Postion Before Submission

I never really believed it… “those blues and purples just want to keep me down. They don’t want to give me their real secrets – they want to stay on top.”
Strangely enough now I’m saying the same thing “You need to understand each position and control your opponent before you’re going to be able to submit them”.
I have seen too many blue belts begin their journey into submission too soon and often become frustrated because they just can’t finish their opponent. They get so close, but they often fail at finishing their opponent. This usually leads the blue belt to seeking out more and more submission techniques. He thinks that the “new” and “sneaky” techniques will make him more skilled at submissions. ‘ (Roy Harris)
All the fancy stuff, all the learning of new techniques, all the counters etc.. aren’t worth squat if you can’t hold a position. Getting a position is one thing but keeping it is another. I’d love to tap everyone but I’ve found time and time again that I end up losing a dominant position only to be dominated myself. Here’s the point – if I’d understood how to hold the position and stop my opponent from escaping I would have got a submission.
It’s difficult to know if this is the one reason why I don’t get as many submissions as I’d like to but it definitely contributes to me losing opportunities for taps. Until the next time – Take care on your journey from White to Black – Happy Rolling !!