Drilling as an ideal: We spend a lot of time drilling – there is a simple question that fascinates me – IS IT WORTH IT? Is it possible that we would be better off just sparring the entire workout instead. I usually have about 1/2 – 2/3 of my workouts as drilling and 1/2 – 1/3 sparring – is it possible that all that is a waste of time and we would be better off just 100% sparring? I have many reasons why I am a strong advocate of drilling as an essential part of a daily Jiu Jitsu workout and why I believe it translates into faster progress for most (not all) students. One of the simplest is the argument that WE ALL NEED AN IDEAL TOWARDS WHICH WE AIM OURSELVES. If we have a strong mental ideal IT CAN HELP PULL OUR PHYSICAL BODY CLOSER TO THAT MENTAL IDEAL – EVEN IF WE NEVER REACH IT. We all know that in most cases we look a lot smoother and more competent when we drill a move on a cooperative training partner than we ever do in a live sparring situation against a competitive opponent. Drills let us get close to the IDEAL of what we OUGHT to look and feel like when we perform a given move – an elusive ideal to strive for. We know very well it won't look that smooth and clean in a competitive match – BUT THE HIGHER OUR STANDARDS IN DRILLING, THE HIGHER OUR PERFORMANCE IN A MATCH. This is one of many reasons why I favor drills as a substantial part of your overall training time – the ratio may change depending on circumstances sometimes drills are only 1/4 of the workout, but always they are there. I do believe that different people need different ratios and that there are some who do better almost exclusively with sparring and for whom drilling does little good; but for the vast majority drilling technique in some way (obviously there are many types of drills) is a key part of faster progress. Here, Georges St-Pierre gets close to an ideal front triangle (omote sankaku) as a way of improving performance when we switch to live sparring.
