Game Rules: Grappling, Sealing, and Liberation Martial Arts
Building upon the concepts explored in "Tag: The Game of Wayfinding With an Opponent" and "Making Contact: Tag, Tetris, Wayfinding, and Martial Arts," this article delves deeper into the game rules of martial arts, with a particular focus on grappling. However, since "How you do one thing is how you do all things," the principles discussed here are not exclusive to grappling. This is why we do MMA, to maximize the exploration of these universal principles.
Grappling is a simultaneous dance where you seek to seal off your opponent to control, strike, or submit, while they seek to do the same to you. Seal and submit.
When you seal your opponent, not only are you fastening yourself to them, but you're also closing off any vulnerabilities or escape routes. This principle applies equally to striking, where taking angles seals off your weaknesses and your opponent's exits.
When successfully sealed, not only is your opponent unable to reach you, but they're also constrained and immobilized.
Let's consider the example of a side pin, where the top player, resembling a Z-block, effectively flattens the bottom player, resembling a horizontal I-block.