Defense into offense: The moves of Jiu jitsu are divided evenly into offense and defense. A perfect defensive game would make you undefeatable. A perfect offensive game would make you capable of defeating anyone. As a general rule it's best to begin your study with a bias towards defense, since the most common scenario for anyone starting out in the sport is to be overwhelmed by their more knowledgeable and experienced classmates. Somewhere along the road of your development however, you must begin to synthesize defense and offense. THE COMPLETION OF ALMOST EVERY DEFENSIVE MOVE IN JIU JITSU IS RICH IN ATTACKING OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE WHO LOOK FOR IT. Here I have stopped an initial leg tackle down on the mat – the second the initial danger has passed it's time to switch gears from defense into offense. There are great positional opportunities here – go behinds to the back will always be foremost among them – and also submission opportunities – anything out of front head lock will be a great choice, but there are many others as well. Next time you've successfully stopped an opponent with your defense – don't be satisfied with stopping them – go immediately into counter offense. You will soon find that opponents are much easier to attack due to being somewhat out of position after their failed attack and you can make the synthesis of defense and offense work strongly in your favor
