Drill it to Kill it

Drilling in BJJ is not the most overlooked aspect of training, but it is definitely the most ignored. Drilling technique is--without a doubt--one of the most laborious  things we can do in training; and thus it's not always the most fun. We're all friends here so let's just all admit it and say it out loud with me: Drilling is boring. But what makes it boring is that you feel like you already know what you're doing. How many times have you seen your instructor show a basic armbar (or whatever) and sprinkle in a little detail that makes you raise your eyebrows at the magic that you were just enlightened to? And if that hasn't happened to you yet, it will. It happens to me frequently. But the reason why it's happening is that you don't know the technique as well as you think you do.

Have you ever watched some high-level competition (ADCC is coming up soon, so get excited for that) and seen a basic technique work? I used to wonder how a Black Belt can get away with it against another Black Belt at the highest level until I learned that some of the tiniest details to something can make all the difference in pulling off a technique or not. Sure, those guys are talented and have a wealth of knowledge, but they didn't get that way by just having a good memory and natural ability. Ask anyone how to get better and they'll say "practice," ask your instructor and he'll say "drill." We all have at least one guy/gal in all of our gyms who LOVES to drill and never really rolls when the time comes; he just loves to drill. And we all say the same thing about that guy and how they're SO GOOD. I think you know where I'm going with that.

The argument against drilling is that sparring can replace it. Let's clear that up right now to you White Belts--it can't. Sparring has a ton of great, and really important values for all of us at all levels; but you're never going to be able to hit those moves/techniques in a spar if you're just trying to recreate movements. Don't be a slacker. You love BJJ like the rest of us and you should want to get better by doing things right instead of just being on the mat and halfassing it. Bring able to hit a technique when you're rolling requires timing, fluidity, problem solving, and craftiness. If you think you're just going to develop that on your own without putting in the time to drill it, I think you might be surprised. 

Once you've dedicated yourself to drilling, though, you're going to need a training partner. (Remember 'that guy' we were talking about?) So in your training sessions, maybe drop some hints around to your favorite BJJ bros and sistas that you're looking to become an absolute killer nightmare beast on the mats but need someone to drill stuff with. It's a healthy way for both of you to get better, break down techniques, and really dissect your body's movement to determine what works best for you. 

Repetition is necessary. Figure out what you want to get good/better at and drill it. Don't know where to start with that? Jump back to our archives where we took a look at getting a GAME PLAN for class to learn what it is you want to try to improve in. Or if you want to bring in a notebook for of moves/techniques (if you're not keeping a notebook by now, drop and give me 20 hip escapes) bring the one we showed you how to make so that you can have everything you learned in class at your fingertips. 

Sure, BJJ can be grueling. But you also know how rewarding it can be as well. There are going to be days when you just can't go, or in this case, you just can't drill, but you're going to have to. Welcome to "the Grind." Keep pushing yourself to be better. Keep expanding your knowledge past the areas is was confined in just yesterday. Take advantage of your open mat time and drill! Rolling is great; it's fun, it's the best way to implement what you know. But you can't implement what you don't know and you'll never really know anything if you're not drilling. SO... Drill it to Kill it!

And a special THANK YOU to this week's sponsors.

  

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Breaking Down the Notebook

In my initial post for my school (Goal Setting, available here) I touched on starting a notebook to write down everything you learned in class. Everyone that spoke with me about the blog post on my school's page ultimately said something about the notebook idea and how they started using one. So to build off of that, in this post I'm going to break down the notebook, how I use it, why I think it's helpful, and some newer--more digital--takes on this idea of keeping track of your techniques.

I started with that exact notebook. You'll notice that it's a 3 Subject notebook, I picked that on purpose because a notebook without those dividers will undoubtedly become a mess--unless, of course, you're some superhero of using tabs, homemade dividers, or are super crafty, then by all means. But I'm, more or less, an ape in clothes and if I can get something already tailored for my needs, then that's my best bet. Now I chose "3 subject" specifically because at the onset of my white belt phase I was basically always in Full Guard (in mine or my opponents), in Side Control (mostly on the bottom (you know)), or in Mount (again, mostly on the bottom), so I dedicated each section of the notebook to each of those positions. Of course, Jiu Jitsu has other positions, but as a white belt you're typically not going to be getting a lot of classes on the Deep Half, X-Guard, or really even normal Half Guard. While you might get some classes/lessons on those, as a white belt it's important to remember to focus your efforts on the basics. But if you do get something from those classes/lessons that you really want to remember, jot them down on those subject separators, or a 3x5 index card--and if you feel like that's 'just too much effort' for that technique, then it's really not worth remember for you right now at this stage of the game.

'Why write it down, though?' you might be wondering, because, yes, it is a lot of effort and can be time consuming. Besides the fact the writing things down helps you remember them better, when you apply that to Jiu Jitsu, you're forced to recall every step of every move/technique down to the most subtle movement for the technique to work. How many times has your instructor reminded you to "Put your head on the mat" when you're applying a triangle or an arm bar--a lot I bet. When you write down your techniques you're replaying everything you learned in your head and forcing yourself to recall every detail; and when you do that, you remember things better.

Once you learn something new in class, I highly suggest writing it down as soon as you get home (after you shower, of course) while it's still fresh in your memory. If you're not 'a writer', or don't know how to write something like a technique down, don't get discouraged. There's a couple of things you need to remember:

1. Write it clearly, both in penmanship and thought-expression. Don't muddy the waters or skip over words thinking you'll know what you mean later, because you won't. Trust me.
2. You're probably the only one that's going to be reading it, so don't be afraid to do it how you want to do it, or how you think will work best for you.

In the example above, you can see it's my first note from the Side Control position. I made a point to circle the word "IN" to the left, because to me, that told me that I was on bottom and that particular technique was to be applied from the bottom position in Side Control. Next you'll see I used arrows to show direction, and possibilities of where the move could take me. You might not want to use arrows, you might have a better idea--again, use what works best for you. I used arrows because there's usually an 'If Scenario' where if your opponent does this, then you do that, so arrows were just a way that I could help myself remember 'the routes' I could take if...

The old school method is great. The new school method is cool. Recently I was made aware of a new website that comes with an app for smartphones called http://www.bjjtrainingjournal.com/ . This website is basically your online notebook where instead of writing out your techniques longhand, you can type them in and then tag them with what position they apply to, whether the move is a submission, sweep, transition, and every other possible Jiu Jitsu term--really neat stuff. You can even embed YouTube videos to be recalled later (Huge bonus). The website also has some other cool features like logging your training time so that you have an average of how many hours you're spending on the at 30/60/90+ days. Additionally it has a "Tap Tracker" where you can keep track of your submissions (both giving and receiving)--though, it's got some bugs, but nothing heartbreaking. You can find friends online (I'm on there), share techniques, and break them down to them being in your "Complete Game", "Practice Game", or your "A-Game"; it's a really neat website that, like I said, comes with an app so that you can recall those techniques at the gym or on the go. By the way: It's all For Free. Beautiful, right?

In closing: I like to use both of the methods I mentioned because they both work for me in their own respective ways. I need to be able to write techniques down longhand to help me remember, but I really love having that online access via the app to techniques in the gym. Play around with both of them, see what works best for you, and in doing so you'll be taking that extra step to getting better.

Now, go get your learn on.