According to Greek myth, Antaeus, the son of Poseidon, who wrestled passersby to the death and then collected their skulls for a shrine to his father, got his power from the ground. When he fought Hercules (not an official ‘labour’, in case you’re wondering), the son of Zeus threw him on the floor half a dozen times before realising that every contact with the earth gave the big man a chance to regroup. After that, Hercules simply hoisted Antaeus up in the air, where he couldn’t draw strength from the ground, and crushed him to death.

Now: maybe this is just a story, or maybe – quite likely – the guys who wrote it had some actual experience with grappling. Because in grappling, your power does come from the ground. And keeping your opponent off the ground is one of the very best ways to succeed.

You can probably think of obvious situations where this applies. When you bridge and shrimp to escape side control, for instance, you push off the ground: conversely, when you’re on top, one of the best ways to stop your opponent from moving is to get one knee underneath their legs so that they can’t bridge.

But when you actually stop and think, this rule is true everywhere. In his deep half-guard set, Ryan Hall emphasises the need to keep your opponent aloft, like a cat playing with a ball of yarn, because the instant he can put a foot down he has a stable base to push from. He advises against you triangling your own legs in the air for the same reason – it robs you of power and stability. And even playing top game, you get your power from the ground – when you pass, guard, driving into the ground can often let you exert more pressure than simply flopping.

When moves are going wrong, or you feel helpless, remember: stay on the ground. It’s where your power comes from.