Sankaku jime escape

Sankaku jime escape is the judo name for the defence against the triangle choke — the strangulation in which the attacker’s legs close around the opponent’s neck and one arm in a triangular configuration.

Etymology. Sankaku (三角) means “triangle”; jime (絞) means “strangle.” The combined term — triangle strangle — names the technique by the geometric shape of the leg configuration at the finish: the attacker’s two legs and the opponent’s trapped shoulder form the three sides of the triangle that close the strangle. The technique sits in Kodokan judo’s shime-waza (strangulation techniques) catalogue and entered Brazilian jiu-jitsu through Maeda’s transmission to the Gracies. The escape term carries the parent technique’s Japanese name forward in judo, no-gi grappling, and modern submission curricula.

Mechanics. The escape’s priority is preventing or undoing the figure-four leg closure that traps the head and arm. The defending player must posture up to maintain space between their neck and the attacker’s hips, then either stack the attacker’s hips back over their own head or work the trapped arm across to break the angle of the triangle before the carotid compression reaches structural failure.

Cross-reference. English-speaking no-gi and BJJ use “triangle escape” or “triangle defence.” Full mechanical coverage on Triangle Escape.