What is your worst skill? Every jiu jitsu player, you, me, everybody, has a worst skill – some part of the game that lags far behind their other skills. We all carry it around as a burden and hope it does not show up in sparring or competition. A great project for all jiu jitsu students is to identify the worst element of your game. It can be a move, say for example, kata gatame (arm triangle); or a POSITION, say, left side bottom half guard. Whatever it is, identify it. Then study it. Ask your instructor about it, study great athletes who have a reputation for excellence in that area. Then set a very manageable goal. For three weeks, START EVERY SPARRING SESSION IN THAT POSITION OR MOVE AND SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE WORKING IN THAT SPECIFIC AREA. Initially you will feel awful. Don't get dispirited. understand this – IN ALL LEARNING ACTIVITIES THE GREATEST JUMPS IN SKILL level OCCUR early IN TRAINING AND THEN DECREASE OVER TIME. I promise you that after a rough start you will make astounding progress in that area in a relatively short time. Will you be a world beater? No, but you will be considerably better and put yourself in a position to improve over time. Most importantly, YOU WILL NO LONGER SEE THAT SPECIFIC AREA AS A WEAKNESS,BUT RATHER AS A GROWTH AREA WITH POTENTIAL FOR THE FUTURE. Once you see it in that light, then you can move forward with that move/position as part of your overall progress, rather than make progress in some areas and just leave that one behind and hope it never gets exposed.
