Position AND submission? Usually we think of positional skills as distinct from submission skills in Jiu jitsu – position comes BEFORE submission after all. However, many of the main submissions blend positional pins with submission. The Japanese are often very wise in the naming of their moves. Their term for the most common form of arm bar is juji gatame. “Juji” means “cross” since the two athletes are generally perpendicular to each other; and importantly “gatame” has a dual meaning of “pin” and “lock.” The idea is that the arm bar has the properties of both a pin AND a submission – that the two cannot be separated. You can immobilize someone with an arm bar as you do with a side of mounted pin; only you use biomechanics like advantage through your legs pinning his head rather than body weight. When you practice your submissions, especially the juji gatame arm bar, really focus on the idea of restraining and pinning an opponent first rather than rushing to the joint lock – you will find that emphasizing the dual nature of submission holds makes them far more effective against tough opponents
