No one does it alone: One of the best things you can ever do to advance your level in jiu jitsu is create strong partnerships with other people of similar dispositions and goals to use as feedback for ideas and skills that you work on to improve yourselves. The most productive relationships in life are almost always based on the concept of MUTUAL BENEFIT. Nobody likes a parasite – try always to give as much as you receive and these friendships will last years and create more advances in you than you could ever have done alone. Partners on the mat can be so much more than drilling and sparring partners – try to form bonds where they become RESEARCH PARTNERS as well – I promise you it will benefit you greatly. I was always greatly blessed in this regard. I had truly outstanding senseis and mentors. My senior class mates where outstanding and after twenty five years I still know and see and learn from almost all of them. So to with my students past and present. They are an incredible means of testing ideas and the feedback I get from their adventures on the mat and the stage is a huge part of my own advancement in knowledge over the years. Don't do it alone – THE GREATEST RESOURCE YOU HAVE IS YOUR OWN INQUIRING MIND – AND THE SECOND GREATEST IS THE PEOPLE around YOU WHO ENABLE YOU TO MAXIMIZE ITS USE. Here I am scheming some dastardly improvements to my front headlock game with trusted partner in crime Shawn Williams – himself a great innovator and one of my favorite people to run ideas by and test theories and concepts. Sharing the journey not only makes it more fun – it takes you further than you could have gone alone.
