Arm Triangle from Front Headlock

Arm Triangle from Front Headlock is a finishing attack built around a handful of repeatable controls. Top player attempts a caveman necktie from front headlock and the bottom player sits through to recover guard, with the bottom player's near arm tucked across his own chest. Another common starting shape: top player has begun the caveman necktie and the opponent sits out, exposing the near arm and ribcage as he turns to escape. It is worth attempting once comfortable with: Breakdown to isolate head and arm from front headlock. The ideas that hold it together are trap the near arm against the opponent's own face to amplify the strangle, chest pressure plus a tight figure-four replaces the need for a deep grip, and follow the rotation of a sit-out into a knee-slide mount.

The arm triangle chain is a sequence of small controls, not one athletic burst. Punch the inside arm down toward the hip and walk the opponent flat to his back. Tilt the chest into the opponent's near armpit to deny an underhook escape. Switch the chin-strap arm into a cross-face with the bicep flush along the neck. Lock a figure-four with the second arm and stay on the toes so all weight loads onto the chest. Squeeze and drive forward to finish the strangle. As the opponent sits out, drive the shin across the belly catching the near armpit instead of the neck. Post the free hand on the mat and circle the knee across the stomach into mount. Settle deep so the strangle arm pinches the neck and trapped shoulder together. Top player has flattened the opponent, locked a figure-four around the head trapping the opponent's near arm against his own face, and is driving chest pressure to compress the carotids for a strangle.

Later in the arm triangle, trap the near arm to convert a failed necktie into a head-and-arm strangle, create space, then occupy it with the hips, and grip style is personal — the geometry of the legs matters more tend to decide whether the position stays on track. Watch for these mistakes: Staying on the knees instead of the toes, giving the opponent room to escape. Leaving chest space that lets the trapped arm slip free for an underhook. Shooting for the neck instead of the armpit and getting bumped off. Rushing the squeeze without first settling weight in mount. The high-percentage version of arm triangle from front headlock is the one you can still chain when the first squeeze is defended.