Many of the concepts of strategy and tactics found in the game of chess are also applicable to the game of grappling. The concepts of initiative, pressuring, baiting, sacrificing, and position used by experienced chess players are almost flawlessly transferable. Now, keep in mind to make this connection it is not necessary to have mastered either chess or grappling. This content is primarily intended for the intermediate level grappler although players of all ranges can make use of these guidelines. While it would help to have a working knowledge of the basic positions of submission wrestling, a player need not have ever so much as seen a chessboard in their life to apply these principles. Much of the material covered is basic but the point is to understand the why, why something works as opposed to just that it does. It's these answers that is ultimately what will improve your game and is the focus of this book. Today dozens of detailed manuscripts and videos are available from the top players of the game with new ones coming out all the time. Trying to find good resources has been replaced with trying to decide which ones to buy first. The common thread to all these materials, old and new, is that they are tactical in nature. Strategy is the process of defining an objective and devising a means by which to attain it. Tactics are those means. More specifically, tactics are the move by move play that ensues either upon an engagement or the threat of one. Therefore, books with pages full of step-by-step techniques are tactical manuals. There is a wealth of such compilations available nowadays. They are however for the most part almost purely tactical. Strategy exists in the form of side notes and is not addressed in depth. This is my attempt to change that.
