Anticipation: The higher you go in the sport, the more you will seek to NARROW YOUR opponents options INTO A FEW EASILY ANTICIPATED OPTIONS THAT YOU CAN NULLIFY BEFORE THEY CAN BE EMPLOYED. This is the path of the jiu jitsu expert. At the onset of a match, things can go in any direction. Your task is take events in a direction you desire and to gradually limit your opponents options until the only option left is to tap in defeat or face the consequences. Thus GAINING THE INITIATIVE AND THEN FROM THERE, PROGRESSIVELY LIMITING YOUR OPPONENTS CHOICES UNTIL HE HAS NO CHOICE is the mark of superior jiu jitsu. Nowhere is this methodology more clearly seen than in the case of submission holds. For any given submission hold, there are a few main avenues of escape. It is never enough to merely apply the hold on a skilled opponent – YOU MUST GO THE EXTRA DISTANCE AND APPLY THE HOLD IN SUCH A WAY THAT YOU BLOCK THE ANTICIPATED COUNTERS BEFORE THEY OCCUR. You must study the counters to your favorite submissions and look for ways to stop those common counters whilst still applying the original hold. Here, Garry Tonon locks on a tight triangle stranglehold (sankaku jime) and immediately goes the extra distance to nullify the standard counters to triangles. This power of anticipation is made possible by imposing your moves and thus limiting your opponents options for movement. This cycle of imposition and anticipation is at the heart of good jiu jitsu.
