A few weeks back I was training with Roy Dean.  At one point between techniques, he spoke to the group of seminar attendees and mentioned the topic of control.  His view was that you need to be comfortable with differing degrees of control.  In his words, he talked about going from 100% to 75% to 60% to 51% - and being ok with it.

I didn't think much about this comment at the time, but it obviously stuck with me.  As I rolled last night against one of our stronger players I established side control top.  As I began to work on killing the arms and setting up a submission, Roy's words were playing in my head.  I realized that the more I tried to simply control, or pin, my opponent, the less attacking options I had.  Of course, he could not get away, but who cares - the goal is submission, not holding position.  It also became obvious that the more I created openings for him or allowed a bit of movement, the more options presented themselves. 

This is different from flowing as you lose a position.  Of course, this is essential as well.  You can never fall in love with a particular position or submission attempt.  Things change and you must adapt, but what I think Roy is getting at is to actually open those positions up on your own, intentionally.  Open a door for them to walk through as you wait on the other side.  Next time you roll, try to imagine the options you have and how to make them appear.  An example might be in guard where you want a triangle so you go for the armbar first in order to hit the transition quickly.  Or perhaps you are in side control so you open some space for their near side arm to escape before you close the door and hit the bread cutter choke.  The ideas are limitless, but the concept remains the same.  Think of control as shades of gray and a pathway to finish the fight vs stalling the position. 

I think that opening yourself to this type of play is critical to connecting to the essence of jiu-jitsu.  Many people from Rickson to Saulo talk about going with what their opponent gives them.  Flowing from move to move, from position to position is the hallmark of a great player.  It is a much richer, yet more subtle game and one that I will be exploring this year.