Climbing rope: The goal of grappling is control over your opponents body – and the two best areas of an opponents body to control are the head and hips – if you control either of those you are in command of his body. The problem is, no one will just let you get a hold of their head or hips, and so you must WORK your way there. The general pattern in the vast majority of grappling exchanges is to BEGIN AT THE extremities OF THE BODY – THE HANDS OR FEET – AND WORK YOUR WAY PROGRESSIVELY UP THE ARMS OR LEGS TO GET TO YOUR GOAL OF THE HEAD OR HIPS. It's like climbing a rope – you start at the bottom and work your way to the top from grip to grip until your get to your destination. In grappling your destination is the head or hips and you must climb your way grip to grip to get there. In all neutral positions whether standing or on the ground you will see this pattern of extremities to core emerging. Working in this way will keep you defensively sound until you control the head or hips – and then you can focus on your offense without hinderance.
