When you've got one – you've often got another: We tend to think in terms of what's right in front of us and get myopic about what's further ahead. While it's certainly good to be focused on the here and now and try hard to finish the task in front of us – we have to be realistic also – and the reality is that when you're matched against someone your own size and skill level most of your initial attacks will fail due to strong resistance. As such, it's very important you be able to look past the current attack and see the next possibility. A really good place for you to start training your mind and body this way is with the arm bar juji gatame. Why? Because juji gatame cuts across the upper middle of the human body at an angle that gives you direct access to triangles and ashi garami leg locks as well as the original arm bar – any time you have the position for juji gatame you can thread yourself easily into variations of triangles and ashi garami leg locks (and if you're creative you can find other alternatives as well). Spend some time playing around in the juji gatame position – thread your legs into different types of triangles. Reach down for a leg and drop into leg locks – pretty soon you will find yourself habitually looking beyond the first attack into follow up attacks – and that's a big part of what will get your beating better opponents in the future
