New Producer/DJ. Can we talk about transitions?

Hey guys, so a buddy and I have been producing with Ableton for a little over a year, and we've decided to pick up some hardware so that we can start gigging.

We ended up grabbing a Kontrol S4 and a Maschine about a month ago, and they've been amazing (The S4 actually has some surprising production abilities, although if you're running a PC, beware of USB 3.0) and while we're still learning the hardware, I'd like to discuss transitions a bit.

So, at a local DJ/Electronic show that we went too last night, it seemed that none of the artists were making smooth transitions between tracks. A lot of stopping the groove, and launching the next clip. It seemed to pull from the flow of the floor and left people hanging.

Myself and my buddy have always said that we want to keep the groove flowing between tracks and really hate those abrupt stops, so what are some techniques/tips/advice that you all have that we tryout/practice?

Keep in mind we're still new to Traktor and the whole mixing thing in general but at the same time we are running a live Maschine with the setup, so we can actually make transitional beats on the fly, but as far as techniques for blending tracks, we're pretty new to that concept.

Thanks guys