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Hey all,
It's been awhile since I babbled on this lovely forum, but I'd like to express to you a real-life story of a short-legged guy's quest to perform a triangle.
It all started several years ago, as I was grappling with some buddies of mine in Arizona. For what seemed to be an eternity, I have suffered from the condition known as "Short Legs". This made one of BJJ's most famous maneuvres "The Triangle" very difficult for me to execute.
Anyhoo, I digress.....
I've seemingly tried everything. I've tried to make myself more flexible, I've tried to make my "angle" closer to 90 degrees.....I've tried just about everything I could think of....until, I stumbled upon it:
My opponent flung my leg around his shoulder to pass....unafraid of the loose triangle hold that I was fending him off with. Usually, I use this hold just to delay the pass, as I've always considered my legs too short to be much of a triangle submission threat.
My occasional attempt at a triangle was easy enough to detect. When I saw the opportunity, I would quickly turn my body and desperately try latching on the hold, frantically pulling my limbs to their correct position. Needless to say, with a minimum of resistance, they would simply put some pressure on me and pass easily.
At any rate, for the longest time, I considered my going for a triangle to be a waste of effort. Untill........
While holding the "loose" triangle again, not planning on submitting my opponent, I decided to be quirky and take a two handed grab on his head, hoping the nuisance would be enough to end this stalemate in my guard.
To my surprise, as I slightly lifted my hips off of the ground, while holding on to his head, I found that was just enough room to tighten my lock....and slowly make my angle sharper.
tap tap tap
I had done it! For the first time in my life, I had tapped a resisting human being with a triangle. Gasping for air, my beet-faced opponent was surprised to say the least.
"Wow. What did you do different?" He too had suffered the Short Legged Syndrome.
The wonder of learning. The feeling of triumph that a white belt feels when he has done something right. Several years ago when I pondered getting into this obscure art named Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I never imagined what an interesting journey this would be.
This story may be a little boring......or old hat for most of you on this forum, but for me, this was truly a moment of accomplishment. More than a belt rank.....more than a trophy to place on a shelf.....this means much more. It means I'm learning.
Who knows? Maybe I'll one day get good at doing a collar choke.
It's been awhile since I babbled on this lovely forum, but I'd like to express to you a real-life story of a short-legged guy's quest to perform a triangle.
It all started several years ago, as I was grappling with some buddies of mine in Arizona. For what seemed to be an eternity, I have suffered from the condition known as "Short Legs". This made one of BJJ's most famous maneuvres "The Triangle" very difficult for me to execute.
Anyhoo, I digress.....
I've seemingly tried everything. I've tried to make myself more flexible, I've tried to make my "angle" closer to 90 degrees.....I've tried just about everything I could think of....until, I stumbled upon it:
My opponent flung my leg around his shoulder to pass....unafraid of the loose triangle hold that I was fending him off with. Usually, I use this hold just to delay the pass, as I've always considered my legs too short to be much of a triangle submission threat.
My occasional attempt at a triangle was easy enough to detect. When I saw the opportunity, I would quickly turn my body and desperately try latching on the hold, frantically pulling my limbs to their correct position. Needless to say, with a minimum of resistance, they would simply put some pressure on me and pass easily.
At any rate, for the longest time, I considered my going for a triangle to be a waste of effort. Untill........
While holding the "loose" triangle again, not planning on submitting my opponent, I decided to be quirky and take a two handed grab on his head, hoping the nuisance would be enough to end this stalemate in my guard.
To my surprise, as I slightly lifted my hips off of the ground, while holding on to his head, I found that was just enough room to tighten my lock....and slowly make my angle sharper.
tap tap tap
I had done it! For the first time in my life, I had tapped a resisting human being with a triangle. Gasping for air, my beet-faced opponent was surprised to say the least.
"Wow. What did you do different?" He too had suffered the Short Legged Syndrome.
The wonder of learning. The feeling of triumph that a white belt feels when he has done something right. Several years ago when I pondered getting into this obscure art named Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I never imagined what an interesting journey this would be.
This story may be a little boring......or old hat for most of you on this forum, but for me, this was truly a moment of accomplishment. More than a belt rank.....more than a trophy to place on a shelf.....this means much more. It means I'm learning.
Who knows? Maybe I'll one day get good at doing a collar choke.
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