Back in my purple belt days, I had an experience that still annoys me to this day.
It happened not that long after my promotion, and the scene of the crime was a Grapplers Quest hosted up in PA.
First of all, you should know that when I did local tournaments, I signed up for everything. I wanted all the experience I could get. And at purple belt that meant jumping in the shark tank in No-Gi, where all the purple, brown and black belts swam.
And that’s where it happened.
It started in my weight division, after I won my first match against a big and strong Russian. Hah, he wasn’t ready for the half, and once I swept, his doom was sealed.
In the final, I went against a brown belt who was playing an odd game. I just didn’t realize it until it was too late.
He pulled guard on me, but it didn’t feel like a good guard. It was loose. Open. And it didn’t take me long to pass at all.
I was up. I was winning.
But then he did something that made no sense at all. He stretched his legs out and laid out completely. Nothing was standing in the way of me taking mount.
It was a gift!
I couldn’t resist.
That was one of my positions. I was confident that I could finish there because even back then my no-gi ezekiel was straight fire.
So I went for it….
But then suddenly, he came alive. With explosive energy, he bumped my hips upward, at the very moment I slid over to mount, and shot one leg through my legs and around to leg reap.
Once there, he transitioned to the heel hook.
I tapped.
Argh!
It was frustrating but I had no idea how to defend it. In my academy, we had never worked on it.
That’s not the worst thing though.
In the absolute, we met again. And this time, I was more cautious. I raked up points and tried to submit from side control but it was no go.
Time was ticking. Victory was in sight.
But then I did it.
I couldn’t resist.
In the room, I had built habits around going after the mount position. And in a moment’s lapse, I went for it again.
The result?
Absolutely the same.
He heel hooked me again in the same exact way.
It was straight robbery, but I could only blame myself.
Don’t make my mistake. Learn the ins and outs of every submission. You must learn how they function and how they can be stopped.
Nothing else will give you as much confidence on the mat.
If you know without a doubt that you can defend submissions, it will allow you to truly unleash your game.
And one of the very best ways to make yourself more impervious to submission is to study setups. You want to be see an attack coming from a mile away. And if you can consistently….
Whoa…
It becomes so much slip through threats like an eel in water.
And if you would like a little help in the form of principles and tactics, there’s a place you can go.
It’s right here:
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