Defend With Purpose

A defense is only a good defense if it gets you out of the bad position.

"Static" defenses, where your objective is simply to stall or wait out your opponent, should be avoided.  Every defense should have the goal of advancing position.

If your defense only slows your opponent down, it's not a good defense because you're not stopping the attack.  You're just stalling and hoping your opponent gets tired of attacking you.  Unless you're a turtle, hedgehog, or porcupine, these kinds of defenses are not recommended.

Some examples of defense without purpose, where the only objective is to stall, are:

• When your opponent is mounted on you, putting your hands against your neck to block chokes, without actually attempting to escape mount
• When standing up, leaning forward and backing up to stall in the hopes your opponent will pull guard
• Grabbing your arms together to defend against an armbar, without taking action to escape the position.