Kimura Escape

One way to think about escaping a submission is to practice a little bit of empathy. What does the person trying to finish this submission want? Well if they want X,Y, and Z then I should probably try and stop those things from happening if I don’t want to get submitted.
Is that really empathy? Maybe not in the way we usually think about it, but figuring out what your partner is trying to do in martial arts is a huge key in getting better at martial arts.
Let’s get more specific. Suppose your partner is trying to get the Kimura. In order to finish the Kimura, one thing they need is to have your elbow controlled. Therefore, if you can slip your elbow out of the lock, they can’t finish the Kimura.
The whole idea of reverse engineering submissions in order to practice submission escapes is brilliant and I can’t pretend to take credit for it. Credit goes to John Danaher and his excellent video, Submission Escapes.