Understand sankaku-jime in judo: the triangle choke, classification, IJF rules, tap rule and risks. Guide to understanding – only with a coach.
The honest answer: sankaku-jime is the judo triangle choke – a choke in which the legs form a triangle around the opponent's neck and arm – and in the federation's programme it is an advanced choke. It sits in the extended programme for teenagers and adults [1]. Its BJJ counterpart is the triangle choke.
This guide is a guide to understanding for advanced judoka. You get principle, classification and rules – but deliberately no instructions for choking someone with the legs. This choke works with the strongest muscles of the body, the legs, and is therefore hard to dose. That counts as a risk, not a compliment.
Do not confuse it with sankaku-gatame: that is the name of an armlock in the federation's programme, required at 3rd kyu [1]. Sankaku-jime is the choke.
Sport chokes work by compression of the neck veins and, with more force, the carotid arteries, not through the airway [4]. With a fully established hold, unconsciousness typically occurs after 6–14 seconds [4].
The steps describe the learning build-up, not the technique on a partner.
Before sankaku-jime is a topic, groundwork basics and the classic chokes sit in your understanding. Your coach decides whether you are ready. Milestone: you can explain the safety rules of all chokes by heart.
The IJF distinguishes precisely. Chokes with the legs around the neck, without an arm of the opponent in the triangle, lead to "Mate!" and shido [2]. Ushiro-sankaku followed by a choke or lever is explicitly allowed [2]. Risky variants endangering neck and spine are punished with hansoku-make; so is kata-sankaku on the ground that blocks the opponent with both legs [2]. Milestone: you can explain why the rule book is so strict.
You are uke first. The IJF counts tapping twice with hand or foot, or "Maitta!", as giving up [2]. With leg chokes you tap early, because your partner can dose the legs' strength poorly. Milestone: you tap before head or neck are loaded unpleasantly.
With the coach you learn the leg position in slow motion, without choking and without speed. Milestone: your coach sees you open immediately at every signal.
Only after your coach has cleared you does choking under supervision come in. Not before.
This guide does not replace supervised training or a coach. You practise chokes only in training, under supervision, with a partner who may tap – never outside it, never jerky.
The skill that makes the biggest difference is not the triangle choke itself but the ability to release it in time. Whoever practises opening in slow motion is a partner everybody likes to train with.
Sankaku-jime is a choke, sankaku-gatame an armlock. Both appear in the federation's programme, but in different places [1].
Yes, in groundwork, but with clear rules. Legs around the neck without an arm of the opponent mean "Mate!" and shido; risky variants for neck and spine are hansoku-make [2].
With a fully established hold, typically within 6–14 seconds [4]. That is why the tap must come early.
No. It counts as an advanced technique in the extended programme [1].
No. You practise chokes only in training with a coach.
Judo: Getting Started and Overview