There is not one person taht trains Brazilian Jiu-Jits or MMA that has not been frustrated by the triangle choke. It is a very unforgiving position to be caught in, offering a myriad of different attacks in addition to the main threat which is a very powerful choke using your legs. Well, it WAS an unforgiving position.
The”Breaking The Triangle” Joshua You BJJ DVD is a great resource that offers an insight into the modern approach to defense that renders old-school BJJ positions like the triangel more or less powerless. Instead of panicking your way out immediately, now you get to figure out how to chill inside a triangle, choosing to open it up and pass, or even better, submit the bottom person indirectly. Yeah, you read that right.
Key Takeaways
- 3-part No-Gi DVD by 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu defensive expert Joshua You.
- Features an original organization system using letters from the alphabet.
- Explains defense vs. escapes and contains viable submission counterattacks.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 9 out of 10.
BREAKING THE TRIANGLE DVD AVAILABLE HERE!!!
Trailer for Breaking The Triangle Joshua You DVD
Beating The Triangle Trap
Getting stuck in a triangle is about a lot more than just being choked out. Okay, the strangle is the elephant in the room, presenting the most dangerous outcome. However, chokes in BJJ require time to work, which means you have tens of seconds, and if you position yourself well, even minutes to find your way out.
That brings me to the crucial piece of information on triangles which is present in the “Breaking The Triangle” DVD, but I also have to point out here: defense and escaping are two very different things.
The triangle is not as straightforward as people think. Let’s put it like this – think of the triangle as a guard you can use to sweep and set up armlocks and chokes, instead of just a structure that allows you to strangle someone. Now you understand how much potential the position has.
Beating a triangle is not like stopping an Ezekiel choke. You have to consider how to fend off the choke, prevent the opponent from sweeping you, considering they have one of your arms trapped, and also be wary of follow-up submissions like punch chokes and armbars.
Only when you can defend against all of these attacks can you think about moving and escaping. This will require careful weight placement and choice of directions, as it is even easier for the bottom person to attack when you start moving inside their triangle with no clear idea of what you’re trying to achieve.
10th Planet’s Chef BJJ
A 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Eric Ramey. Despite getting his black belt only a couple of months ago in May of 2024, Joshua, a.k.a. Chef BJJ has a wealth of grappling knowledge, skill, and unmatched passion for the Gentle Art. He is completely in love with the sport, teaching full-time at his own Chef BJJ in West LA and helping out at Ramey’s 10 Planet Thousand Oaks.
He is very strong at defense, particularly an expert about the turtle and he has developed into a kind of defensive guard. He leaves people to pass and countersuits from everywhere. He has taken submission counters and re-counters to a whole new level, fortifying his air-tight defensive game with dangerous finishes.
In his “Breaking The Triangle” DVD, Joshua demonstrates lots of his defensive prowess that makes him as close to unsubmittable and unpinnable as you can get in grappling. What is different in Joshua’s game is that he is not just a defensive expert, he remains very dangerous everywhere, especially when he is on the defense.
A Joshua You BJJ DVD Review: Breaking The Triangle
“Breaking The Triangle” is a three-part Joshua You BJJ DVD that features a never-before-seen structure. Chef arranges his entire triangle choke defense and counter-attacking system alphabetically, with each chapter in his instructional marked by a letter.
He goes all the way to the letter “L”, but does add a numbers system to certain letters when he shares additional important information. Given his 10th PLanet Jiu-Jitsu background, this is understandably a No-Gi BJJ instructional.
Part 1: A to D – Killing the Triangle Choke
As “Breaking The Triangle” kicks off, Joshua spends a short amount of time explaining his letter-based organizational system and immediately gets to the point. He opens with several “classics” like the pendulum escape, knee pin, and even faking mount access to deal with a closed triangle choke. Each of these is defined by the letters A-C.
While I am not a fan of going forward inside a triangle choke, Chef’s neck stack, designated ‘D” makes sense. Instead of thinking about getting out by going forward, Joshua focuses on putting pressure on the neck, resulting in either a submission for him or an escape because the bottom person decides to let go of the triangle. A smart combo.
Part 2: E to I – Counter Submissions
As the Joshua You BJJ DVD unfolds further, Chef goes on to explore a truly original series of ankle locks he likes to use to submit an opponent that has a triangle on him. There are five different scenarios for this ankle lock, which Joshua organizes as 1-5 under the letter “E”.
The second part of this volume is all about body positioning during triangle defense, dubbed “F”, with Joshua demonstrating what happens when you move your weight in all directions.
As he gets to “G”, “H” and “I”, he goes into actual escapes, showing details on how to do triangle mount reser, get out using the North-SOuth, and a sneaky signature escape dubbed the “Insta do not do”.
Part 3: J to L – Escape Directions
In the final part of “Breaking The Triangle,” the subject matter is a blend of escapes and counter-submissions, which more or less kills off the choke entirely. “J” stands for these combinations that offer a quadrilemma of options, with two escapes and two submissions joining forces to create a loop-based system.
I particularly enjoyed Joshua’s exploration of movement and the directions in which he creates motion, as well as the ones he likes to avoid. Plenty of information on moving and turning left and right is what the letter “K” is all about in this DVD.
Wrapping up with the letter “L”, Chef goes over the defense and escape options for triangel variations, mostly concerning the rear triangle and no arm triangles. He finishes with an overview of the entire system.
Chilling Out in Triangles
Learning how to deal with triangles from a defensive expert like Joshua You is extremely valuable when you’re looking for a complete system to beat specific positions. Essentially, what you can figure out using this Joshua You BJJ DVD is how to chill inside the triangle until you feel like passing or submitting the person attacking you!
The availability of direct counter-attacks in the form of submissions, such as the ankle locks Joshua does is a very valuable and very underused method of breaking open the triangle. Moreover, he is not the first to find the triangle a “safe” spot for launching a top game, with Wim Deputter enjoying pulling off the “King’s Gambit” pass while stuck inside a triangle.
At the end of the day, having a system that helps you stay calm inside a triangle choke, and not rush to bad decisions, offers very important peace of mind. Staying collected means you’re not just safe from tapping and able to play your own counter-attacking game, but also taking a mental toll on an opponent who believes closing a triangle is all they need to get you to tap.
DOWNLOAD DVD: BREAKING THE TRIANGLE by JOSHUA YOU
Time To Break Out!
If you are looking for ways to become the ultimate counter-fighting grappler, you need to keep working. Joshua’s DVD instructional is not going to turn you into the person who taps everyone out from defensive spots a.k.a. him. What “Breaking The Triangle” is going to teach you is to use the opponent’s position against them by rendering immediate threats useless and not rushing to get out.
This instructional is not just organized in an original manner, it delivers information that the BJJ world desperately needs to move forward. For some reason, the take on defense is still the old “gotta get out ASAP” approach which fades in comparison to what you can do using systems like Joshua You’s “Breaking The Triangle” DVD.
Black Belt Puts Himself in a Triangle Choke To Submit His Opponent – The King’s Gambit
