Athleticism: I think it's fair to say most people in Jiu jitsu have a feeling that everyone else in the room is a better athlete than they are. Yet when you ask them what they mean by this they point to a list of physical attributes – speed, flexibility, endurance etc and say that most people possess these in greater amounts than they do and this makes them inherently better athletes or possessed of greater athletic potential. In fact the single biggest contributor to your athletic potential at any given second in a match is not genetic – it's learned – it is your stance. Every task in the sport has a stance or posture that determines how efficiently you will perform that task. I don't care how good someone's genetic athleticism is (however you understand that) – IF THEY ARE IN A POOR STANCE FOR A GIVEN TASK, THEY WILL struggle TO PERFORM THAT TASK. The converse is also true. NO MATTER HOW POOR YOUR PERCEIVED ATHLETIC POTENTIAL IS, IF YOU ARE IN A GOOD STANCE TO PERFORM A GIVEN TASK, YOU WILL MAKE IT LOOK EASY. Your objective athletic potential is heavily dependent on factors outside your control, but plays much less of a role than many people think in the here and now of a match. Much more important is MAXIMIZING WHATEVER ATHLETIC POTENTIAL YOU HAVE BY TAKING A STANCE THAT MAXIMIZES PERFORMANCE OF THE TASK IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF YOU. Don't worry too much about whatever objective athleticism fate gave you. Focus instead on the athletic potential you give YOURSELF by adopting a strong and appropriate stance for the task in front of you. Here, Garry Tonon takes a good stance for toreando guard passing that allows easy side to side movements and makes entanglement by opponents legs difficult while allowing his hands easy access to grips upon opponents legs.
