Just Tap Already (part 2)

There has been some recent blogosphere discussion/internet chatter on the art of tapping. I want to clarify my position: TAPPING IS GOOD FOR BOTH BODY AND SOUL.

My first post, Just Tap Already, is all about tapping when a submission is sunk. To do otherwise is to invite injury. Once a mistake has been made (the submission is sunk), there is no return. But there is a "reset button" - the tap. If you make a mistake and you get caught, hit the reset button and start over.

Where people seem to have gotten confused is where I appear to be advocating "fighting a submission." I'm talking about "fighting" BEFORE the submission is sunk - making your training partner work on getting the details correct.  I'm not advocating being a testosterone superfreak and using strength to hold off an armbar or bulling up your neck to avoid the choke.

If you are an upper belt, you are not going to war with the lower belts you are going to bring them with you. Lighten up and let them work the sub but make them get the details - don't pull out your super secret 4 stripe purple belt decoder ring and slip away (hhmmm, did I really just say that? I see a possible future with a lot of purple belts lining up to "teach" me the finer points of tapping). Seriously though, most of the purple and brown belts I've had the opportunity to roll with have been great at this (thanks guys!).

This is in the context of training rolls, we're both trying to learn something, not competitive rolls that might be part of tournament preparation (or your everyday reality if your gym motto is "every roll is a tournament roll"). You have to have a certain level of trust (and control) with your training partner if you are going to work on the details of a submission together during a roll. For the most part the guys I train with bring submissions on slowly always trying to maintain control and being careful of each other. That's the training vibe at my gym. Your gym might have a differnt vibe so you might need a different training outlook to stay safe.

My second post, Don't Believe You're Own Hype, is about the bad things that might happen to you when you think too much in the middle of a roll and hesitate too long before you tap.

Now for some additional tapping theory and practice. If you don't know your training partner well, he is new, or you train at a gym that advocates/allows grabbing a bodypart and cranking things and hoping something sticks, tap early. In fact, tap anywhere you feel a good additional yank by your partner could cause injury. True "cranks" are notoriously low percentage for submissions but very high percentage for serious injury (which is why they are highly restricted in most tournaments).

If your partner has a significant weight advantage, be very aware of where your various appendages are. Tap any time one of those said appendages gets in a position where that weight could fall awkwardly. Even if your partner doesn't outweigh you be careful if your fingers/hands/toes/etc. get tangled in the gi. Tap, get untangled and restart in the same position.

If you have an injury, tap even earlier. Let your training partner know, reach agreement on how hard you are going to go at it and if a position/technique/limb is off limits. Before things even get close to becoming an issue, tap. If your training partner can't reasonably respect the "limits" you put on the roll - DON'T ROLL.

If your gym doesn't have a policy on what is "legal" (such as IBJJF rules by belt) when you roll - expect everything. If you are rolling with a visitor from another school expect everything. If you are rolling with a new guy or a guy who says he hasn't trained in years expect everything. Tap early, tap often, tap like Fred Astaire (that's right, tapping is that classy).

Don't Believe You're Own Hype

After all the "I make them work for the tap" rhetoric in my recent "Just Tap Already" post last week, I felt the need to really represent and make sure I walked the talk this week. "How's that working for you," you might ask? Well, good and bad. I was very aware of making everyone really work for the tap this week and nobody got any freebies (so far so good).

My last roll of the week I'm working with one of our guys who is getting ready for a tournament this next weekend. I'm giving him a lot of pressure and trying to diversify my pass attempts so he gets to work against some things he doesn't see from me all the time. Not my "A game" technique wise, but like I said a lot of pressure. This had me out of position at several points and my training partner definitely tried to take advantage and go for the submission. In true "walk the talk" fashion I defended vigorously and if he didn't get the submission sunk he had a fight on his hands.

Toward the end of our 10 minute roll I once again found myself with an arm out of position in bottom half-guard and he jumped on a americana. Again I defended, he needed to adjust and pull my arm down and into my body just a little bit more. He adjusts and because I'm being very conscious of making him get it "perfect" I take a moment to have this inner dialogue. "Hmmm just a little bit more and he's got it...almost there....yes that's it...are you sure?...what do you mean are you sure, of course I'm sure...ok then you better tap." In a perfect storm of bad timing, just as I'm tapping, he gives it a final crank and there is a really sick squishy popping sound that comes from my elbow and shoulder. Bad, bad, bad.

So what did I learn from this little escapade?

1. Don't have an inner dialogue with yourself in the middle of fighting a submission, that moment's hesitation can be asking for an injury.
2. I should go back and read the entire "Just Tap Already Post." Especially the part about JUST TAP ALREADY and "represent" that for awhile.
3. Remember that there are some "fights" that can be more costly than others: lose a blood-choke fight and you just go to sleep (3-5 minutes to recover), lose an armbar fight and you get a popped elbow (6-8 weeks to recover), lose a kimura/americana shoulder lock fight and you get BJJ game over (loooong to possibly no recovery without surgery).
4. And finally never-ever-ever believe your own hype.

Fortunately, he let go immediately and I can move my arm but there are several degrees of shoulder rotation that bring a lot of pain. We'll see how it feels after a weekend rest.

Just Tap Already

The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on the list...

There is a time to fight a submission and a time to tap. I will ALWAYS FIGHT to keep an opponent from SECURING a submission and work to get back to someplace safe. If he is not deep enough into my collar for the choke, if he is not controlling the rotation of my arm and using his hips on the armbar, if he is not getting his elbow around to the front of my chin on the rear naked choke - he is going to have to really work those details to get me to tap.

Even if it's someone that is just learning the technique they don't get a free ride. What they get instead is me loosening up a little bit and talking them through the details, even moving their hands/arms or whatever for them if they are not getting it (unless they have their arm over my mouth, then they get a "mrmphhhumphumph"). This gets them used to putting together all the details and gets me used to being uncomfortable and really feeling when a sub comes together.

One of the guys at the gym was laughing the other night because I was working through a rear naked choke with someone. "Man, that choke took 2 or 3 minutes and each time you had him adjust something you turned a little more purple and bug-eyed, ha, ha, ha." That same guy got caught in the newer guy's rear naked choke a couple of nights later and it didn't take 2 or 3 minutes for the new guy to get the tap. Ha, ha, ha back at you brother.

I do this because there is nothing worse than being in a situation where you are playing your "A game" (especially in a tournament) and you think you have something and it is just not working. Think GSP/Dan Hardy. Details matter. In the heat of the moment with adrenaline pumping and fatigue setting in we get sloppier and sloppier. If we don't train all the details when we have the chance we won't stand a chance when we really need it.

BUT once an opponent has it sunk with all the appropriate grips and body dynamics resistance becomes futile and a recipe for injury. Being "too tough to tap" means a short career in the sport.

"Nice" training partners won't want to roll with you or won't treat you seriously because they don't want to really hurt you and your game will stagnate. "Not so nice" training partners will get you injured and you will spend weeks or even months off the mats and your game will stagnate.

Even in the UFC, professional fighters tap rather than go unconscious or get their arm or leg busted up. Why? Because a tight submission fully applied can end a career in less than a second. Being "too tough to tap" may win you some respect among the armchair warriors but it is generally not the smartest part of a game plan.