A new year means a chance to reflect back on 2019 and look forward to what I want to focus on in 2020.

2019

Last year I wanted to focus on 1/2 guard, studying more tape, and blogging more.

1/2 Guard

I feel like I did a good job of studying the 1/2 guard. In the beginning of the year I played around with deep 1/2 guard. Around March I switched to focusing on traditional 1/2 guard and fell in love with the underhook 1/2 guard. The last few months of 2019 I spent alot of time playing Z Guard. While I am not going to focus as much on 1/2 guard this year I am still planning on studying it and using it during my rolls.

Tape Study

Around March I started to force myself to set aside time in my daily schedule for study. During this time I would watch instructionals and spend time thinking about how I could use what I was watching in my game. Thanks to this I added a lot to my 1/2 guard, kimura, and 50/50 game. I plan on continuing to study daily this year.

Blogging More

I did it! I published 11 blog posts. My goal for 2020 is to make it a nice 12 posts so at least 1 per month.

2020

Black Belt

In October I got my last stripe on my brown belt. One of my goals this year is to continue to work and improve my game so I can earn my black belt. Like Dr. Strange said…..We are in the endgame now.

Fundamentals Curriculum

I have started teaching the fundamentals class again at 10th Planet Van Nuys. For years I have wanted to create a solid curriculum for our fundamentals class that helps ensure that when people leave fundamentals they have seen the main positions and submission in jiu jitsu. My partner coach and I are both in agreement and are planning on creating a six month cycle that we can use as a curriculum.

Deep Tape Study

Last year I spent a lot of time watching various instructionals on various topics. This year I want to be able to take 1-2 instructionals and really go deep with them. My goal in doing this is to become a true expert instead of just having a passing knowledge of a few things. My first instructional that I plan on studying in depth is Danaher’s Kimura set.

There they are. My three focus points for the year. If you have not created your own focus points for the year it’s not too late! Take a few minutes and think about what you really want to get out of your training. When we train with a focus we get better. I hope everyone’s 2020 is a year of great growth in jiu jitsu!