What is the biggest thing that has helped you improve you jiu jitsu.

[Scott Yockel]

Having a good coach for one, helped the most. Months of watching dvds and reps. Mostly learning how to turn myself into a student of the game. Break down something and mastering it.

[Ryan Cook]

Derek Stewart

+1

And just to add to that... getting my butt kicked by bad asses. Matt, David, Londo, Ant, that faggot Jared.

[Adam Martin]

As soon as I go home after practice I hit the computer and figure out what I did wrong in a certain position. What I could of done better, or a different sweep/ sub I could of done.

...And sticking by Rubber Guard, especially when its hated by almost everyone else in the gym. Our top fighter even has a youtube video titled "smashing the rubber guard." Haha you gotta keep your mind open to all ideas. Try it out and perfect it.

[derrick ikwueme]

books & reps, thers only so much you can learn in a class setting, because everyone wants to open roll instead of putting in reps, in order to get every detail it's better to buy books & do serious reps on your own.

[Ben]

Any and all of my losses. I can sometimes beat someone and not learn a thing, but every time I lose, I have to go back and look at what I did wrong. Why didn't my move work? Why did his? How did I give that up? You can tell I don't train at a jiu jitsu school yet, because my losses don't come often enough, but I will say I never look harder at my game then when I get my ass handed to me. Every loss has caused MAJOR improvements in my game.

[Jay Chow]

You see that a lot Ben, great point, but it's also good to realise that when you are winning, submitting, keeping position, you DO learn stuff.

It's the same as "I stuck my arm too far over when attempting to put my forearm on the throat for a side control escape, and the guy Arm Triangled me. Next time, I won't put my arm as far." You've learnt an important defensive mistake that you will try not to make again.

"I was stuck in a really strong guys headlock when attempting to take the back and couldn't advance any further, but I used my legs to lockdown his knee and twist it, and he gave up the headlock to avoid the tap. In doing so, I was able to take his back and finish him from there." You've also learnt a way of taking a guys back, but you didn't lose, you won by experimenting with leverage, and it worked. It most probably will work again.

Keep an open mind, don't just say winning makes you learn nothing, because it couldn't be further from the truth.

I like to think of it as even if you do lose at a tournament, you still learn stuff, just as you learn when you win too. The mindset that people have where "losing is better" is not good, as you will not strive as much to win competitions, and you should really want to win these things. It just means that losing isn't the worst thing in the world

[Dustin C.]

Getting tapped, i HATE losing/tapping but every time i tap i learn, this took me a while to figure out lol@me

[Ashley Kennedy-Foster]

It sounds simple, but just showing up to class regularly is the biggest contributing factor to any improvement i've seen in my own training. It's just a matter of getting in the reps.

i also take notes on what i learned that day in class - I keep a little pocket notebook in my bag - i'll write down the technique we went over and when I roll, I usually pick out 1 or 2 things i did well and/or places where i got stuck/tapped. that actually really helps me focus on what i should be spending my time on.

[Aikijiujitsu]

Chi sao

[Dustin Lou]

Luckily, the flexibility came very quickly for me. I put in the time and reps and i was very flexible in no time. It greatly improved my performance but i think the biggest factors was me "studying" jiu jitsu. I watched the Mastering the Rubber Guard DVD a million times, and read the book a million times too. Then i was always watching videos online, learning everything i could. I think that was by far the biggest factor for me, especially since i don't train at a legit gym and definitely not at a 10th Planet school