What is your best skill? Yesterday we looked at the problem of lagging skills in our game. Today we shall look at our strong points. What is your best skill on the mat? Is it a positional move? (Eg a guard pass or sweep) or a submission move (eg Americana lock). How did it become your best skill? Was it a natural result of your body type? Your personality? Perhaps some technical insights from a coach, a mentor or self experimentation? We are all proud of our best skills – they give us confidence and direction on the mat – when we go against a tough opponent we naturally gravitate towards our best moves and when things get tough we work in the hope that we can bring our best and biggest guns to bear. Now ask yourself three sets of questions. However happy you might be with your favorite skills – first, DO YOU REALLY MAXIMIZE YOUR POTENTIAL SUCCESS WITH THAT MOVE? OR COULD YOU DO MORE WITH IT?Second, DO YOU USE THAT SKILL/MOVE AS A LEAD IN TO OTHER MOVES AND SKILLS TO BROADEN YOUR REPERTOIRE? Third, WHAT DID YOUR EXPERIENCE LEARNING AND DEVELOPING THIS FAVORITE MOVE OF YOURS TEACH YOU ABOUT LEARNING IN JIU JITSU? COULD YOU USE THIS knowledge TO HELP YOU LEARN OTHER MOVES AND FURTHER YOUR progress FAR BEYOND YOUR CURRENT STATE? It's natural (and healthy) to feel a sense of pride and contentment about your best moves. SAVE YOUR CONTENTMENT FOR YOUR DEATH BED. KEEP WORKING HARD TO MAKE FORWARD PROGRESS AND LEARN TO USE PAST LEARNING SUCCESS NOT AS A PLACE TO REST AND BE HAPPY, BUT AS A SPRINGBOARD TO FURTHER PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT THAT WILL ELEVATE YOU FAR ABOVE THE LEVEL THAT CURRENTLY MAKES YOU HAPPY.
