International jiu-jitsu champion shares techniques at Belvoir

Photo by Don Dees
Josh Jones attempts to pass Ryan Hall's guard following a clinic on a jiu-jitsu submission technique known as the triangle choke. Hall taught the class Tuesday night at Wells Field House.

In the world of submission grappling, the name Ryan Hall is synonymous with the triangle choke. The technique calls for one grappler to lock an opponent's neck and extended arm with one leg bent around them and the other leg securing the ankle of the first. Applied properly, the choke can render an opponent unconscious in a matter of seconds.

Tuesday night, jiu-jitsu students at Fort Belvoir experienced the phenomenon firsthand by its most famous practitioner. Jiu-jitsu champion Ryan Hall visited Wells Field House as a guest of instructor John "PapaJohn" Gorman.

"I think he was a blue belt when I met him. I was a purple belt at the time and he got me in that triangle and I could not get out," said Gorman. His impromptu clinic on the triangle choke technique was a tremendous benefit to Belvoir's jiu-jitsu students.

Hall won the European and World Brazilian jiu-jitsu championships in 2008. Along the way to those victories, many of his opponents experienced his signature technique firsthand.

He perfected his technique by applying the same mechanical analysis of the components as applied to other sports, he said. "You learn so much by being forced to break it down and understand how the body works.

"I look at each technique from micro to macro to see what's going on. It's difficult to understand things globally all at once."

Perfecting the triangle choke is equal parts self discovery and good coaching, Hall said. Hall is coached by world champion super-heavyweight black belt Lloyd Irvin. Irvin holds several black belts and has earned numerous championships while teaching others the skills of submission grappling.

"If you can understand third grade levers and fulcrums, then you can be a world champion black belt," Hall said.

Students attending the Tuesday night session were impressed to train with such a well-known fighter. "It was very cool to have Ryan here. I've seen his videos online, but to experience his technique firsthand was impressive," said First Lt. Josh Jones, a Belvoir resident and Old Guard Soldier.

For Hall, the admiration was mutual. "It's great to be around the military because it's such a great group of motivated people," he said.

He was also impressed that servicemembers at Belvoir train in the art to improve their proficiency in combatives. Ground fighting is a key component of the Modern Army Combatives Program. "Jiu-jitsu is the perfect art to begin an unarmed fighting system. It can be trained safely and quickly to a high degree of proficiency with minimal risk."

For beginning jiu-jitsu students, or those interested in starting Hall had some advice. "Don't be attached to the results," he said.
"Regardless of the outcome of any given match, there is information to be gained from every situation," Hall said.

"You can lose a match and have done more right than winning a match because you were lucky but did several things wrong. Be
attached to the process of learning. This is a laboratory. Treat it as such," he said.