Marcelo reminds his students about the importance of cultivating a heightened sense of vigilant focus for competition: Read your opponent's feints but don't get distracted by any legitimate threats. Concentrate on when your opponent tries to advance forward with an attack and apply an appropriately proportional reaction. Stay in tune with your opponent's movements but don't let them gain an initiative; it is much better and more safe to force them into following your own rhythm of engagement rather than assuming the unexpected. The downfall of most tends to begin with letting your opponent simply just start an attack, particularly when they are of a higher level skill. Place the same urgency that you would for defending an impending submission as you would the moments where you are not in immediate danger. This way takes practice but is the surest way to avoiding defeat. Assume this discipline by working on short-goal games with your partner; e.g. staying close in a defensive posture while avoiding letting your opponent even touch your head.