Drilling for MMA, BJJ and Thai Kickboxing
I was on one of my favorite websites last night and the guy talking about drilling was none other then NCAA champion wrestler Cary Kolat. He said some things about how to drill and why most people drill wrong and it really made since to me. Hence I thought I would write this blog about drilling for any combat art such as MMA or BJJ.
Why most people drill wrong and what you can do to avoid it!
Why do we drill at all? Good question right? I ask my kid students this for the very reason that I want them to understand the point of drilling and why they do it in their MMA training. You drill to sharpen your technique. Before a move can ever be attempted in a real world situation it must first be drilled on in the practice room or laboratory if you will.
How can you get the most out of drilling?
- first thing first, drill the move right all the way through, don’t skip steps.
- Have a good partner to drill with, someone that can help you learn the moves and knows how to react in a manner that is suited for MMA or BJJ.
- If you’re doing solo work such as shadow boxing or hitting a punching bag you still always want to stress technique.
- Drill a move slow at first, even a turtles pace is fine for the first hundred reps, after you get a feel you can speed up the pace and make it real world fast, but keep in mind this takes time.
- 70% of your training in MMA should be drilling.
Again, 70% of your training in MMA is drilling!
I can’t stress that enough. Hard training with tough opponents or training partners will take a toll on your body. Drilling is key to staying in the game and staying injury free.
Keep in mind that when you drill you can mix it up, sometimes have your partner just be a body with no resistance and other times have them fight you a little to give you more of a “real” world feel. Remember too that mastering all the skills that come with MMA start with drilling, so get to work big buddy!
–Master Danny Ives
Dan Simmler drilling for MMA