negatives of body triangle from back control?

I'm a bjj noobie and today when i was live rolling with a 3? stripe, I took his back and crossed my legs instead of hooking the legs in an attempt to get a body triangle.

After the session, he let me know it was a good way to get leg locked and also told me even a full body triangle is bad.

I dont know if he meant for the same reason as just intertwining my legs; it seems a full on triangle would be too secure. Is there anything weak about riding the back position with a deep triangle?

 

There are a couple of leglocks that can be done from there, but it's generally safe. The downside is that it's hard to transition from there. I used to like the body triangle but now I don't use it anymore.

 

^that, but definitely don't cross your feet in front

 

I just figured it was a good way to squeeze the air out of them and make them attack the leg and open them up for a rear naked; I did feel limited from moving though, although I cant really attack from the back besides the rear naked lol.

Thanks, though

 

Yea! definitely understand the reasoning from that lol

 

It's not weak, it just leaves you less room to transition. With the body triangle, you're basically going for the RNC and nothing else.
With hooks you can grab armbars, triangle chokes, and transition to mount.

I also think it's kind of cheap (against friendly training partners) to squeeze the triangle, whether you're squeezing their stomach/lumbar or squashing their balls.

 

Thanks, Ill keep that in mind. One of the things ive been worrying about is live etiquette; i.e. crossfacing too hard, squeezing too hard on the gut etc.

 

A lot of times you'll want to transition to an armbar, or maneuver yourself to stay on top (body triangle leaves you on bottom a lot of the time if they escape), or use your legs to trap their arms. Or you might want to switch to a single hook. Or you might want to switch to the other side of their body. With the body triangle you can't do those things.

Also, an opponent who knows what he's doing generally doesn't reach for your legs in a way that leaves him open for a choke.

 

It's generally safe to take the body triangle, but just be aware when he is trying to go for the leg lock or flip himself over to the right side.

 

Ive tried going for the armbar from back control, i believe twice, both failed. I'm pretty much just waiting to learn it in class lol.

I am really comfortable riding with one hook and cross body riding as a result of wrestling, but im also too comfortable with letting them roll to their back from that position, since thats pretty much the goal of wrestling

 

actually. crossing the feet is not all that bad depending on your flexibility. i get the points from the hooks then cross my feet high up on the opponent so they cant triangle my legs BJ Penn style

 

It's fine to cross your feet, as long as you aren't an idiot about it

 

wrong thread ------

 

i only tend to do it momentarily if only to establish hooks or deepen to a body triangle; gonna go for hooks more often

 

You can cross your legs whenever, so long as you don't do it in the middle of their body. I do it all the time on the hips or if I can trap an arm

 

I use to love it for control to get a rnc. In gi with higher level partners it feels like it limits my options.

 

If you roll to the side where the triangle's locked up, you can hook round the top leg and hip forward. Comes on as a footlock, same feeling as being footlocked via crossing your feet.

 

Others have covered this pretty well: it's a dominant position, but it limits your options, and you have to make sure not to let your opponent roll you to the side the triangle is locked up on because it exposes you to the footlock counter. Some top guys like it (e.g., Rafa Mendes). Others don't. (e.g., Marcelo Garcia)

If you can get the body triangle from the top with the seatbelt or double underhooks, it's a brutal way to flatten your opponent out face down into the mat. So brutal that you should be careful with it in training because you don't want to injure anyone's back. I remember years ago in the UFC when Ivan Salaverry submitted Tony Fryklund by using that position to torque the back.

 

i actually remember that fight.

All the feedback helped guys, thanks.

 

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is that you don't get points for a body triangle. If you're at a school that puts a big emphasis on competition, this could have something to do with it?