1. The “Death Grip”

The Behavior: You grab your opponent’s collar or sleeve, and you squeeze. You squeeze with everything you have. Your knuckles turn white, and your forearms start to burn within 30 seconds. Even when the grip isn’t doing anything useful, you refuse to let go.

The Fix: Relax your hands. In Jiu-Jitsu, your grips should be like hooks, not like a vice. Only squeeze when you are actively pulling or pushing. Saving your grip strength is crucial for lasting more than one round.

2. The “Bench Press” Escape

The Behavior: You are stuck on the bottom of Mount or Side Control. Panicked, you do the only thing that feels natural: you extend your arms and try to push the person off you like you are bench-pressing a barbell.

The Fix: This is the easiest way to get armbarred. In Jiu-Jitsu, structural strength (frames) beats muscular strength. Keep your elbows glued to your ribs (“T-Rex arms”) and use your hips to create space, not your arms.

3. Holding Your Breath

The Behavior: The round starts, the adrenaline kicks in, and you stop breathing. You are moving fast, but your face is turning purple. After 60 seconds, you are gasping for air and feel like you are going to pass out.

The Fix: Breathing is a skill. You have to consciously force yourself to exhale, especially when you are in a bad position. If you can control your breath, you can control your panic. Try to breathe through your nose and stay calm.

4. Trying to Win the Warm-Up

The Behavior: The instructor says “go light” or “flow roll,” but your competitive instinct takes over. You are moving at 100% speed, jumping around, and risking injury to yourself and your partner just to “win” a drill that has no winner.

The Fix: Training is for learning, not winning. If you use all your attributes (strength, speed) to force a move, you aren’t learning the technique. Slow down. Focus on the mechanics of the movement. You learn more from a smooth, slow failure than a sloppy, fast success.

5. Ignoring “Position Before Submission”

The Behavior: You are inside someone’s closed guard (a defensive position for you), but you see their neck and decide to try a choke. Or you are halfway through passing the guard, but you abandon the pass to grab an arm.

The Fix: This is the golden rule of BJJ: Position before Submission. You cannot effectively submit someone if you don’t first control them. If you try to attack from a bad position, you will almost certainly get swept or submitted. Secure the dominant position first, stabilize it, and then look for the finish.