I had two that really stuck.  The first was frame, shield, pedal.  If my guard was getting passed I would first get my frames in place which allowed me to get a knee inside which was my shield and allowed me to create some space to get a foot on my training partners hip and pedal myself back into open guard or closed…

Just keep showing up, don’t quit!  I’m thankful I decided to keep showing up. Jiu Jitsu is a great tool for personal growth. 

North South Kimura

Foot sweep for me

For me personally was not being flat on my back. Through white and half of my time at blue belt.  Any time I was working on guard retention or sweeps I would be flat on my back instead of getting on my side.  You can’t accomplish much being flat on your back.  Professor Thomas would always tell me we are not doing Pilates.  

I like to isolate the technique so I get a really good understanding of that technique against a non resistant training partner.  Than I will worry about the what if’s that come into play during the positional training of sparring.

What a good question. .  Jiu Jitsu has been such an instrumental part of my own personal development.  It has taught me so much about myself.  I would say the biggest thing beside problem solving , would be the self confidence it gave me.  Which I always struggled with.

I think drilling is a must, you can also describe it as practicing a movement a number of times or getting the reps in. Drilling a movement pattern consistently downloads it into your subconscious, converting into conscious so your technical effort becomes automatic or muscle memory.  

That’s a good question so many people have give me great advice over the years.  One sticks out at blue belt when my guard is getting passed.  Don’t let them get to your head expect the cross face and be ready to block or redirect it.  That would  help  me to start my reguard process.