Let him go / Creating a "Plan B game"

Ok I am explaining most of this in the video, but I'll write some of it as well :)

I was watching the interview with Marcelo Garcia in Arte Suave, where he talks about how he always let's his training partner escape from positions and submissions, only to notice what then happens and how he can benefit from the situation. It changed my game over night, and the more I let people go instead of just finishing the submission (as I have done a thousands time before), the more new possibilities opened up for me.

In this example, I show how letting my opponent escape an armbar sets up a beautiful omo plata. If I let him roll out of it, I have another armbar waiting.

For competition, or any other fight where I want to finish it as fast as possible, I would ofcourse just finish the submission right away. But in training, I want to prepare for every possible situation, and am i fighting someone in a competition, it is most likely that he is at least on my own level and therefore capable of escaping most of my submissions. That means, I cannot beat him solely on pulling a submission that he doesn't know, but instead I have to be one step ahead of him and catch him there. Letting him escape so he thinks he is on his way out, then taking advantage of that for setting up another submission is one way to do it. I have a Plan B waiting for him beartrap-style and I am baiting him to step right into it.

I hope you enjoy this little video, it is only a few small techniques, but in training, try to play more and let your opponent escape in different ways. You will be surprised how much it will help your game.