12. Reconnaissance Principle
Gathering information about your opponent’s behavior for use against them.
This is a tactical strategy.
Every exchange allows you to learn something about your opponent’s preferred approach to grappling.
This is information you can use against them, preferably paired with the Clock principle.
13. Prevention Principle
Putting your opponent’s objectives before your own to prevent their progress.
How to stop opponents from executing what they’re looking for.
Provoking an overreaction that will open up a counter-attacking opportunity for yourself.
14. Tension Principle
Capitalizing on the offensive and defensive opportunities enabled by tension.
When two points are connected, there is tension. Keeping it or letting go of it can help you achieve your goal.
It is all about determining which is the right course of action at a given moment.
15. Fork Principle
Creating positional dilemmas that force your opponent to choose how they lose.
The “your money or your life principle”.
Make your opponents choose the “least bad” option for them.
For example, threatening with a sweep and submission at the same time.
16. Posture Principle
Neutralizing a technique by disrupting the optimal posture from where it is applied.
Whether standing, sitting, or supine, the posture plays a role – the alignment of the vertebrae.
Break this alignment and you will make opponents significantly weaker.
17. False Surrender Principle
Feigning surrender so that your opponent lets their guard down.
Not quite “the Brazilian Tap”, but not too far either.
Pretending to accept a bad position or allow entry into a submission hold does not mean you’re actually giving up.
Tricky, but very efficient and highly-reliable principle.
18. Depletion Principle
Draining your opponent’s physical and mental energy using targeted actions and connections.
If two fighters are equally skilled, conditioning will determine who wins.
The depletion principle helps you exhaust opponents while staying fresh yourself.
It involves using moves that save your energy while burning lots of your opponent’s energy at the same time.
19. Isolation Principle
Tactically contain one or more of your opponent’s limbs for your advantage.
Restricting mobility by neutralizing a certain limb.
You can use it to finish submissions, breakthrough defences, or control an opponent.
Trapping.
20. Sacrifice Principle
Give up something of actual or perceived value to gain a tactical advantage in another form.
When you can’t seem to gain ground during a match, you’ll have to think in terms of chess- lose a battle to win the war.
Be careful not to give up too much though, or this principle could backfire.
