Jiu-jitsu is a self defense system and a sport that emphasizes throws, controlling your opponent on the ground and submitting them.  It’s strategy is based around a positional hierarchy from which opponents are immobilized and submissions are applied. 

The mount control and the back control are the two most dominant control positions in the hierarchy. Submissions from these positions are generally higher percentage finishes than those from other positions. Submission holds in Jiu-jitsu make use of maximum control and leverage to attack isolated, weaker, more vulnerable areas of your opponent’s body.

A submission applied in a controlled manner will force an opponent to give up or “tap out” but will often times not inflict serious damage, unless the practitioner would choose to do so.