Marcelo dispenses invaluable gems of "condensed" wisdom and grants us many insights quite literally, through the mist and amidst several hard advanced sparring sessions: Beware of both external and internal distractions; you must be ready for the unpredictable while remaining calm under duress. Don't let something outside the mat bother you or steer you away from completing the very tasks necessary for accomplishing your goals. In regards to physical and emotional conditioning, focus on what you can control and forget what you cannot. Remember to control your breathing, especially when you are not sure of what to do next in a match. Don't tire yourself out; sometimes obviating exhaustion is the correct strategy for finding victory. Avoid exchanging words with your opponent/partner in the attempt to elicit emotional responses. This also includes ignoring any jeering or taunting from a rival coach or team. Don't worry about what friends, family, coaches and teammates may think of you; instead, channel your attention and effort on a singular, and often incremental, obtainable goal. Metaphorically speaking, sometimes it may feel like you are lost in the dark trying to find your way out; simply stay calm and let your eyes adjust until you can make some semblance and shape out of your vision. Never focus on the act of winning itself, or waste any time showing ostentatiously how much you want to win. Transfer your energy and excitement into disarming your opponent's attempts directly, thereby foiling any possible regrets that would arrive otherwise in hindsight. [04:45] We may not face the same exact partner or opponent every time we train or compete, but we will always face the same opponent in that of ourselves. Don't compare yourself to others' accomplishments; measure yourself by how far you've grown as a practitioner of the art-form since being a novice. Many students fail by getting in their own way, and allowing self-manufactured obstacles to inhibit positive transformation. Don't become your own worst enemy; make yourself a valuable ally to your own cause. Everyone at a certain point must learn how to create their own distinct lessons, and teach themselves how to address or fix problems that are unique to their particular predispositions. Every roll can be an opportunity to work on yourself; e.g. identifying and fixing mistakes, reinforcing positive feedback loops, instilling good mental habits, intuiting repeatable patterns, and simulating match intensity. [06:39] Marcelo cites the film "Free Solo" featuring professional rock-climber, Alex Honnold, as an example of the manifestation of human potential in regards to performing dire physical actions under harrowing circumstances. The very high-stakes proposition of either summiting or plummeting, all while balancing on a cliff edge, is a high-level display of focus and extreme risk-to-reward. Work on taking the initiative, leading over following, and attacking/reacting rather than waiting to counterattack an opponent's pre-action. You cannot always rely on your training partner for recreating the situational conditions that will help you concentrate on what you need to get better. Take responsible for leading your opponent in the direction you should want to focus on for improvement. [08:34] Closed Guard (Top/Inside) Defensive Specific-Training for Technical-Conditioning; Grip-Fighting matters much more when you are caught deep in between your opponent's legs in their Closed Guard. You need to develop a strong sense of discernment and adjustment for when your opponent has you objectively beat in the battle for dominant control of a position. Every possible configuration your opponent can set on you has a corresponding technique/counter-grip/pose that you must learn to apply. The benefits of starting rounds all ready inside of the Closed-Guard also translate well over to grip-management when engaging an Open-Guard. Use the patience that good Closed-Guard players master against them by taking that time to build yourself up strong base, good structural form, and correctly aligned posture. The more comfortable you get buying yourself more positional real-estate inside the Closed-Guard, the easier it will be when your windows of opportunity to act in time are shortened from the high joint mobility and increase in degrees of freedom while playing against an Open-Guard. [12:23] Despite the stigma of impracticality associated with live-training from the double kneeling-position, there are indeed benefits of starting each roll in this manner; specifically, safety from high-amplitude takedowns (possibly into/onto neighboring training groups if space or supervision is limited), developing so-called 'dog-fighting' ability (i.e. weapon retention or disarmament) and lastly, getting to safely practice pulling guard directly into a sweep or attack that is aided with falling/sitting momentum. Starting without grips in Butterfly-Guard (Open/Seated/Sitting/Upright-Guard, et al.) is a way to provide a handicap or challenge yourself; even a white belt can prove to be formidable if left free to run or charge into you. Take enough time on your knees to set-up similar grips as you would if standing to pull into offensive technique. [18:27] Tuning your reflexes for hand/grip-fighting from the open engagement phase of sportive grappling can give you an advantage against many different styles of jiu-jitsu. Vying for dominance over your opponent's hands is like holding still the hands on the face of a ticking clock; not very many dangerous things can happen in these moments of control when your opponent's actual hands are not free to work against you. Practice your jiu-jitsu to the highest of standards. Cultivate techniques that could subdue even a black-belt in the finals of a world championship if done properly, but while also participating with partners whose technical ability is wanting. Making your opponent defend first so you don't have to be the one defending. [27:26] Marcelo talks about the only form of training he did as a lower belt; "line" training, where first to score or submit stays on the mat while the other partner must join a queue on the side. Take the time while waiting for your next turn to think about your mistakes. When sparring, set your mind on a tactical goal and put everything you have into achieving it. The winner must alternate top and bottom every restart to work both sweeping and passing. [33:04] Exercise your mind as much as you can, on and off the mat. Figure out what went wrong and keep it fresh in your memory so that you can come back and fix it as soon as possible. Learn how to work things other than your A-game so that you don't wear out your favorite lines of attack. Don't let your ego get in the way of training parts of your game that need attention; this can be especially useful when injured or out of shape.