submission holds and failure: Submission requires total focus of bodily energy for a long enough time to make an opponent submit (or if he chooses not submit, to experience the consequences of his choice). That can be a very considerable energy expenditure in a short time. If it works – it was definitely worth it. In many cases however, you will see an athlete try as hard as he can, even for extended periods of time, and fail. This can have devastating effects. Physically it can be exhausting to apply maximum isometric tension for too long. It's tough to recover from physical exhaustion at the best of time – in the midst of a highly competitive match is even harder. Psychologically it can severely dent your confidence to try submissions again later in the match and make you second guess yourself every time an opportunity arises. As such, it is extremely important that you develop an internal feeling of what a well applied submission feels like so that you know ahead of time whether it will be worth committing all your reserves into the attempt. With all your favorite submissions try to build this self knowledge so that next time you are in the position you will know with great confidence that you can give it your all for the time required and make it all worthwhile
