Outside Sankaku
Outside sankaku in no-gi: the triangled leg control around the opponent's outside leg that serves as the primary outside heel
Adapted from InGrappling, Outside Sankaku. System Games did not invent this curriculum.
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Elevated RiskOutside Sankaku is an elevated risk technique. Outside sankaku is the primary finishing position for the outside heel hook, which loads the LCL, the popliteal ligaments and the posterolateral corner through external rotation. Damage to the lateral knee structures can occur before the attacked partner feels pain. Both partners must understand submission speed and tap immediately. Serious injury can occur within a small number of degrees of external rotation.
If you are new to this technique: read this section before anything else. Understanding the danger is part of understanding the technique.
The person applying the technique is responsible for releasing immediately.
Communicate before drilling. Know your partner's experience level with this position.
Do not train this technique while fatigued or in live rolling without established mat culture.
Tapping culture and why it matters → Injury guide for this technique → What This Is
Outside sankaku is a leg entanglement configuration in which the attacking player triangles their legs around the opponent’s outside leg — the leg on the same side as the attacker’s head. The triangle is formed by the attacker’s legs crossing behind the opponent’s knee, capturing the limb in a figure-four that controls both the hip and the knee line simultaneously.