I always hear people say "practice practice practice.." but for my time playing the game i feel like i dont know what to do and that im skill capped.
So my question is how can i practice efficiently?

Explore mods in free play, watch more skilled players play.

Ask to play with them maybe, the cap here that you are feeling is just a lack of understanding I promise you once you break it the game becomes so much more fun.

hmm, just play more games. its not like an fps where you can hop in an aim trainer.
you just have to play a lot of matches and you will get better. the game is hard but its easier to learn than it ever has been.
check out the replays section and study how people move. there are also very good tutorials that would help you a lot.
for example if you want to learn more about aikido you can just search the keyword "aikido" in the tutorials section.
we've all been where you are and the best advice i have is to make friends and have fun, everything else will come in time <3

To add to Samurai's response, be sure to check out the "gameplay" section in this thread: https://forum.toribash.com/showthread.php?t=29601

I have just returned, and I was never very good when I first played but the best thing I can advise is, if you see things that confuse you, save the replay and analyze them. You could stop the replay and see what joints they moved etc..

I have been doing this, as well as just seeing the consistency of what moves are being used. (Meta).

I think being a strong player has 3 components:

1. Knowing how to move your tori. A good understanding how to turn around, land on your feet and pack a punch are very valuable.
How to practice: Play mostly Lenshu and Sparring and try to keep your feet mostly grounded. Also play single player and study how the joints of your torso affect your movement.

2. Knowing how to dismember. There are a few tweaks you should know that really push the effectiveness of your strikes right before they land.
How to practice: Play taekkyon online or play single player and create some "madman" replays (replays in which you try to dismember Uke as brutally as possible). It can also help to study replays from the book of records, since they do it better than anyone else.

3. Understand a mods meta. Every mod has some common openers and situational maneuvers against which you need to know some counterplay.
How to practice: Don't minimize toribash when it is not your turn. Watch other players. This is especially true when some guy has a 10+ win streak. Most likely this person uses the same tricks over and over. Think about the weaknesses of their actions. Are they unbalanced on the ground? Is their attack actually easy to dodge but everyone loses because they just contest it? Also it helps a lot to just talk and play with strong players.