Moving From Backmount to an Arm Triangle Choke

If You’re Losing Backmount, You Can Still Stay Dominant

Backmount is such a dominant position in Jiu Jitsu that, if things go well, you won’t ever need to do anything from there but maintain position and sink a rear naked choke. But things don’t always go so smoothly (c.f. my ability to hang on to backmount but not finish the choke).

Sometimes, try as you might, you may not be able to prevent your opponent from wriggling out of your backmount. As Coach Josh of Rhode Island’s Black Diamond MMA explains, an opponent will typically escape by working either his hips or his shoulders to the mat.

In the next couple of posts, we’re working on the second of those possibilities – the options you have if your opponent has slipped out of one of your hooks and worked his hips to the mat.

In this post, in particular, we’re doing a combination of two of my favorite things: backmount and arm triangles. When your opponent has worked his hips out of your backmount, you have a great opportunity to sink in the arm triangle choke. As usual, we start with a video tutorial, and the step-by-step breakdown follows that.

Video: Getting an Arm Triangle from Backmount

As Coach Josh says, if you’ve still got a tight grip on your opponent’s upper body, you may choose to just regain your backmount. That’s a perfectly good option. But, if you want the easily accessible arm triangle, watch how it’s done:

BDMMA Tutorial: Arm Triangle from Backmount

1. Keep ahold of your opponent’s upper body.
1. Retain your over-under grip. You’ll have your opponent’s neck and one arm locked inside the loop of your arms.
2. You’ll need to loosen your grip a little in order for your opponent to get his back to the mat, but only do it on your own terms.
2. As your opponent flattens out, swing your arms through.
1. Don’t break your grip as you do this. There’s no reason to give your opponent a way out.
2. When your opponent’s on his side, your bottom (right) arm is on his neck. As he flattens out, you need to change that, so that his neck is in the crook of your left elbow.
3. Pin your opponent’s arm up by his head.
1. Ultimately, you want to press your left ear against your opponent’s left ear, with his arm trapped next to his neck.
2. To make that tighter, you can start by pressing the back of your head to your opponent’s ear, then winding your head in so that your ears touch.
3. Make sure you eliminate any space between his arm and neck. if you can, push his arm across his neck. On the other side, make sure your left bicep and forearm are also snug to his neck.
4. Lock up an S-grip.
1. Your left forearm should be flat on the mat.
2. Your left palm should be facing down.
3. Grab your left hand with your right, and pull it tight.
5. Lower your weight and finish the choke.
1. Keep your left knee right at your opponent’s hip.
2. Lower your hips to the mat.
3. Squeeze your left bicep, further tightening the choke.

Note: If you find the arm triangle not working, we also have a sneaky way to transition from an arm triangle to a calf crank. Enjoy.

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