Calm between the storms: The general pattern of Jiu jitsu sparring is of relatively long periods of little activity followed by bursts of intense hyperactivity followed again by a longer period of relative inactivity. This cycle continues on until victory is scored. These periods of apparent inactivity are in fact, very active, but in subtle ways. The athletes are jockeying for some small, often imperceptible advantage that will make a sudden dramatic move more likely to succeed. Once the advantage is gained there is a strong attack. This necessitates an equally strong counter from the opponent which creates the sudden increase in activity level that will continue either until victory or failure for either athlete to score and they make a mutual agreement that it's not worth pursuing what they sought and they go into another quiet phase of subtle set ups. Learning play with this shift of gears is a big part of your development. beginners tend to just sprint the whole match and get tired very quickly. If you can't get a quick win this approach condemns you to defeat. Going to passive for too long creates an activity level so low that you won't tire your opponents and you can't build the pressure that wins matches decisively. Somewhere in the middle is the right path. learn to juggle the need for periods of low energy expenditure where the primary emphasis is on tactics and set ups, with short bursts of intense activity where the primary emphasis is on scoring and finishing. Play the two together seamlessly and you'll be able to grapple a long time and out sufficient pressure on an opponent to fatigue them to a degree that a decisive breakthrough is much more likely to occur.
