of your Triangles will fail, and without a fallback/follow up plan, your failed attempts will inevitably lead to losing any faith that the triangle is a viable technique, because you keep getting passed and eventually pinned down.
In order of importance, the follow ups most useful for judo competition are
(There are too many variations to really list): - Armbar
The natural follow up to a failed triangle, the positioning requires only minor adjustments, and is arguably the easier and quicker technique to finish.
Search:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=triangle+to+armbar - Guard Recovery
Upon failure of both triangle and armbar, a practiced guard recovery will prevent the pass, and allow you to stall into a stand-up to prevent further massive expenditure of energy.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX1G2RcZ6ro - Sweep
Sweeps requires a practiced understanding of shifts in Center of Gravity and a good sense of timing, so are not suggested as the primary go to. However, once this understanding is achieved, sweeps will lead your newaza game to a whole new level.
Search:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=failed+triangle+sweep - Turtle
In case you forgot, we're talking about Judo!
Turtling, combined with a little explosive movement when opening up your failed triangle (foot to hip, shrimp up, toss over-the-head leg towards the ground as you face towards it as well), is an effective stall out.
Appropriately enough, there are a wealth of techniques that allow you to roll back into a triangle from the turtle for those last-ditch submission attempts with 15 seconds left on the clock.
Search:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=turtle+triangle+bjj - (Misc - other options)
Note that the first 2 sets of techniques in the following video are generally considered illegal in judo competition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MersUxFbTSg
Summary:
Every Judo throw can be summarized in three parts:
Off Balancing, Getting in Position, and Execution of Technique
It helps to think about Chokes and Armbars the same way. It's not that the guard/triangle doesn't work it's that one must learn how to pick the battles where they are most useful.
Triangles done improperly are a MASSIVE drain on your energy reserves, and without taking this into account, and without having the right follow up techniques in mind, will leave you at an extreme disadvantage in competition.
On the other hand. done correctly, triangles will open you up to potential victories while at a disadvantage, and are one of the most useful submission toolsets to have in your arsenal.
