Threats: Our behavior is immediately changed whenever we feel a significant threat. It usually puts us into a defensive mindset where we tend to be more concerned with addressing that threat than we are in attacking the opponent. This tells you something important. Whenever you want to shut down an opponents initiative – put him under some threat that throws him into a reactive/defensive mindset where he is more worried about what you're doing to him than what he wants to do to you. Nowhere is this principle easier to apply than when you are attacking from the back. Sometimes we get so focused on holding the position or trapping an opponents arms that an opponent feels little threat beyond the position itself. As a result he can focus on his escapes and take liberties with his head and arm positions to facilitate his escapes. All that changes when you create a powerful threat of strangulation every time his hands and chin fall even a little out of defensive position. Now he has to focus so much on the strangle threat that escaping the actual position becomes forgotten as he has to focus entire on protecting his neck. There are many ways this can be applied in Jiu jitsu (and indeed – life). Comfortable opponents are difficult opponents – fearful opponents are subdued opponents – the latter are much easier to control than the former. Here Georges St Pierre does a good job of creating a strangle threat to slow down even a master of escape and counter attack like gordon ryan – use this principle when you feel opponents don't respect your ability to hold a position.
