Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is built upon two pillars of truth: 1) Space and 2) Weight. Once you understand these two
principles and learn how to use them to your advantage, they will turbo charge your defensive and offensive game.
To your opponent, you will feel heavier when you are on top of them. To your opponent, you will feel slippery when
you are underneath them.

Let’s first address space. When you find yourself in a superior position, you need to be as close to your opponent
as possible. Give them no space to perform any kind of escape! When I say no space, I mean no space with your entire body.
Not just your upper body, but also your lower body. Not just with the left side of your body, but with both the left and
right sides of your body. I want you to place your body on top of their body like a wet towel. You should be so close to
your opponent that you should feel like one of his intercostal muscles.

To maintain an extreme tightness, you need to maintain a constant pulling motion with your arms. You also need to
drive with your feet and apply downward pressure with your chest by arching your back. When you find yourself in the
inferior position, you need to create as much space as possible. When I say create space, I mean you should create space
at the hips and the head. Move your hips away from their hips, then move your upper torso away from their upper
torso. Remember this rule of thumb: He who controls the hips, controls the game.

To create space, you first need to push with your hands, forearms, knees and/or feet. Next, you need to move your hips
away from the opponent’s hips. The closer your hips are to him the more control he will have over them.

When you find yourself in a superior position, you need to keep your weight centered upon the opponent’s upper torso. If
you give your opponent the chance to dump your weight off to one side, he may escape. So keep your weight centered on
his upper torso.

To keep your weight centered on his upper torso, maintain a constant pulling motion with your arms. Keep your head down
and keep your chest pressing into his.

When you find yourself in an inferior position, you need to dump the opponent’s weight off of the center of your chest.
You have five directions in which you can dump his weight:

To dump the weight off of your upper torso, you need to use your hands, forearms and/or biceps to push their weight
in one of the five directions mentioned above.

Attributes are those qualities that fuel your techniques. They give meaning and substance to your techniques.
Physical attributes like speed, power, strength, explosiveness, body mechanics, timing, sensitivity, awareness,
accuracy, footwork, distancing, agility, line familiarization, flexibility, balance, coordination and endurance
are what bring life and vibrancy to your techniques.

There are several physical attributes that play a major role in the development of your overall skill in Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu. The first two that come to mind are sensitivity and timing. These are the two most important attributes
to develop and maintain over the years.

Let’s first talk about sensitivity. Sensitivity could best be described as having the ability to feel and read pressure.
During a grappling match, there is a constant barrage of pushing and pulling motions every millisecond. If one were
to repeatedly engage force against force, they would soon tire. The competitor with the most strength, power and
endurance would more than likely win the match. (That is, taking into account that the two competitors are equally
skilled.) However, if one person had the attribute of sensitivity working for them, they would immediately recognize
a pushing motions on the part of their opponent and use this motion (pressure) against him by pulling him off
balance. Sensitivity is a great attribute to develop. You can use and develop it you entire life.

Sensitivity has helped me so much in my own grappling experience. I have used it many times against much larger and
stronger opponents. For example, I have a student who is a body builder. He stands 6’2″ tall and weighs a hefty 325 lbs.
(by comparison, I am 6’2″ and weigh 205 lbs.) He bench presses 500 lbs and bicep curls 120 lbs with what appears to be
the greatest of ease. Now, he has been a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu student of mine for a year. You know and I know that there
is no way in hell that I am going to overpower him. So how is it that I man-handle him like a little baby? How is it
that I toss him to and fro with an arm lock here and a leg lock there? Well, I’ll tell you. It is a combination of
technical skills mixed with the attribute of sensitivity. Now give him another year or two of training under me and
he will become a nightmare.

Some may ask, “How did you develop such a high degree of sensitivity?” Well, I spent most of my grappling time (9 years)
with my eyes closed. Whenever I grappled with someone who was not as experienced as I was, I used it as an opportunity
to train sensitivity. This was a safe, fun and easy way to develop my sense of feel. I would grapple people my own skill
level with my eyes closed as a barometer to feel how much energy I was using to control them or escape from certain
positions. Plus, when I’d grapple my instructor, I would close my eyes to feel the subtlety of certain moves he would
apply. Black belts have a different kind of pressure that is unique to them. As a result of this kind of training, I can
now grapple with just about anyone and feel their intentions. (Please don’t put any extra meanings into my words. I am
not saying I am the world’s best grappler, or anything like that. I am just making a point about the development
of sensitivity in my own personal training.)

Now let’s talk about timing. Timing can best be described as the ability to know when to perform a specific technique at
the appropriate time. It goes way beyond just knowing a technique. Timing means you know when to employ a technique.
It means you have the ability to see a very small, fast approaching window of opportunity to employ a specific technique
and you confidently take that opportunity to boldly employ the technique like you were destined to take it. That is
great timing. Let me give you an example of poor timing. Most of us know the scissors sweep from the guard. However,
we sometimes don’t see the window of opportunity to employ it. And if we do see it, it seems to either be approaching
so frickin’ fast that it feels like we will never quite get the opportunity to perform the technique, or we see it after
it has already past. Maybe we get it once in awhile, but it always seems so difficult to perform, and we end up expending
so much energy doing it. Does this sound familiar? Well, it’s not because we don’t know how to perform the technique.
It’s because we don’t know when to perform it, or we haven’t taken the time necessary to develop the timing needed
to employ the technique. Either way, poor timing is the culprit.

Usually, a lack of timing boils down to one of three things: One, your instructor has not taught you properly in the timing
and use of a specific technique, or two, he did teach it to you and you didn’t pay attention while he was teaching,
or three, he did teach you and you haven’t taken the time to properly train and develop the timing you need to employ
the technique. Regardless of whose fault it is, you need to take the time to develop a sense of timing with that
specific technique. You need to do the hundreds of repetitions necessary to make this technique your own. Doing so will
make it an ace up your sleeve. One that you will employ again and again with the greatest of ease.

When you combine the attribute of sensitivity with the attribute of timing, you get an explosive combination. Sensitivity
and timing will almost always beat speed, power and strength. (That is, unless you have a strong opponent who
is knowledgeable, cautious and defensive, and doesn’t want to fight, but rather, he wants to see how long he can last
with you; you may not make him tap.) Now combine sensitivity, timing, speed, power, strength and endurance along with
a good coach, good instruction in solid, fundamental skills, and what do you get? You get an animal!

Now keep this in mind, there are a lot of strong people out there. There are a lot of fast people out there. And, there are
a lot of people who have very high levels of endurance. However, these attributes tend to be associated with youth. As you
get older, you will find that more people are stronger than you, faster than you, and have a helluva lot more endurance
than you have ever had. However, if you consistently develop and maintain a high level of sensitivity and timing, you will
be able to compete with them for quite some time after your prime.

Sensitivity and timing are much easier to maintain than other attributes. So work on those two attributes and I guarantee
you that it will pay off. Maybe one day in the distant future, you will make your 18 year old son or grandson tap with a
choke, arm lock or leg lock and will be reminded of this article!

When it comes to submissions, there are several different types: chokes and strangulations, joint lock and pressure/
compression points. My favorite is joint locks. I’ve spent several years studying them. Here’s my take on joint locks:

Poor mechanics is the number reason why joint locks seem ineffective at times. It is the number one problem I see
at grappling tournaments.

Learning the mechanics of a joint locks should be the foundation of submission grappling. If a person doesn’t know the
correct mechanics of a specific joint lock, he/she must make up for this lack of knowledge by introducing speed, strength
and power into the equation. This is why so many people struggle with grappling. If they knew the mechanics of the lock
they were trying to employ, they would know where to precisely place their strength. They would know how to use the
leverage that mechanics would give them. Instead, they struggle with poor mechanics and their opponent escapes the lock.

Good mechanics will give a person the ability to apply most of the body weight and all of their upper body strength onto
one joint. If you weigh 150lbs., you should be able to apply at least 150lbs. of pressure onto one joint. Now with that kind
of weight and pressure, how many people do you know that can support 150lbs. on one joint? Now if you change the angle
of pressure on the joint, how many people do you think can do that?

Joint locks can also seem ineffective because the opponent or assailant has an abnormal range of motion in a specific
joint. For example, I know of a few people whose elbows bend backwards, way beyond the normal, straight 180 degrees. I met
a woman whose arm bent backwards to almost a 90 degree angle. It was impossible to arm lock her with the normal juji gatame.
I met a guy who could sit on the ground with his legs straight out in front of him, his butt and the back of his knees
were touching the ground, and he could touch the soles of his feet on the ground without bending his legs. I’ve met
several people who could bend their wrists backward and touch the palms of their hands to the inside of their forearms.

These people require that you have not only have a working knowledge of good mechanics, but you also need to know how to
change the angles on their joints. Otherwise, you will not make them tap on the joint that has the abnormal range of motion.

The number three reason why joint locks can seem ineffective is that the opponent or assailant has a high tolerance to pain.
I have applied joint locks with correct mechanics to a few people who could withstand a lot of pain. Some simply refused to
tap until they heard something pop. So when I encountered a new student or seminar attendee who wouldn’t tap to an arm lock
or wrist lock, I always resorted to the carotid restraint. I knew I wouldn’t hurt them because they will go unconscious if
they don’t tap. Many have gone unconscious, but none have ever been hurt. High tolerance to pain is something you
will encounter from time to time. So don’t be alarmed. Some people are just kinda weird that way! (I am that way with
biting. I have an extremely high tolerance to pain when it comes to someone biting my arms or legs. However, put me in a
good arm or leg locks and I will tap like an experienced conga player!)

The number four reason why joint locks can seem ineffective is the opponent or assailant is under the influence of a
drug. Certain drugs cause the nervous system to ignore the signals they receive from certain receptors. They don’t feel
pain. You crack their arm and they smile at you. You break their knee and they begin to sing the National Anthem. It’s
time to put your new Nike cross trainers into action and get the hell outta Dodge!

The number five reason why joint locks can seem ineffective is the opponent or assailant is mentally deranged. Same thing
as those on drugs. Same response. I encountered a few people like this as a police officer and they were extremely difficult
to deal with. There are a number of homeless people like this. They have lived on the streets for years and not much
bothers them. Be careful.

The number six reason why joint locks can seem ineffective is the opponent or assailant has a previous injury or surgery.
This is very common as well. I have known a few people that have had previous surgeries or injuries and had no, or very
little feeling on one side of their body. so when you put them into an arm lock for the first time, they just look at you.
When their arm cracks so loud that everyone in class hears it, you better get them some immediate medical attention, even
if they say, “I’m OK.”

The last reason why joint locks can seem ineffective is any combination of the above six reasons. When applying joint
locks, take the above information into consideration. Check your mechanics first. If your mechanics are OK, take a look at
the opponent’s joint. If it looks like it would normally hurt, you probably have someone on your hands that fit into one of
the above descriptions.

As you can probably tell, I am very big proponent of developing proper mechanics. I stress mechanics a lot in my BJJ
classes. Why? Because it makes accomplishing your objectives much easier. You won’t have to mix speed, power, strength
and explosiveness into the matrix as often.

Passing the guard is one of the major tools one should have in his/her BJJ arsenal. If there was one skill to be obtained
in BJJ, this would be the one! If you can consistently pass someone’s guard with ease, you will take so much away from
their ability to control you. (Add to this some good hold down skills to become truly effective.)

I have spent a little over two years working on it with my instructor Joe Moreira. This one skill has helped me so much that
I must recommend it to all. Let me share with you some of what I have learned.

Based upon the preceding principles and guidelines, I can show you sixty-five (65) different techniques on passing the
guard. I’m sure there are more than sixty-five, but that’s all I know. Once you understand these principles and guidelines,
you can figure a lot of different ways to pass.

When you begin to put the basic ways of passing the guard together into two and three technique combinations, the amount
of energy you spend to pass will begin to decrease. W hen you can put five and six techniques together into a
solid combination, now you’re flowing. And, when you can pass your opponent’s guard and talk to another student about
politics, mathematics or sports, while your in the process of passing their guard … well, now you’re really flowing!

Submission and Strategy

Learning is a process of time and effort. This process begins with the simple knowns of life and progresses endlessly
towards the very complex unknowns. When a child learns mathematics, he begins with a very simple known value system. He
learns how to count from one to ten by using his fingers and toes. Once he can comfortably and confidently maneuver
around these simple things, he can then be introduced to more complex things like counting to one hundred. Once proficiency
is achieved at this new level, he can then be introduced to basic arithmetic (which is the idea of putting the basics
together into numerous combinations). Once his grasp of basic arithmetic has grown to a high level, he can then be
introduced to more complex mathematics like algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus. This is the process of
learning mathematics. This is also the process of learning anything in life, especially Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

The starting point in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is positional escapes. It is your value system, your foundation. Without
this foundation, everything else you learn will not have meaning or substance. If you can not escape from an inferior
position, you will never be able to control or dominate your opponent. You will have to resign yourself to always being
on your back. Always trying to escape but never quite succeeding. Positional escapes must be your starting point because
it will give you the ability to get off of your back and onto a top position. Plus, it will give you the power to further
your education in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with things like positional dominance, submissions and counters.

Once you have built a solid foundation in positional escapes, you can then move onto positional dominance. The building
block of positional dominance will lay the foundation for your study of submissions. If you can positionally escape
and dominate your opponent at will (meaning any time you damn well please), then you will be able to repeatedly try
submission after submission without regard to whether or not they escape the hold. For example, if your opponent escapes
your attempt at an arm lock, oh well, you’ll just pull him back into your guard, sweep him and do it all over again. If
he escapes again … yawn … you’ll flip him onto his back and try it from a different angle. Positional dominance, along
with positional escapes, will give you the confidence to be able to do this. That’s why it is the second building block
along your path to submissions and set-ups.

Your next building block is learning the specific mechanics of each submission hold. The mechanics of each submission are
what give you the leverage to be able to arm lock, leg lock or choke a 325 lbs. athletic, body builder with ease and
finesse. Mechanics are made up of two thing: 1) the specific position your body must be in to control your opponent while
you place him in a submission hold and apply leverage to a specific joint or appendage, and 2) the correct angles at which
you apply and maintain pressure on the joint or appendage you are manipulating. Once you understand the how’s, where’s,
when’s and why’s of submissions, the rest is easy.

Now before I move on to the next building block, I must interject something here. You must take these three beginning
building blocks (positional escapes, positional dominance and mechanics of submission holds) and master them before
even attempting to think about set-ups. Why? Because the set-up portion of the game is very intellectual. You can’t
be physically struggling with an escape from an inferior position or the mechanics of an arm lock, while at the same
time trying to formulate a “what the hell am I gonna do next” strategy. You must be in absolute command of your
positional skills, as well as your mechanics of submission holds, before you begin the very mental game of set-ups
and strategy.

Now, when it comes to set-ups, you have to play a lot of the “what if” game. You have to take your training partner aside
and do a frame by frame analysis of the game. When your opponent or training partner offers you resistance in one direction
by slamming shut a door of opportunity, you need to take the time and look around to find the other door of opportunity
that exists. Up until this point in time, your learning process should have taught you that there are always two sides to
every coin. So there must be at least two doors of opportunity in every situation. All you need to do is take the time
during your training sessions and find them. Yes, an instructor can show them to you, but you must take it upon yourself
to find them. Here’s an example of what I mean. If my opponent were to lift his head up while I was trying to apply a
triangle on him, I would simply flow into an arm lock. Why? Because the specific energy or pressure that he gave me
was conducive to me taking his arm. He was leading me into an arm lock. If when I tried to arm lock him from that
triangle position by throwing my leg over his face and he ducked his head under my leg, well, I’d flow right back into
the triangle so when he lifted his head up to counter one submission hold, he led me into another one. When he lowered
his head down to counter another submission hold, he led me into another. My opponent could not simultaneously lift and
lower his head at the same time. So, as my opponent chose to close door “A”, I made a bee-line to go through door “B”.
When he saw me making a bee-line for door “B”, he tried to close door “B” instead. Either way, I was gonna make it through
one of those doors of opportunity sooner or later.

So, when it comes to set-ups, you must realize that you are talking highly complex issues! This is not the kind of stuff
you talk about with children, but with University Professors. So now that I have made you a University Professor, you
should not ask childish questions that relate back to positional escapes, positional dominance or the specific mechanics.

For the person who is concerned with setting up an arm lock on a highly talented, equally skilled and knowledgeable
individual, they should first be able to setup an arm lock on a unsuspecting and unknowledgeable individual like taking
candy away from a baby! If they can not do this, then they are not ready for this complex issue. Setting up an arm lock
on a highly talented, equally skilled and knowledgeable individual is a very difficult task. It is one that can be done,
but it can be a lengthy process.

You must start the process by establishing control of his body. Once you have established control, you must determine his
skill level by what you feel. Next, you must begin you the process of attacking a joint or his neck. Should you
encounter physical resistance (meaning power or strength), you just have to wait it out because he will tire in a minute
or two. Should you encounter technical resistance (meaning he knew a technical counter to your submission attempt) you
should flow into the submission hold he is leading you into without giving up control of his body. Following someone’s
pressure is like water finding the path of least resistance. It is there, it just needs to be found.

Yes, you can plan ahead and try to stay ten moves ahead of your opponent, but that usually doesn’t work. Why? Because
you’re doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu kata. You may think you can plan what your opponent is going to do, but if he surprises
you, then you’ll find out that your kata was your worst enemy. It misled you into battle. You must not plan on doing this
and doing that. You must learn how to respond to what pressure your opponent gives you. If you always try to force an
issue, you will one day more than likely encounter an issue that is a lot bigger and stronger than you can force. Then
what will you do? You’ll probably get tired and panic, expend more energy than you really had to, and maybe even lose
the fight. Maybe luck will be on your side and you will win the fight. But you will have spent so much unnecessary energy
that you will be unable to continue fighting other fresh opponents.

Your planning, strategy, and set-up must happen during training. You must address every little nook and cranny of the issue
at hand before testing it out in live action. You must also have an instructor who is willing to share with you the
flowchart of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. You must see and learn how each technique has several individual counters, and you must
learn and memorize each and every counter. Then, you must see and learn how each and every individual counter has
several counters to it. For example, if I were to show you a simple arm lock from the guard, and then show you ten
(10) different counters to that one arm lock, you would say WOW! Then, if I took each individual counter and showed you
five counters to each of them (i.e. five counters to counter #1, five counters to counter #2, …, five counters to
counter #10; fifty counters in all), your mind would be blown. And then if I asked you to memorize them for your
up-coming match with Jean Jacque Machado, you’d think I was crazy! Well, welcome to the intellectual world of set-ups
and strategy. It is a world of complex factors and exponentials!

Learning and practicing submission holds is one of the funnest parts of learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. What’s even funner
is making the opponent tap to an arm lock, choke or leg lock. to be proficient at submission holds, one must be proficient
in the following areas:

Learning the mechanics of submission holds is so important to develop good submission skills. I have seen numerous
grappling matches where an aggressor tries to effect a lock, yet struggles with getting it on just right. He fumbles, and
the opponent escapes. Why? Poor mechanics. He had an basic idea of how to do a lock, but he used strength to apply the lock.
If he’d had good mechanics, his opponent would have tapped and he would have been declared the victor.

Learning the mechanics of a specific joint lock is more important than anything else. It lays the foundation for
your understanding of specific limb placement and the use of leverage. Knowing the mechanics of a specific joint lock is
also important because contained in the mechanics are the escapes. (And we all know how important it is for us to know how
to escape a submission hold.)

Finally, learning the mechanics will help you at the intermediate and advanced levels of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Intermediate level Jiu Jitsu is nothing more than putting the basics together into numerous two and three
technique combinations. However, once you begin to put these basics together into two technique combinations, you must
maintain the integrity of both techniques as well as the transition, otherwise, you leave your opponent a chance to escape.
For example, an arm lock has six different components to it and a triangle has seven. To put those two techniques together
into a combination, one must coordinate sixteen different components (six for the arm lock, seven for the triangle and
three for the transition between both submission holds). That’s a lot of stuff to remember and coordinate. If you can
not coordinate all of the above components, you must stick with learning and mastering the basic mechanics. Also, if you
can not coordinate all of the above components, it means you must fill the gaps in the mechanics with speed, power,
strength and explosiveness. Now, theres nothing wrong with filling the gaps with speed, power, strength and explosiveness.
All it means is that you better not grapple with anyone who’s bigger, stronger, faster, more explosive and as equally
skilled as yourself. Otherwise, you’re gonna end up real tired, real quick.

The second thing you must devote yourself to learning are the positions of control that accompany the submission
holds. Contained within the mechanics are the control positions that allow you to maintain positional dominance over
your opponent. When you opponent frees himself from your grip, you must learn how to adjust your body to maintain control
over his body without relinquishing your hold on the submission. You must also learn how to deal with those walls of
resistance that present them self as you go for the submission (e.g. while attempting an arm lock on your opponent, he
grabs his forearms with both of his hands and pulls his arms to his chest.)

Next, you must learn how to control the transitions that occur between the positions and submissions. When you find
yourself locked into a position of control and dominance, you feel secure. However, as soon as you begin to go for
that submission hold, you struggle with the thought of giving your opponent too much space to escape. Or, you struggle
with the thought of taking your w eight off of your opponent too long which will also give him an opportunity to escape.
So, what do you do? You wait and wait and wait and wait, hoping your opponent will give you his arm or neck. OR,
you ballistically shoot for the arm or neck, only to find yourself on your back again, wishing you had not gone for it.
Well, all this ads up to is your unfamiliarity with transitions and your inability to set your opponent up.

Transitions are very important to your BJJ game. You must have them at high levels. Too many people become focused upon
the positions and the submissions and ignore the transition that occur between the two of them. Just as you practice
holding someone down from the mount, and just as you practice finishing a spinning arm lock from the mount, you must
also practice the transition that occurs between the two.

The next thing to train is the physical attribute of sensitivity. Sensitivity is the ability to read and feel pressure.
Once you obtain this attribute and can apply it from every position, it will make your game much easier. Especially
against much larger and stronger opponents. Additionally, sensitivity is one of those attributes that is easily
maintained. Unlike speed and power.

Finally, you must have a firm understanding of the principles involved with joint manipulations and chokes. When you apply
a joint manipulation or choke, you are applying a certain amount of pressure on a specific location, at a specific angle.
If you change the angle of pressure, you make the lock ineffective. If you change the position of leverage, you make the
lock ineffective. The same applies with chokes.

As you can see, learning how to effectively apply a submission hold is an uphill battle. You will encounter a variety
of difficulties along the way. But keep going, it’s worth the battle. When you can repeatedly make muscle bound guys tap
with greatest of ease, you will feel proud of your accomplishments. Don’t worry so much about that big monstrosity in your
BJJ class. He is the exception to the rule. He knows the same BJJ that you know. Focus on the new students that come into
the class. The ones that are muscle bound. If you can make them tap, you have a lot to be proud of!

I remember the first bodybuilder I made tap. He was 6’2″, and weighed 315 lbs. He was a high school wrestler to boot.
His curiosity led him to my school and we rolled. He took me down and I placed him in my guard. He put his hands on
my shoulders to pin me down and I took his arm and made him tap like an experienced conga player. he asked to go at it
again and I obliged him. He took me down again and I immediately placed him into my guard again. He reached under my leg
to pass my guard and I triangled him. Again he tapped. He asked to go again and I said, “SURE!”
Smiling like a Cheshire cat!) I took him down this time and mounted. He rolled over to his knees and I choked him. He
tapped again, but this time he was angry! He said, “You can’t do that!” I said, Sure I can. I just did.” He said, “Thats
not allowed in wrestling.” I told him, “Of course it isn’t. That’s the Jiu Jitsu stuff you said would never work on you.
How did it feel?” He said, “Man, I’ve never felt anything like that before. Can you teach me some of that Jiu Jitsu
stuff?” Sure, I said. I’ll never forget that day. I was still a blue belt at the time.