We did a lot of drilling in the last few days. It’s been a long time since I’ve drilled technique after technique like that. Certainly not the most fun way to train, but it definitely has its place, especially in a pressure situation.
One thing I’ve noticed about drilling is the situation that you drill magically seems to appear more often in sparring.
I’ve fallen out of the habit of drilling as I’ve been much more interested in the situation by situation moment. Subconsciously I think I’ve told myself that drilling creates a false reality and I need to react to the moment as it’s happening.
But after listening to Rigan talk, I’m thinking I’ve been ignoring the fuller picture. Yes the moment by moment situation is important, but part of what creates proper reaction is having seen the moment before. There are many times I’ve been able to anticipate where a match is going to go simply because I’ve been in the situation before. Drilling allows that to happen in a controlled environment.
So this week begins drilling things over and over again. Since guard passing is on my mind, that’s what I’m going to drill first.
I’m going to structure my drilling in two parts:
1) Doing the technique on demand, i.e. when the moment is right, I’m doing it immediately.
2) Chaining techniques together.
For various reasons my passing game is still more one of force rather than flow. I want to make sure I drill the moment to do the correct technique. But I want to make sure I also drill the follow up moments of what to do when that moment is gone.
