Kaynan Duarte may have been testing out some new tricks during his double-gold medal run at No-Gi Pans in November. He submitted four of his five opponents, remarkably, with the same submission each time.

Kaynan caught four triangles from his opponent’s backs. The somewhat rare submission is sometimes called a reverse triangle, although that moniker can be somewhat ambiguous. John Danaher refers to this technique as the rear triangle, or ushiro sankaku.

We’ve put together a highlight of some of his most exciting finishes on the day using this submission.

Let’s look at each of those submissions individually:

Kaynan Duarte vs Tex Johnson at No-Gi Pans 2020

In his match against Tex Johnson, Kaynan secured a straight jacket grip, controlling both of Tex’s arms across his body. He used the grip to pummel his leg over Tex’s bottom arm, isolating it outside to put him in triangle danger. From there, he threatened with an armbar, and used Tex’s reaction to bring the vulnerable arm over Tex’s head. There, Tex’s arm was weaker. He was less capable to defend, giving Kaynan the space to cinch the triangle.

With the triangle locked, Kaynan applied a double threat, squeezing the triangle before settling for an easy armbar finish.

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Kaynan Duarte vs Ethan Moses At No-Gi Pans 2020

Kaynan had to fight a bit harder to isolate Moses’ arm in this match, but once he got there, he applied all of the finishing details at once. The moment he isolated the arm, Kaynan took Moses’ other arm over his head, earning the tap for the shoulder lock before he had finished locking the triangle.

Kaynan Duarte vs Francisco Cuneo At No-Gi Pans 2020

Francisco Cuneo kept his arm close to his body when Kaynan locked the initial triangle. Kaynan could not easily pull it over his opponent’s head. Instead, he focused on closing the triangle, which made Cuneo’s shoulder weaker. Once he locked the rear triangle, he collapsed Cuneo’s shoulder, making it weaker. From there, he finished in the same method, pulling the arm over Cuneo’s head for the double-attack.

Abducting The Trapped Arm Is Crucial

In John Danaher’s widely renowned Enter The System series, he emphasises the importance of pulling the trapped arm over the defender’s head. Danaher says this helps to prevent the defender from prying the triangle apart, and puts the shoulder in the weakest possible position.

The Rear Triangle Is A Favorite Among No-Gi Enthusiasts

The rear triangle has grown in popularity over the last few years. Edwin “Junny” Ocascio recently tapped Jose Lima with one on the Fight to Win stage.

Junny Ocascio vs Jose Lima At Fight To Win  154

Junny got to Lima’s back and quickly focused on using his legs to isolate Lima’s arm. From there, he switched his focus to the arm trapped inside the triangle, using a kimura grip to weaken the shoulder. Lima kept Junny’s outside leg trapped between his own. While that may have saved Lima from the choke, it did not prevent Junny from using the triangle to apply leverage to the shoulder, eventually weakening it for an armbar finish.

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For those who prefer choking to joint locks, Rener Gracie has demonstrated a simple solution. Once he’s isolated the arm, he focuses on a technique called “threading the needle,” keeping the locking leg tight and punching it behind his opponent’s back.

While Junny executed the rear triangle earlier this year, he also fell victim to one in 2019.

Hiago Geroge vs Junny Ocascio At No-Gi Worlds 2019

Hiago George stitched several steps together in this rear triangle execution against Junny. He isolated the arm before he had completed his backtake, leaving little work to be done once he settled into position. As in previous examples, Hiago switched his attention to Junny’s trapped arm once he locked the triangle, and finished with the armbar.

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Danaher has offered several methods of isolating the defender’s arm in the process of taking the back. Here’s one that attacks from the turtle position.

One of the benefits of the rear mount triangle is that it plays against the defender’s appropriate response. In this example, Rener Gracie threatens with a collar choke. As his partner defends by pulling the choking arm, he uses the defender’s energy to throw the arm underneath the leg, settling into the triangle.

The Rear Triangle Can Be A Calculated Or Opportunistic Attack

While some athletes have a clear system to getting to and finishing from the rear triangle, it's not always that cleanly cut. Some competitors have stumbled upon the position. But the best grapplers know how to capitalize when they get there.

Marcus Buchecha Almeida vs Eliot Marshall At Fight To Win

Buchecha has a menacing mount. When he moved to mount Eliot Marshall, Marshall tried a backdoor escape. In his motion, he left his arm behind, and Buchecha progressed to back control, with Marshall’s arm already caught outside. He locked up his rear triangle and reached for Marshall’s, adding a savage compression to the already tight triangle.

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Vagner Rocha vs Jesse Taylor at SUG 6

In Vagner Rocha’s SUG 6 match against Jesse Taylor, Taylor made a last ditch effort to try and escape Rocha’s tight back control. He reached down to try and throw Rocha’s hook away, putting himself momentarily out of position. Rocha capitalized, feeding his leg over the top and cinching the rear triangle before finishing with a technique he calls the “slot machine,” an americana from the rear triangle position.

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Vagner has used this technique several times in his career, including once at the ADCC trials. He analyzed that match for us at FloSports HQ in 2019.

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