Originally published on the Inverted Gear blog. Updated in 2025.
Many years ago, I trained with a grappler whose plan seemed to be stalling in every position (and I mean every position), turtling up at all costs. He kept his arms glued to his side and his head tucked down at all times and worked hard to squash every movement, though not to any great success. Even when he slowly grinded his way to a good position, he wouldn’t take advantage of it, instead remaining defensive, almost paranoid of what could happen if he dared try.
If his goal was to tap fewer times per round, I suppose he accomplished that by making everything as slow as molasses, but he wasn’t racking up many points on the invisible scoreboard in the sky either. Eventually, he would fall behind, and not being willing to risk anything, he’d never catch up and end up tapping despite his efforts.
I asked him why he didn’t try to open up, to flow more, to not worry about things so much. I thought his mind was blank because he couldn’t think fast enough to keep up and just held on to stall the match; but his answer revealed a different problem. He explained: “If I do this, then they’ll counter with that, so I don’t do it. And if I do that, they’ll counter with this, so I don’t try it. And if I….” and so on. He was fighting virtual matches a dozen times more complex than the actual ones he was having! His mind was racing to consider all the outcomes and consequences. But his analysis always ended with him being countered or swept or submitted, and so he never bothered trying.
I asked him if any of his “if this, then that” equations ended with him succeeding. Why not just go for the move anyway? If he knows the potential counters, then just be ready to counter that and keep going until he wins. “If I do this, then they will do that, so I will do this next!”
He didn’t seem too keen on the idea. He preferred to play it safe, or at least what he considered safe, keeping the number of times he tapped to a minimum but never scoring any big wins for himself. That wasn’t the best mindset, but it wasn’t my job to play jiu-jitsu psychologist, so I let him go on his merry turtling way.
Bruce Lee has a famous saying about “analysis paralysis,” and this is the clearest example of it I’ve encountered in BJJ. A popular misconception, often expressed by lower belts, is that black belts think 100 moves ahead, like a computer playing a chess game. But that’s not how any human black belts or chess masters play their games, as far as I know. The mindset is more like this:
I know what I want. I know what you want. I will execute my gameplan and deny yours as much as I can. I will re-evaluate the situation at each critical moment as the match progresses. I will go for whatever gives me the highest odds of winning, but I won’t take stupid risks.
Across many fields, you’ll find the concepts of “playing to win” versus “playing to not lose”. I first learned these ideas playing Magic: The Gathering, but it is common in athletics and even the business world. My turtling friend above is a prime example of “playing to not lose” and where that can go wrong. Let’s get into how these two mindsets can apply to grappling.
Read these lists and see which better describes your grappling style:
Playing to Win
Playing to Not Lose
You may see yourself in some of those traits, maybe even split between the two lists.
When deciding which side of the “win” or “not lose” fence you fall on, consider these factors: