Random thoughts on solo drills

I need to collect some most basic solo drills

• Grilled chicken around the world (SBG name for safe posture on your back)
• Grilled chicken - single leg takedown
• Turtle - granby roll - grilled chicken - knee rule - crazy legs
• closed guard: grunch, hip bump, airoplane ( heavybag between legs?)
• shadow roll
• Ukemis all directions
• Kicks around the world (windmill drill)
• heavy bag
• shadow boxing - sparring
• deep stance - shiko-dashi ( 1 min hold?)
• Rope

• (Shadow sparring in three games: standup, clinch, ground? )
• What's the triggers? Reactions? Compinations? 

What is the purpose of drilling?
- physical attributes
- mental health (mindfullness)
- technical skills: - recall - automate routines ("safe postions" or home base)

Starting to develop from drilling

Drilling alive

Technical development might need some dead drills, but I'd like most partner work be alive with progressive resistance. You don't have to go all in to practise timing, but there should be always atleast two directions or options to goto to make it more realistic. I think learning to feel pressure and balance are key skills.

Drills for standing 

Semicontact karate - first technique wins?
Crazy Monkey boxing (have to check if I can use this name...)

Drills for clinch

Pummeling fight
Judo randori? as uchikomi? Flow judo?

Drills for ground work

Passing guard - or just trying to pinn opponent
(version only hooked grips - no fingers)
Escaping... (progressive resistance)
Flow drill - sweeps and escapes
Minigames: pocket drills, small technical issues like standing when in opponents closed guard, resisting opponents douple leg smash pass...

Three games - standing, clinch, grappling

One way to make a situation easier is to slit it to section and most commen in fighting is to do it according to distance of opponent. Long range is stanging. You could have trappling before clinch, but it's not so common and last is ground work.

Standing

Next step would be to find safe games fro standing, clinch and grappling. For standing I like Rodney Kings approach Crazy Monkey Defense. I am not a CMD instructor so I will not use that name and very likely I don't really understand it the way Rodney uses it. So I will call it something else like "alive heavy bag" drill. Here the heavy bag will punch you back:-)

Clinch

I have drilled some pummeling games, judo breaking balance and ofcourse uchikomi randori. This is hands down the least known element for me. (Maybe I really need to go to aikido again to get more ideas... aikido has no resistance... I want timing so it's not a direct answer, but might give inspiration.) Also there are variation of different rules of wrestling like "mongolian wrestling or sumo" to take ideas from.

Ground work

Grappling but later it should include punching, too. Maybe the game is:

• Can you pass the guard vs keep in control
• Can you control opponent ( in side control, side mount, back..) vs escape
• Can you submit opponent

Principles

Goal of drills or mini fights should be to teach concepts and timing, but not to teach bad happits. So the rules should take in account that in final stage punching is allowed. Games/drills should have an easy assesment - winner is easy to see - clear criteria for when game is over. Criteria should improve technique or be a very solid position. ( I am thinking of chest to chest and having shirt with a circle sticker on chest - when stickers touch and opponents back is on mat - it's over.)

Game should have allways atleast two directions to prevent stalling. (So just laying on the mat with "home a lone" posture is not what I want - Maybe I need to put "stickers" to knees too, to get knee on belly responces :-)

Next step

I think I will work on entry level games on each area - stand up, clinch and ground. Games should be so simple that 8 years old and also 58 y olds can do it, with out technical knowledge of punching. (I would like punching to be technically correct and not just pushing arms straight or playing tag... for me it's been an annoying feature in CM games, but fun part of sparring equals things up.)

BUT drills/games should not teach bad technique ...Bad technique is when you don't have a realistic image of the situation...like most times in aikido ... or BJJ in that matter. (Assuming you think it has something to do with self defence and not sports.) 

So am I building a system for self defence...or sports? Neither I think or both if you like. Mostly ideal would be to have fun and keep in good physical condition - and rules should mimic reality of fight or atleast keep you always in 80 - 20 advantage.

It should teach you to be safe and manouver to postions that are in your favour.

It should increase strength, stamina and agility ( balance)...

Make you feel good...

Maybe I could start making a new Jits?

What if I plan a new Jits that has progressive resistanse (aliveness) from lesson one...
Kind of learning game ...that would at final stage be like full Jits with punches and all.

Make your own Jits

I watched a multiple world champ webinar yesterday. I've followed his lessons for three years now. I know his game, but it's his game.

I also bought a six hour course on Jits for any one and thats not quite my Jits either. Closes to what I can do is Stephen Whittier's   approach. Stephen is SBG coach like Martin Aedma who lives and coaches here in Jyväskylä where I live. So a lot of answers are very near, but answers are to wrong guestions. Martin is a top competitor - I am an old jitska who wants to keep in fair physical condition. Don't get me wrong, I want to get better, but I don't have 10 training sessions per week to refine all the details like Martin or any serious competitor needs to have.

I need to figure out an easy concept base learning plan that has clear ideas that I do remember and can build on. I think I don't need any subs for a while - just passing, pinning and recovery if I loose my top position.

Very much waiting to read Jason Scully's new conceptual fundamentals... It might have good building blocks to my "new" game... It's not new, just very little refinement to old one. Basically I am learning to move :-)

Get your thinking mind away

When you think, you are late. When you are late, you muscle. When you use muscle, you get tired. When you get tired, you loose. This sounds very much like Rodney King, but it's actually for Saulo Ribeiro.

Way to not think is not to antisipate opponents move, but more like feel where he is going. Ofcourse you need to have a lot of repetition to be sharp and instictively know all the posibilities. You need to stay in presense. Not what is going to happen or what just went wrong. It's the moment that counts.

Also staying at the present moment relaxes you. Breath, be relaxed, have fun...and tap.

It's just for fun

I have had some hassle at work and it's still going on.

I am getting to mat today. I've been able to do some boxing during this break and I'll use boxing as a warm up today also.

Leading idea for next half a year will be FUN. I will try to get to mindfullness, too. It's an idea of keeping at present moment - no antisipation of opponents reactions or moves - just rolling and punching by the feel of it. (Very much opposite what I have been doing.)

Today I'll start with Monkey Sau - a drill by Rodney King. After opening closed guard you feel opponents legs and move accordingly. If it goes well, we will go to recovering guard when opponent has passed your legs and closing in to side control.

My current inspirations are Stephen Whittier BJJ Plus 40 (Pillar concepts) and Rodney King's Crazy Monkey Defence.