Give them nothing...

"Give them nothing, but take from them EVERYTHING." - Leonidas, the 300

I really like this quote from the movie 300.

It applies directly to jiu jitsu and submission grappling. I think of it in terms of grip fighting- if you allow someone to establish solid grips on you, you are already losing control.

I remember Jay giving an analogy in terms of percentage. At the start, the fight is 50/50. Once you are getting your guard passed, it's maybe 60/40. Once you're side controlled, it drops down to 70/30 or maybe 80/20. Each move you make in re-establishing control slides the bar back in your favor.

The point is, you want to tip the scale of control as far in your favor as possible. If you start off with unfavorable grips or no grips at all, you already begin the fight at 60/40 or so.

So, going back to the quote- you don't want to give up anything that you can control. Break the grip, grip them back strong, dominate them.

It's all about an assertive attitude. Not even necessarily an aggressive attitude- but an active game that attempts to make things happen for you. Not just sitting back and reacting to their gameplan.