Ju-jitsu Musings #1

I've begun to see a lot of similarities in my martial arts training and in my chess learning. So, I plan to start a series of articles based on some similarities that I note and some learning that transfers readily to my chess training.

Today, I want to discuss something I learned from someone at my dojo who is much more skilled than I in ju-jitsu. I have been having trouble grappling from the bottom. What that means is that when I am on my back, I have trouble knowing what to do. To remedy this, I explained to my friend that I had been researching submission techniques from the bottom (from the closed guard position). He flat out told me that submissions were NOT my first priority. My first priority should always be to get into a position of control. Only then, should I look for submissions.

What this tells me when applied to chess is to have building my position into one strength as my primary goal. Of course, there may be opportunities for tactics along the way, but that shouldn't be my main focus at that point in the game. Once I have a strong position, then I should begin the look for "submission moves" or tactics.