Escape, evasion and following through: When learning submission holds, one typically begins with the skill of GETTING TO THE LOCK. That is difficult enough on good opponents, however, as you go against good opponents you will soon find a whole new challenge awaits you – THE SKILL OF FIGHTING THROUGH AND OVERCOMING SKILLED (and sometimes wild/unorthodox) resistance TO THE LOCK AND GETTING TO THE FINISH. You must be able to anticipate and counter common defensive measures to your attacks, mapping out strategies ahead of time as to what you will do when the usual escapes are attempted. Sometimes when unorthodox escapes are attempted, you must be able to improvise on the spot. Remember – NO ONE WILL REMEMBER HOW MANY SUBMISSIONS YOU ATTEMPT, ONLY HOW MANY YOU FINISH. Constantly work on your ability to follow through your submissions against resistance. Live sparring is the most important form of training for this. Here, nicky ryan follows the unorthodox rolling movement of his opponent in the midst of a triangle (sankaku) attack, following the motion through to a mounted triangle to get the finish.
