Step outside of yourself and observe your game: one of the most factors in your progress in Jiu Jitsu is SELF KNOWLEDGE. If you can make an honest and accurate assessment of your current skills set then you can plan accurately what you need to improve and add to it to become the athlete you want to be. It is difficult to this, especially when you first begin the sport – you simply don't have the knowledge yet to accurately assess your level and what else needs to be learned. In time however, you will learn the skill of SELF ASSESSMENT. Let me tell you that this skill is crucial for your progress. One of my primary functions as a coach is to ASSESS MY athletes AND MAKE DECISIONS WHAT THEY NEED TO CHANGE TO GET TO IMPROVE THEIR PERFORMANCE. If you have an outside pair of eyes to do this for you – wonderful – it will be a great benefit. If you don't – you will have to learn to do it yourself. Start writing down the things you believe you do well against your peers. Compare this with a list of things you think would make you perform better and write down the reasons WHY you think those additions are well suited to you as an individual and will be good additions to your current skill set. now write down the skills you think are necessary but which you perform poorly. Compare and contrast the lists of skills that you do well and those which you perform poorly. What is the correlation between the two? Searching yourself in this way can teach you a lot about yourself and your current game – and the more you know about that, THE MORE YOU CAN MAKE BENEFICIAL CHANGES. Keep an eye on the game, keep an eye on your role models – but don't forget to keep an eye on yourself…
