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The King’s Gambit – Baiting The Triangle Choke

The King’s Gambit – Baiting The Triangle

Chess and BJJ’s most “aggressive” opening

The King's Gambit in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu BJJ Baiting The Triangle Choke Wim Deputter The Mirroring Principle Jiu Jitsu Offensive Defense

Do you want to see Wim Deputter’s way to defend the triangle choke and use it to pass the guard in action and explained? Click here!

 

“A gambit in chess is a move where you sacrifice material in order to gain structural, positional or other advantage”

 

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu we have “gambits” as well.
If your defense is well, you can bait your opponent with a submission and use his or her eagerness to your advantage.

My favorite BJJ gambit, the core of my game, and the one I have practically made my “career” on, is baiting the Triangle.

If the Footlock is the sneaky Thief, the Armlock Queen and The Choke King, we can consider baiting the Triangle “The King’s Gambit” of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu”.

Gambit’s can played if you know the position, structure and possibilities well. If you have a system to answer the different reactions the opponent might throw at you.
And all of this has to rest on a solid, systematic defense in case you make a mistake in your system.

For years I have understood the top part of the triangle better than the bottom. My Triangle Choke Defense was better than my choke itself.
I always found it easier to beat the triangle than to finish it. Something was missing on bottom, something didn’t make sense.

I have been willing to make an instructional on this topic for a long time. But to bring something out, you have to understand all aspects to it. One important ‘piece of the puzzle’ was missing on the bottom triangle.

Until today. Today I discovered something new. Something not generally known and used.

I will start filming the next installement of The Mirroring Principle “The King’s Gambit” this week.

And where there is a King there is a “Queen’s Gambit” in the future as well.

“The Thief’s Gambit” is, for now, still a work in progress 😀

Check out the link in bio for an example of “The King’s Gambit” in action.

 

In the mean time, here you can see an example of The King’s Gambit in action on competition and a basic intro.

 

 

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There are no “bad positions” in Jiu Jitsu… (Offensive Defense))

 

Wim Deputter doing specific leglock training with Steven Royakkers offensive defense the mirroring principle

Wim Deputter doing specific leglock training with Steven Royakkers

“Have as much fun defending from ‘bad’ positions as you have attacking from ‘good’ positions. Panicking, spazzing and disconnecting are the opposite of what is jiu jitsu.
You are on this mat to learn jiu jitsu.
No matter if you are in a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ position, you can still be doing jiu jitsu.”

Who is "attacking" and who is "defending" in this photo? The '"fireman" position is one of the pillars in "The Mirroring Principle" Click photo for more info.

Who is “attacking” and who is “defending” in this photo? The ‘”fireman” position is one of the pillars in Wim Deputter’s “Mirroring Principle”

That is the first piece of advice I give beginners on my mat these days. And, if I could go back in time, it is the one piece of advice I would give to my white belt self.

Offensive Defense – Defensive Offense

There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ positions in jiu jitsu.
Only positions you know what to do or don’t know what to do.

In some positions you can be less mistakes away from tapping than your opponent.
But if you don’t make mistakes and do the right thing at the right time, you can make every position work.

By truly believing that, you are more inclined to look up “weird” or “losing” positions.
This gives you a better chance to fight from those weird positions than people who hold dogmatic believes.

The photo below was taken at a seminar I taught at Kaiser Sports in Olzstyn, Poland last year. Take a close look at the exact armbar position of Przemysław (partner on bottom).

Wim Deputter teaching armbar defense at Kaiser Sports in Olzstyn, Poland

Wim Deputter teaching armbar defense at Kaiser Sports in Olzstyn, Poland

It’s hard to believe, but from everything that I “discovered” so far the last few years, it’s actually harder to finish the submission here, than it is to escape (given no mistakes are made).

Often when people think about escaping, they think about disconnecting and getting away from the “dangerous” position.
By doing this, you will get at best a reset to a neutral position.

“Offensive defense” means staying connected. Don’t try to get away from, but instead, spend time in the “dangerous” positions.
Figure the positions out and try to solve them, not escape or break them. Make defense seamlessy transition into offense and bypass the neutral reset. Find the logic in every position.

The more disconnected two grapplers are, the more possibilities of movement there are, the more chaos.
Explosive and strong people hold a significant advantage over weaker people in most grappling related circumstances. The more disconnected a position is, the exponentially bigger that advantage is. The more connection, the least possibilities and chaos. More connection means more predictable. The more predictable the situation, the more the methodical technical grappler can shine.

Wim Deputter rolling at the BJJ Globetrotters Zen Camo in Talinn Estonia

If you have a good understanding of back defense, playing “panda” is easier than it looks. Click the photo for The Mirroring Principle “Backdefense and being offensive with someone on your back”.

Offensive Defense
Offense is starting from a ‘good’ position and slowly working your way towards a ‘better’ position. Defense is starting from a ‘bad’ position and slowly working your way towards a ‘better’ position. Both offense and defense are a battle for improvement and they meet in the neutral point were neither holds an advantage.
From this perspective, there is no difference between offense and defense.
You can’t teach offense without being aware of the defense, you can’t teach defense without being aware of the offense. Stay connected and realize they are both one and the same.

Click here to learn more about “The Mirroring Principle” and the concept of “Offensive Defense”.  (FREE)

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