Wednesdays with Coach Tim: Tap Early, Tap Often

Last week, I was rolling with a new white belt.  He doesn't have a lot of technique yet, but he's strong.  I've been struggling with being too passive lately, and he got me in positions that would have ended me if another blue belt or higher had gotten them.  He was trying really hard to beat me with awful chokes that were uncomfortable (my cheekbones hurt the next day), but not dangerous.  At one point, he was trying to secure my back and he crossed his ankles in front of my waist.

Never, ever, ever cross your ankles directly in front of your opponent's waist if you have their back.  This is why: 

The moment I realized he had crossed his ankles in front of me, I scooted my butt down, and crossed my legs over his ankles.  I kept the hold tight, and modified the hold so that I was in a figure-four lock (his ankles were in the crook of my left knee, and my right knee was securing my left ankle).  The instant I secured the figure-four lock, he stopped trying to choke me.  He stopped really moving.

But even though it hurt enough for him to stop trying to choke me, he did not tap.  I know how to finish that ankle lock, but he's new, and this particular lock is dangerous.  So, instead of finishing it, I made it tighter.  He still did not tap.

I was torn on whether to let it go, tell him it was dangerous, or finish it because finishing that ankle lock can break the ankle.

I decided to finish it by lifting my hips.  He tapped.  And then he limped off the mat.  I talked to him on the way out, checked to make sure he was alright, and told him to be careful about where ankles are crossed when you have someone's back.

I felt awful.  Had I done the right thing?  Was I just being a bully blue belt teaching a young, strong, white belt a lesson?

I still don't know.  But the whole thing got me thinking about the mentality of tapping, and I asked Coach Tim to give advice to new BJJ practitioners on knowing when to tap and when to hang on and try to get out of a submission.

Coach Tim's Advice: 

At what point in sparring / competition is it appropriate to tap and end that particular grappling instance? Obviously, each individual will have different answers for different occasions. For example, tapping during the demonstration of a technique is much different than tapping out during the finals of the black belt Mundials at the Pyramid.

Tapping signifies that you and your partner must stop grappling for the safety of the person tapping.  Problems with learning to tap arise in two ways:  (1) students refusing to tap despite immediate danger of injury and (2) students who tap to the slightest amount of discomfort and pressure.

Solving the problem requires coming to a universal solution to both ends of the "never tap" and "always tap" spectrum.  Coach Tim has grappled with this idea (and would like you to know that there is super extra pun intended, since he'd been thinking of this pun all morning because it's so bad.) throughout his training and coaching career.  Thus far, Coach Tim's conclusion is that the appropriate time to tap is about tempering the ego (for the "never tap" candidates) and cultivating durability (for the "always tap" cadets). 

Just like other aspects of Jiu Jitsu, the mental apparatus has physical consequences - drilling and sparring (physical) with proper intention / visualization (mental) will foster your own powerful growth. In the case of tapping / submitting, tapping early will stifle your growth by slowing your body's adaptation to the physical stress of the Art. On the other hand, tapping late will result in injury and, more subtlety, the more experienced students, the ones who are able to submit you, will begin to avoid training with you. I have never met a student that likes to injure their fellow students and it is a disservice to lose more experienced training partners because submitting during training causes duress.

The Take Away: 

Do not let your ego keep you from tapping, because not tapping can keep you from being able to train and scare away higher level training partners.  Conversely, do not let discomfort or pressure cause you to tap, because tapping before you are in actual danger or unable to escape the submission will stifle your ability to adapt to the physical aspects of BJJ.