Realistic combinations: In the past I have talked about the critical need for students to learn to combine submission attacks into short sequences to overcome resistance and break through to victory by submission. Just as no good boxer would expect to defeat a worthy opponent with single punches, so too, no jiu jitsu player would expect to defeat a worthy opponent first time everything time with the first submission he tries. One problem I often see however, is people selecting inappropriate combinations. Sometimes these look good when drilling on a non resisting training partner, but fail in live sparring. The key is to select combinations that allow us to transition in a way that MINIMIZES THE DISTANCE WE HAVE TO TRAVEL TO GET TO THE NEXT attack WHILST MAXIMIZING OUR CONTROL OVER OUR OPPONENTS MOVEMENT AS HE TRIES TO ESCAPE THE FIRST ATTACK. This creates very effective submission combinations that are difficult to avoid even when resisting as hard as possible. Here, talented kohai student Matthew Tesla shows fine form at a recent local tournament with a well selected combination leg attack that offers his opponent little opportunity to avoid or counter the second attack – resulting in a nice submission win. Creating rationally ordered, short submission combinations based on the criteria I just outlined will greatly increase your chance of success with the various submission holds we work with with.
