Bad at Submissions

[the Lich Samurai]

since the day i started bjj my mindset was like ''position before submissioın'' so i took so much time for guard passes etc. Now i am a blue belt who can get the mount but while trying to armbar or something else they find a space and escape easily. so what do you recommend about that stiuations? Positions spar maybe?

[Daniel Siriphongs]

I was in a similar boat. What helped me breakthrough was understanding the concepts of rotational control, lever control, and taking the “slack” out of an arm or leg before fully applying the sub. Rob Biernacki is a master at teaching conceptual BJJ and Caio Terra affiliate.

[the Lich Samurai]

Thanks sir

[Jon Watkins]

Samurai Rolls from 3/4 mount is a big time submission transition for me. You say you are good at getting mount. Trying giving up position to 3/4 mount and running the Samurai to the truck. This does not answer your armbar question. I would probably be more help in person with that. I just figured I would offer this.

[Arman Fathi]

since the day i started bjj my mindset was like ''position before submissioın'' so i took so much time for guard passes etc. Now i am a blue belt who can get the mount but while trying to armbar or something else they find a space and escape easily. so what do you recommend about that stiuations? Positions spar maybe?

Positional sparring is not a bad idea.
A philosophy I’ve been having success with is focusing on control in the mount and not having any intention to submit. This is classic jiu jitsu thinking, let them make the first move. You’re on top, you’re winning. Hold him down. If he’s going to try to work to escape, therein lies your chance to capitalize. Control first, then be opportunistic. Arm bars present themselves constantly off of trap and rolls. If they attempt an elbow escape when your control focused, you can scoop up the arm and achieve head and arm control, an ideal situation for you in mount.

[Arman Fathi]

Samurai Rolls from 3/4 mount is a big time submission transition for me. You say you are good at getting mount. Trying giving up position to 3/4 mount and running the Samurai to the truck. This does not answer your armbar question. I would probably be more help in person with that. I just figured I would offer this.

That being said this is a great move to have in the arsenal, especially considering the idea that you could bait the quarter guard recovery to do the samurai roll. If they get a quarter guard and torque your knee off the ground, taking away the samurai roll, you can knee split to the other side and do a quick back step to the 4-11.

[MixedMartialWorld]

I'm in the same situation ! thank for your tips ! i'll try when i'll restart the training

[Ben Eddy]

I was in a similar boat. What helped me breakthrough was understanding the concepts of rotational control, lever control, and taking the “slack” out of an arm or leg before fully applying the sub. Rob Biernacki is a master at teaching conceptual BJJ and Caio Terra affiliate.

Positional sparring is not a bad idea.
A philosophy I’ve been having success with is focusing on control in the mount and not having any intention to submit. This is classic jiu jitsu thinking, let them make the first move. You’re on top, you’re winning. Hold him down. If he’s going to try to work to escape, therein lies your chance to capitalize. Control first, then be opportunistic. Arm bars present themselves constantly off of trap and rolls. If they attempt an elbow escape when your control focused, you can scoop up the arm and achieve head and arm control, an ideal situation for you in mount.

Good conceptual responses here 👌.

I would say you've learned to value positions, as they've been told to you. But Jiu Jitsu at its core is about being one step, one inch ahead of your opponent and following that to where it ends. It's good you've learned how to get to and establish / maintain these positions. That will naturally have taught you a lot about good Jiu Jitsu. Now you need to start the path of forgetting about positions and paying attention to momentum. After you gain any angle on your opponent, can you continue to stay one step ahead? Will you force it down a path or allow it to take you where it goes? This is the game of jiu jitsu. Positions are everywhere, the question is just who is controlling whose momentum.. Who has the angle, can you maintain it? Can you improve it as they attempt to get the angle back. Each of their movements will give you an ability to move further along the path, whatever the path may end up being depending on their choices. What matters is if you can stay on top of those movements, can you follow the momentum? Shape it even? How much will you focus on following the momentum vs shaping it? Either way, you have established an inch, the game is keeping it, increasing it, all during the pace you two establish (momentum). The rest is choices, following vs forcing, choosing paths, all personal choice and variance. Within that will always be the battle of staying a step ahead.. an inch. Inch by inch.

[shane coyle]

Good conceptual responses here ��.

I would say you've learned to value positions, as they've been told to you. But Jiu Jitsu at its core is about being one step, one inch ahead of your opponent and following that to where it ends. It's good you've learned how to get to and establish / maintain these positions. That will naturally have taught you a lot about good Jiu Jitsu. Now you need to start the path of forgetting about positions and paying attention to momentum. After you gain any angle on your opponent, can you continue to stay one step ahead? Will you force it down a path or allow it to take you where it goes? This is the game of jiu jitsu. Positions are everywhere, the question is just who is controlling whose momentum.. Who has the angle, can you maintain it? Can you improve it as they attempt to get the angle back. Each of their movements will give you an ability to move further along the path, whatever the path may end up being depending on their choices. What matters is if you can stay on top of those movements, can you follow the momentum? Shape it even? How much will you focus on following the momentum vs shaping it? Either way, you have established an inch, the game is keeping it, increasing it, all during the pace you two establish (momentum). The rest is choices, following vs forcing, choosing paths, all personal choice and variance. Within that will always be the battle of staying a step ahead.. an inch. Inch by inch.

Responses to this post have GOLD embedded within! The positional sparring and such aspects as taking out slack before sinking in the submission are areas I've noted I not only need work on, but it's where instructors are also pointing out areas to improve on.

Ben Eddy's input is spot on, we all should dig deep into his words and input and think on this higher level. Not only think on it, my goal is to get to the point where techniques, position, control, etc all blend into one seamless flow-that will put me one slight step ahead of the opponent and be able to maintain that no matter if it's where the flow leads me or I force the flow in a specific direction.

Man, loads of areas to get to work on and improve!

Good fortune in your pursuit of those seamless submissions!

[Eddie Bravo]

Live drills from the mount are huge. My goal in the mount is to underjack to head and armpit control, so it’s all about getting an underhook in the mount. If you can’t get the underhook look to Darce or guillotine or gift wrap as they try to escape