If you’ve ever watched Ultimate Fighting or Pride Fighting Championships, you’ve probably noticed one thing: sooner or later, most matches go to the ground. Rarely do you see matches being determined by the fighters squaring off toe-to-toe and beating on each other. While lethal punches and kicks have their part, it’s the ground fighting that defines a champion.

Just look at most of the legendary “no-holds-barred” fighters. Randy Couture comes from a wrestling background; Ken Shamrock is a submission grappler; Vito Belfort studied Brazilian Jiu Jitsu; and Chuck Liddell may have started out with kickboxing, but no one can doubt his grappling proficiency.

For the fighter, no style can be complete without ground-fighting training. Many martial arts are evolving to include ground-fighting techniques and for any one interested in self-defense, ground fighting is an essential study.

And it’s not just for athletes stepping into the ring. Ground fighting is an excellent option for all people interested in self-defense. For people who are interested only in defending themselves, the control found in the submissions and holds of ground fighting make ending a fight quickly and safely a reality. Ground fighting is especially effective for women. While women may not be as able to defend themselves with powerful punches and kicks, with proper technique they can choke out an assailant or even submit them through locks and breaks. The effectiveness is especially apparent when you consider that most attacks against women are geared towards taking them to a prone position. As a female grappler, you could quickly teach an assailant why he shouldn’t have taken you down to the ground.

For law enforcement and security personnel, ground fighting provides an excellent venue to control and subdue suspects. With increasing public disapproval of extreme force, ground fighting is an even better choice. Taking a suspect to the ground where they can be controlled and handled without striking them is much more preferable to pulling out the billy club or night stick.

While there are many different styles of ground fighting, they all operate on the same basic principles. The differences arise in how you approach those basics. And what are those basics?

Chokes. As the name suggests, a choke applies pressure to a person’s throat, cutting off the air supply or blood flow to the brain. Though chokes can cut off air supply, when properly done, chokes cut off the blood supply to the brain, resulting in a much quicker submission compared to cutting off the air. Chokes are potentially dangerous, and that danger is compounded by the applicant’s ignorance. Done correctly, chokes can quickly disable an opponent in seconds with little or no damage. Done incorrectly, chokes can become deadly.

Locks. Locks utilize the musculoskeletal system of your opponent to submit or subdue them. By “locking” a joint against itself, you can control your opponent. Locks can be done to any joint of the body—shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee, and ankle are some of the more common locks. A lock can also be used to break a joint, so be careful when applying.

Submissions. Submissions can be any number of moves—holds, stretches, hooks and even chokes and locks. The idea behind submissions is to cause your opponent to submit (or tap out/cry uncle in competition) through pain.