If You Could Only Use One Submission For The Rest Of Your Life, What Would That Submission Be And Why?

Exploring the popular question…

Recently this question was posed on the BJJ Fanatics Facebook Group, if you could only use one submission for the rest of your life, what would that submission be and why?  It is an interesting question and one that has been around the grappling community for a while. Let’s take a few minutes to explore it.

A triangle choke is certainly a fine answer. It seems to be one of the signature moves of Jiu Jitsu. Mel Gibson was hit a triangle in Lethal Weapon 1 movie while most of the world thought Jiu Jitsu had something to do with smoke bombs and throwing stars. Royce Gracie had a fine display of the submission at UFC 4 against Dan Severn. For the Jiu Jitsu practitioner, it is great. You have the blood choke. That, coupled with potential for a wind choke and breaking the arm makes it a fantastic move.  The downside of the triangle is for the Jiu Jitsu practitioners with shorter legs. I fall into that category. I love catching triangles from a variety of positions but my natural attributes do not do me any favors with regards to that submission.

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Some would argue a kimura would be the move of choice. The kimura is available from a wide array of positions. It is great move for sweeping, submitting and controlling an opponent. Some have argued that kimuras do not work well on bigger opponents.  In my own experience, I have found that bigger guys have tighter shoulders and tap quicker. Some would argue that the downside of a kimura is someone could conceivable suffer a break from a lock and still fight on.

Rear naked choke is also a popular option. Impacting the carotid arteries is a fight ender. Plus, as Danaher says, there is a fundamental asymmetry from the back. It gives a huge advantage to the attacker. However, if we were limited to one submission, it would take away some of the other submission from the back. This would make the submission a little bit easier to defend since you only had to worry about one submission from that position.

Others would argue that a heel hook is the way to go. Heel hooks are a great equalizer for smaller guys against bigger guys.  Conceivable, there are people out there who could suffer a torn MCL from an inside heel hook and still fight on. However, those people are rare. Definitely there are a lot of entries for heel hooks. Also, it is fairly easy to control someone from the double trouble position.

Some would argue guillotines are the way to go. There are definitely a variety of entries to the guillotine. Like some of the other submissions, it does not matter how tough you are if you are on the carotid artery. Some would argue that the front headlock would not offer the same level of control as other positions. But I guess if your guillotines were strong enough it would not matter.

Certainly there are many more great options;omoplatas, arm bars, arm triangles and others. Unfortunately, we do not have the time to explore every submission.  That is one of the beautiful things about Jiu Jitsu, as our styles evolve, some submission will lose popularity in one’s personal taste while other submissions gain popularity. Perhaps our answers a couple years from now would be entirely different than our answers today.  Ultimately, Jiu Jitsu is a personal thing that is evolving for both the practitioner and as a whole.

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