Strangling with your legs: A strange thing about the back attack system that I teach my students is that the most well known component of it – the strait jacket – was so successful in competition that audiences rarely got to see the other components of the system. As a result most people have a rather limited view of the back system as just a series of hand/arm traps leading to rear naked strangles. In fact, there are four auxiliary systems designed to assist whenever the main strait jacket system fails. One of the most important is the rear triangle – ushiro sankaku- which enables you to use the impressive power of the legs to strangle opponents. This immediately gets you around one the more common problems associated with rear strangles – the difficulty of penetrating under the chin/jaw. The very nature of triangle strangles, using the shoulder to assist the strangle does not require that you get under the jaw to be effective. In addition it offers a multitude of back up attacks if the initial strangle is defended. All of my students excel in this technique as it is a big part of our training. Here, Gordon Ryan and Craig Jones practice their ushiro sankaku finishes. Their long legs make front triangles one of their favorite techniques- both of them excel at it – but the rear triangle is very effective even for short legged athletes due to more favorable angles and positioning.
