Letting your opponent pick his poison: It's always impressive to see an athlete impose his will upon another and force him into a given finish even when the other fellow knows very well what's coming. What is every bit as impressive however, is the art of DELAYING YOUR CHOICE OF FINISH UNTIL YOU SEE YOUR OPPONENTS REACTION TO YOUR INITIAL threat. Once you make an initial attack upon a knowledgeable opponent you can expect some form of defensive reaction. If you have a good understanding of what those defensive reactions are – you can capitalize upon them in ways that will dramatically increase your effectiveness on the mat. In truth, there are only so many effective ways to defend the main attacks of Jiu Jitsu. If you invest time in getting to know what those are you can learn to anticipate an opponents next move and take advantage of them as they occur. THERE ARE FEW GREATER ADVANTAGES IN COMBAT THAN KNOWING AN OPPONENTS NEXT MOVE. If you can gain that advantage few will be able to stop you. Take your favorite moves and start to learn the most common and effective reactions to them. Then start building a game based around the anticipation of those reactions. Whatever success you had previously with those favorite moves will be DWARFED by the new success rates you experience with a game that combines those favorite moves with follow ups based on anticipation and the advantage of knowing the next step in an opponents game.
