Drilling...

I'm stuck back in out of class training mode. My Wife is about to deploy our third child and I really need to be at hand to ensure we avoid having a highway baby. The good news is a big and good friend of mine who loves martial arts is willing to come by twice this week and hopefully next to work out. He is new to the sport, i.e. Jiu-Jitsu, so the first couple of times we've trained he goes at it w/ the aggressive enthusiasm of a competitor which is all good, but no good for efficient learning so I change up our sessions so we would Drill.

Some folks think fighting and/or full throttle sparring is the only way to train- no this is the only way to polish and refine your combative skills. Near combative/competition level training is critical at the advanced levels but us novices really need to Drill, Drill and Drill so that we get some subconscious competencies and are able to compete/spar w/ perspective and thus grow. Here are some thoughts on the different kinds of drilling- I'll use the Army Proven "Crawl, Walk, Run, Race" decomposition.

Crawl Phase: Learning a new technique. I have seen it in stand up martial arts and see it in Jiu Jitsu- folks lack attention to detail and just focus on the "money shot" or submission. In Jiu-Jitsu the pre-condition is very important- who is in what relative position, what is the options available for each position and what "controls" or event pre-cedes the technique. I kinda call these details "site pictures" - just mental/physical images you have to learn/train so you know an opportunity for the technique exists. The next detail is what are the transitions to go from one set of controls to the next until you are in the position to submit, sweep, escape, etc. whatever is the goal of the technique. Thus you have to pay attention to these details before drilling. At this stage your partner is participative by being somewhat passive. The establish good baseline posture, but provide minimal resistance for you to take your time and progress through the technique to get a cognitive grasp of what the heck you are supposed to be doing. I believe in at lest doing the technique 3 to 5 times from one side, relatively slow to just get the mechanics right. The key detail, your partner isn't going- oh, I can do this or you are wondering how to defeat counters and what not- just focus on the technique in a box. If you don't get it- grab the instructor, get demonstrated on, but "crawl" until you have the mechanics down and can execute w/in your physical limitations.

Walk Phase: You partner still doesn't provide much assistance, granted, the partner is also training, they should be paying attention to what you are doing, what are the controls, what should be tight, what feels right, etc. Getting a cognitive perspective of what is occurring against them. You should be focused on achieving all the controls and transitions smoothly and really working on setting the foundation for smooth execution. You should get progressively faster/deliberate at this phase- this phase is focused on training mind/body, i.e. conditioning your self to move a bit more subconsciously. If you have a physical limitation- flexibility, lack of strength in muscles at a particular angle- this phase works all this out. Once you get to the point, you aren't thinking through each control/transition and can do things relatively smoothly - you are ready to run.

Run: This is competitive drilling- two stages. The first is partner is willing, but not permissive. Your partner will now seek to disrupt any lack of control or smooth transition created by you. This allows you refine precision a bit. The second phase is competitive drilling. Starting in the pre-condition and you and partner just going after different goals. You are trying to apply the technique, they are working a counter and escape. Once either of you achieve the contradictory goals- start over. You can also make this more complex by adding in multiple options- like some techniques have complimentary flowing techniques based on what is available and what gets shut down, e.g. Kimura- guillotine- knee bump from the guard...you try to work those in a constrained by competitive scenario.

Race: Is open sparring. You roll w/ a goal. Like I try to fight from the bottom w/ smaller folks and lower belts. I try to attack if w/ upper belts always from any position. If I get owned by something w/ an upper belt, I find a lower/white belt to roll w/ and put myself in the position of disadvantage again to figure out how to escape w/ a less informed talent.

The final stage is true competition or real fight scenario. I'm an OG, Old Grappler, and competition is a goal if/when I can work it in post my 50-hour work week, family opns and whatever... Granted, for younger folks- you need to compete. I have fortunately competed in my youth and, at least, have the mental advantages of competition. You should TRAIN in the DOJO- compete in competition. Lots of young folks roll w/ the perspective of winning/loosing. You should train- the focus is improving yourself, your technique- that means some days you may submit more then you get submitted; granted you should go into class knowing that is a goal. Like you are going to roll w/ less capable folks to refine your submissions or roll w/ better folks to work your escapes. If you train cognitively- I think you just grow faster.

This is the ideal break out of training- granted, not necessarily the way schools can be run because folks like variety and this can be BORING to some- LOL! Granted, I'm a fan of drilling, drilling and drilling. Drilling w/ condition is just a proven winning solution.