Most grapplers plateau at an intermediate level because all they do is add techniques. Techniques get you started. They won't get you to flow. Reaching fluency requires a different kind of learning. It requires perception.

Understanding Grappling gives you three: Modes of Action, Basic Options, and Stages of Grappling. Together, they are the only framework you need. Everything else, every technique, every position, every scramble is an expression of them.
Once you see that, you can't unsee it.

By Drew Lockwood, Rilion Gracie black belt, 23 years on the mat, professor and owner of Rilion Gracie Energy Corridor in Houston, Texas.