Self Evaluation

[Dedicado]

As an exercise in self-honesty rate yourself as follows:

Strengths ( what are my strengths as a grappler/BJJ/Judoka?) Name at least 3:


Weaknesses ( what are my serious weaknesses as a fighter? ) Name them all:


My short term goal is:

My long term goals are:

( take one of your weaknesses and write an action plan to better it) My plan is:


I am posting this so that we can take an honest look at ourselves and see what we do well, what we do poorly, and how we can improve ourselves as fighters. You don't have to write anything, but if you do, make sure it's honest. You can lie to everyone here, but yourself.

 

[Dedicado]

I'll go first:

Strengths:
- Conditioning; I work very hard at getting in shape for comps and I have good stamina, cardio and endurance.
- Desire to train; I really love working out, being in the gym is fun for me, I love going to class ( now that I'm happy with a new school).
- Chokes; I have gotten good at choking.
- Takedown defense; I feel I am harder to take down than before.

Weaknesses:
- Takedowns; I have no good takedowns beside footsweeps.
- Triangles; I have a hard time breaking off triangles
- I am not physically strong; I can't bench my own weight and I can't squat twice my weight. I am usually the physically weakest guy on the mats.
- I have difficulty passing the guard; I have one way to do it, when it doesn't work, I'm screwed.
- I am not aggressive enough; I try to outlast not to instantly finish somebody, I wait a long time before I strike.

My short term goal: To start my next peaking phase and beat all my personal bests.

My long term goal: To compete in November at the Western Canadian Classic and then in February athe Tiger Balm International.

My action plan, takedowns: I am going to invest serious time now into practicing, drilling and sparring for takedowns. The takedowns I am going to drill are: Double leg, single leg, high crotcth, Harai-goshi, Tae-O-Toshi, Uchi-Mata, O-Soto-Gari. I am going to do these for 15 minutes a class, twice a week along with my regular training. In November, I will do them 4 times a week for 15 minutes.

 

[Dedicado]

BTW, don't flame people here for allowing us to see there weakness. This isn't the point. The point is to compare strategies for strengthening our games and making us better fighters. If you got nothing important to contribute, c-ya.

 

[phenomfan1529]

Strengths:
Cardio; not bragging but my cardio is pretty good
My Guard; really good in it, I'm most comfortable while in my guard
Takedowns; thou I dont know many, I'm good at the ones I know
Hard Worker; I show to class always giving my all

Weaknesses:
Problems when on top; No problem getting side control or mount, problem is usually dont do so well when I get there
I get intimidated; Dont know why but easily do
Also not aggresive enough; I think it ties with the fact that I easily get intimidated
Strength; Its ok for now, but really would help if I could get stronger

Short Term Goal: Fix as much weaknesses as I can before next tourney.
Long Term Goal: To compete in an actuall grappling tourney (I mean not just with other BJJers)

Action Plan; Problems when on top, I'm just gonna get alot of practice in after class, hopefully some solo stuff with my instructer. And my Strength; I'm gonna start hitting the weight room. Hopefully 3x week.

 

[Dedicado]

Yo dude, stating your strengths isn't bragging, it's just honest. Alot of people have no idea how good they really are because they cannot really see there gifts and strengths for what they are.

 

[phenomfan1529]

Dedicado, pretty interesting thread dude. You should also post this up in the standup forum.

 

[Te(V)plar]

Strengths:
I'm strong especially for a 5' 8" guy
Moves I have down I pull off extremely quickly
I have a good tactical mind

Weaknesses:
CARDIO!
Limited knowledge of takedowns
I sometimes go for flash over utility

Fixing my cardio by having run my ass off for the past year.

Short term goal: Blue belt

Long term goal: Purple, brown, black

 

[TequillaSlammer]

Strengths:
- Riding, once I get on top it's hard to get me off.
- Finding the finish, no matter what position I'm in I can find a submission.
- Takedowns and Takedown Defense.
- Tenacity, once I go for something I don't stop till I get it.
- Stubborness, when I wanna work on something I won't quit till I have it right.
- Creativity, I try to come up with new things to confuse people.
- Desire, I'm there for every class in don't sit out a round.

Weaknesses:
- Guard, I have problems retaining guard as I am always working for top control.
- Sweeps, when I do get stuck in guard I don't have much of a sweeping game.
- Playing tight, my game is based on movement so when people play tight it causes me problems.
- Escaping when I'm already caught, I can defend submissions but don't escape very well.
- Predictability, I don't fake submission enough, if it looks like I'm going for it I am.
- Thinking, I don't think enough when rolling I tend to just go with the flow.
- Balance, it's not bad but it could be better.
- Strength, while not always a bad thing a lack of strength does show in some rolls.

My short term goal: To improve my guard.

My long term goal: To enter some BJJ competition as the main strenghts of BJJ players seem to be my weaknesses.

My action plan: Pull guard against poeple my skill level, I am going to play for guard instead of top control, even if I get a sweep I will simply allow them to reverse me an play guard again. Allow newer students lock in submissions so that I can practice my escapes.

Thanks for starting this thread man, it got me seriously looking at my weaknesses which is a pretty eye opening experience. I'm gonna have to do this every couple of months.

 

[Balto]

Strengths:
- Strong guard, mount, and escapes
- Able to attack quickly from almost any position
- Better takedowns than most pure BJJ guys (but significantly worse than wrestlers and judoka)

Weaknesses:
- Weak guard passing
- Terrible cardio
- Too vulnerable to leg locks

Short term goal:
- Improve guard passing

Long term goal:
- Don't ever stop training

My action plan:
- Put myself in others' guards on purpose. This is in contrast to my usual plan of escape, establish guard, sweep, and work from the top. Also I need to be more careful about leaving my legs open for attacks.

 

[rerard]

strengths:

* conditioning (cardio+strenght)
* takedown defense
* intelligence/strategy

weaknesses:

* takedowns
* passing the guard


short term goal:

* been working on guard passing a lot, I dont think the takedows are that important right now because I can usualyl reverse a takedown attempt and get it that way just means I have to play the waiting/baiting game (I just suck at initiating basically).

long term goal:

* haven't really set anything solid, just seeing how far I can get

 

[RobT]

Strengths ( what are my strengths as a grappler/BJJ/Judoka?) Name at least 3:

Patience: I will work for a good position for a long time, I don't try to rush to get a submission.

Submission defence: I can usually defend against most subs, even against guys much bigger, stronger and better than myself.

Memory: I find I can pick up new techniques quickly, and I tend to remember all the techniques I've been shown.


Weaknesses ( what are my serious weaknesses as a fighter? ) Name them all:

Conditioning: It doesn't totally suck, but I'm not great. Specifically, muscular endurance.

Takedowns: My double leg isn't bad, considering how little I've practiced it (took a Judo BB down with it!), but my overall takedown game sucks badly. I have no idea.

Maintaining side-control: Lately people have been shrimping out quite easily when I have side-control. I think I'm forgetting to control their head, not sure. It's definately something I need to work on.

Grip: My grip strength needs to be a lot better. Also, I've found that when I do grip hard my forearms tire quickly.


My short-term goal is: To improve overall strength/conditioning.

My long-term goals are: To enter another BJJ competition and do a lot better. To get to black belt (long, long, long term goal!). To fight at least once in a pro-MMA fight.

My plan is: As per my short-term goal. I'm starting at the gym tonight, going to build some max strength and then look at endurance. Also, I'm going to start taking some private lessons to work on my side-control.

 

[ARIS]

strenghts:
Guard-closed, buterfly, Mount i can atack easily from these positions.
Defence-getting out from deficult positions and subattempts.

Weaknesses:
Conditioning-trying to get my cardio much better.
Lower body- legs are weak compared to my upper body.
Takedowns

 

[kimurense]

Strengths ( what are my strengths as a grappler/BJJ/Judoka?) Name at least 3:

guard: closed, half, butterfly, spider, I'm confortable in these positions
passing the guard: I like to sweep and then work on passing the guard, witch I usualy get.
leg locks: people don't use them much usualy, I like to use them, so that's a strong point in my behalf.


Weaknesses ( what are my serious weaknesses as a fighter? ) Name them all:

Conditioning: I don't have much endurance, been working on it
Takedowns: I like to pull guard...
turtle position: people tend to get my back fairly easy when I go to turtle, need to sharpen that up


My short-term goal is: get my fucking knee working :icon_evil, and get that purple belt soon

My long-term goals are: get that brown belt, and get my shoulder fixed

no plans for anything, except get drunk next weekend...

 

[Kantian_relativist]

Strengths

Conditioning- Thai boxing and wrestling have helped me keep it up.
Transitions-I move pretty smoothly from changing positions and sub attempts.
Willingnesss to experiment- I will try anything in practice, it has helped me alot

Weaknesses

When I'm mounted- I spend the entire time attempting not to get escaped from, and not enough offense.
Tightening guard passes- My arms and legs are still too loose from my body, base gets weak.
Attacking Turtle- I just rolled with a guy that is good at turtling, and using it to escape, and he frustrated the hell out of me.

Short term goal

Work on offense from mount.

Long term goal

Grapplers quest in November.

Awesome thread by the way.

 

[Foolkiller]

Strengths ( what are my strengths as a grappler/BJJ/Judoka?) Name at least 3:
Flexibility - Allows me to escape a lot of subs as well as stay calm when stacked or in awakward positions.
Mount escape - I'm used to ending up on the bottom so have worked my mount escapes to a point where I can get out one way or another.
transitioning - I'm always looking for what to go for next whether it's a pass or a sub, trying to stay one step ahead.
Turtle - I have been finished from this position in a while, sometimes I will even give the position and try roll through for a sub.
Armbars - I can get armbars from all kinds of positions and they are largely my bread and butter sub.

Weaknesses ( what are my serious weaknesses as a fighter? ) Name them all:
Distracting frustration - I used to spar with a purple belt who always got me with this modified ezekiel gi choke regardless of how I blocked. I realised the reason he kept getting me was because I keep reacting in just the way he wanted which allowed him the space to choke me. Sometimes it takes these things a while to sink in.

I don't sprawl enough, I pull guard and go for the guillotine even though I know I have more options from a sprawl.

I'm not a tall strong guy so I really have to work hard sometimes just to hang in there without getting crushed.

I need to improve my sweeps as I often end up on my back and if a few of my sweeps are stuffed I'll get frustrated and soon have my guard passed or end up mounted.

I need to work on using my head as a base when in mount, not just my hands.

My short term goal is: Improve my throws, takedowns, sweeps, leglocks.

My long term goals are: Get my purple belt.

( take one of your weaknesses and write an action plan to better it) My plan is: Take 4 sweeps from my MMA technique library, drill them, get someone to spar with and try to nail the sweeps and/or transition from one sweep to another so I get comfortable with the options I have.

 

[TequillaSlammer]

This is not meant to be any kind of insult but to the guys stating that their cardio is a problem do you think this is actually your problem or is it your technique?
I know when I can't pull off a move correctly I get really gassed from just trying it so damn hard, this might not apply to you, be if you are honestly evaluating yourself it would be usefull to think about.

 

[RobT]

This is not meant to be any kind of insult but to the guys stating that their cardio is a problem do you think this is actually your problem or is it your technique?
I know when I can't pull off a move correctly I get really gassed from just trying it so damn hard, this might not apply to you, be if you are honestly evaluating yourself it would be usefull to think about.

For me, a part of it is down to technique for sure (but then I've only had about 4 months training so far) but it's mainly just general conditioning.

I also have a problem in that I have bad sinitus problems. My sinuses are nearly always blocked up and I have phlegm in my throat after training for 30mins (the warm-up). Makes it really hard to breath at times, also makes me feel sick.

 

[Rip Van Winkle]

Strengths:
- Conditioning
- Desire to train

Weaknesses:
- Everything

My short term goal: To get more items on that strengths list.

My long term goal: To be a blue belt from Vaghi before I possibly leave next September.

 

[kimurense]

This is not meant to be any kind of insult but to the guys stating that their cardio is a problem do you think this is actually your problem or is it your technique?
I know when I can't pull off a move correctly I get really gassed from just trying it so damn hard, this might not apply to you, be if you are honestly evaluating yourself it would be usefull to think about.

I don't think that is the problem, but I haven't been training regularly for a while, and then when I was picking up my passe again, I busted my knee

 

[Commissar]

Strengths ( what are my strengths as a grappler/BJJ/Judoka?) Name at least 3:
1. Cardio: I can fight relentlessly for a long time without showing any signs of fatigue, due to many years of martial arts (not BJJ) and many more years of cardio training.

2. Intelligence: During matches. My instructor says I'm very good at creating strategies on-the-spot, and I think it's partially due to the fact I used to play a lot of strategy games, I currently read a lot, and I've done plenty of sociology, psychology and that sort of University course - the ability to almost predict the next move, and the ability to react to it quickly.

3. Speed: If motivated enough, I can attack with a basic submission very quickly. Armbar, triangle, kimura - you name it, you leave yourself open, and you're done. Which is connected to my first weakness:

4. Takedowns: Being also a player in Judo, I tend to have a whole arsenal of throws that most of my teammates haven't seen before. That said, I usually dominate the standup portion of a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu match quite thoroughly.

Weaknesses ( what are my serious weaknesses as a fighter? ) Name them all:
1. Passive: In a lot of matches, mostly gi, I wait too much. I hold one position - usually guard - until they made a mistake, and I attack. I wait until they make the mistake, in fear of losing the position. Only recently have I become more aggressive and have been pleasantly surprised with the results.

2. Strength: I have very good strength for a person my size (5'2, 128 pounds), but unfortunately I find myself at a huge disadvantage against most other people, which is why I'm good at technique. But I can often get powered out of many situations.

3. Intelligence: Sometimes, I'd predict my opponents next move and I would get ahead of myself and blatantly obviously prepare myself, only to be caught off guard when he doesn't do it. Or I attack a mistake that I predict they will make, but haven't made yet.

My short term goal is: Train hard 3-4 times a week and compete in my third tournament in September and have a good showing.

My long term goals are: Attain blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. To me, belts don't matter, but they are good 'points' to set your sights on.

My plan is: To become more aggressive, and to train to balance defense and offense well.

_____________

This was a good idea, by the way. It sounds stupid - type your strengths and weaknesses - but, in writing, it's much more direct and clear as to what I have to work on, and what I don't.