Integrating systems – Triangle and Arm Bar systems: A huge part of my work as a coach is creating elaborate systems around a few high percentage techniques. When an athlete has sufficient infrastructure built around his or her best moves, it is unlikely an opponent will be able to follow the unfolding action and successfully resist. Things get even more interesting when you add the idea of INTEGRATING SYSTEMS so that as resistance builds to one, you switch to another. This creates pressure that is very difficult to withstand for even an experienced opponent. The last two installments of the ENTER THE SYSTEM series are Triangle (sankaku) and Arm Bar (juji gatame). Because these two moves both center around the use of your legs to control your opponents head and shoulders there is a LOT of interplay between the two of them. Look at how Nicky Ryan shows his arm bar and triangle mastery by effortlessly switching back and forth between them in live sparring. In thirty seconds he goes from arm bar to a special arm bar variation greatly favored by both Ryan Brothers, the shoulder sankaku, back to a different variation of arm bar (head scissor variation) on to a front triangle that he takes into a mounted finish. This is the ideal you want to aim for – movement both WITHIN a given system and ACROSS systems. In this way you can aim for the ideal of our approach to Jiu Jitsu – TO attack THE WHOLE BODY WITH EQUAL EFFICACY UNTIL THE BREAKTHROUGH IS ACHIEVED.
