Attack their ability to move first and their joints second: Submission holds are most exciting part of Jiu Jitsu – the highest ideal of the sport is to make the opponent surrender. It natural therefore, that when you get into position to apply a submission hold, that you often tend to rush towards finishing it. Understand something – YOUR FIRST TASK IS TO SHUT DOWN/REDUCE YOUR OPPONENTS ABILITY TO MOVE. Only then can you reasonably expect to exhibit the kind of control necessary to break a limb. Breaking a limb is extremely difficult when your opponent is moving around. Take your time, ride out the storm of the initial resistance and focus on limiting his ability to move to the greatest degree possible. You can't really PREVENT movement, but you definitely can REDUCE it. Only when you feel your opponents defensive movement has been reduced to manageable levels do we switch to the next phase – breaking the arm or leg under attack. Think of submissions as having (at least) TWO SEPARATE TASKS. First, shutting down movement. Second, using lever and fulcrum to break the limb. Don't bypass the first task in your concern to complete the second. Train yourself to hold and control the submission hold as long as you can before you actually go after the joint lock. You will soon learn that all the major joint locks also have a powerful pinning/riding/control component that can immobilize an opponent for long periods of time. Only when you feel your opponents movement and resistance begin to wilt do you go after the joint lock itself. Start looking at your submission holds as having these two separate phases and I promise you your finishing percentages will start to rise Here I demonstrate some of the control aspects behind an arm bar (juji gatame) That create a stationary opponent who is easy to finish.
