When to Fight and When to Tap!

Getting caught in submissions is part of training. The real skill is knowing when to fight and when to tap, and the difference can protect your body, build your game, and extend your time on the mats. Younger students seem to struggle with this more. It might be an ego thing, but it's likely they haven't accumulated the injuries us older grapplers have just from being alive longer.

Tap Early, Tap Often 

• If you don’t fully understand the submission,  tap.  EXCLAMATION POINT! ! <---- THIS RIGHT HERE. If you're new, you better be tapping often! 

Your ego wants to fight everything. Your body doesn’t. Injuries from stubbornness don’t make you tough. They make you unable to train, knucklehead!

When It’s Okay to Fight
As your understanding grows, so does your timing. You can fight a submission if:

• It’s not locked in yet - there’s space to move or posture out.
• You understand the mechanics - and know where the danger zone really is.
• You’re in comp mode - and know your limits.

When to Tap Immediately

• It’s fully locked in – no escape, just damage incoming.
• You feel pain, pressure, or popping – the body’s last warning.
• You don’t understand what’s happening – confusion is a big risk for yourself.

- Live to roll again. Learn what caught you and take it as a lesson. Talk to your training partners and your coaches!
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Tapping Is Progress, Not Failure

• You made a mistake, and your partner or opponent caught you. Fix your mistake.
• Also, it's OK if you feel like a failure for losing. It doesn't mean that you are a failure, but I don't want to tell you you can't feel that way. It's part of growing, and makes you hungry to improve - As long as the feeling doesn't linger on, and you can get back on the mats right away to improve. 
• The tap is part of the process. Fighting everything out of pride only slows your growth - and ends your career early.

Final Advice

• Learn submission mechanics - talk to your coaches a lot. That's why we coach.
• Develop timing and awareness - through rolling, drilling, & constraints led approach  (CLA) classes. 
• Ask questions after getting caught. - talk to your training partners. Heck, most competitors will tell you the setup sequence and finish they used to beat you immediately after the match. 

Be technical. Tap smart. Train longer. I've tapped at least 4 times in the 17 years.
-Greg

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