Having the initiative/bailing out on your own terms

It is funny how similar situations can play out very differently depending on who had the initiative. I suppose another common theme here is: if you are losing position, bail out on your own terms rather than trying to hold onto it.

• If you are the one to proactively let go of the opponent's arms/wrists/sleeve/etc at the right timing, you will certainly jolt your opponent, giving you an opening. But, if you get your grip stripped against your will...
• If you are losing closed guard and proactively switch to Stage 1.5 (for kneeling passers) or a standing guard of some kind (for standing passers- in fact, it is no surprise that the De la Riva guard was invented at the Carlson Gracie academy, the place where passing the closed guard by standing up was perfected), you can actually continue fighting for a bit longer yet; if your opponent is the one to pry your legs open against your will, though...
• If you are using De la Riva, and your opponent is slowly but surely managing to face you squarely, maintaining the hook sucks now, right? So, abandon DLR on your own terms. and switch to something else entirely. If your opponent is the one to undo the hook and square up against your will...
• If you are using spider guard and your opponent stands up (IMO, spider guard is at its most effective when the opponent is kneeling), abandon it on your own terms- get a lasso in, try a Hail Mary sickle/tripod/etc sweep, switch to a different standing guard, anything! Desperately trying to exert pressure on the opponent's biceps stretching out your legs as far as you can will actually cause you to get passed.
• Generalizing the idea, if you are the guarder and shit hits the pan... if you are the one to abandon guard on your own terms, you may well be able to re-guard and continue fighting at your pace. If the opponent breaks open your guard against your will...
• If your opponent is knife-handing your neck trying to escape your side control, and you are the one to switch to scarf hold or knee on belly instead, you still have the upper hand. If your opponent starts shrimping back while you try to hold onto a dying position...
• Apart from the obvious immobility and respiratory difficulty, dominant positions are dominant in the tactical sense as well- the top person can switch things up at will while actually maintaining dominance.
• While attempting the triangle choke, suppose that your opponent opts to fall forward on purpose to crawl out of it. If you catch it early, and you are the one to preemptively switch to omo-plata on your own terms instead, you can use their escape attempt against them. But, if you let your opponent fall on their own terms, you will lose it, and you will be certainly forced to defend guard passes. 
• If you play sit-up guard and your opponent is trying to flatten you out, but you are the one to pull your opponent in and hurl them forward, you can potentially work a sweep. If you get flattened out against your will, though...
• Likewise, when trying to pass a sit-up guarder, there is a huge difference between you flattening them out and them pulling you forward, even though the body positions may be similar. You, as the passer, want to flatten out a sit-up guarder on your terms, rather than when the guarder seemingly "wants" you to flatten them out.
• If you are using X-guard, some opponents may well have hamstrings and glutes made of steel. It may well be easier to draw their legs together and attempt the waiter, or hurl them backwards on their butts, rather than getting stuck trying to force the technical stand up sweep and conceding a guard pass.
• If you can see the back step pass coming and turn in pre-emptively, you may well be able to take the opponent's back off of their pass attempt. If you get stuck trying to shrimp away or something while they are crossfacing you and clearing your half-guard...
• While there may be no sweeping options available from flattened half-guard, if you quickly switch to something like the lockdown, you may have a window yet. If you stubbornly hold onto a dying position trying not to concede the pass, you will certainly concede the pass.
• If you are about to lose rear mount, let it go~~~ let it go~~~ on your own terms, and take full mount or go back to chair sit. If you are stuck there trying not to concede rear mount, your opponent may well actually end up escaping, or worse, recover guard.