Solo movement drills: Some of the most impressive training lessons I learned came from watching great boxers go through their solo movement training – shadow boxing. They approached this part of their training with great seriousness. Indeed, it occupied a considerable part of their overall workout and was done with a commitment and sense of purpose that was deeply impressive to me. This stands in stark contrast to the rather lazy fashion in which most grapplers approach solo drills. Usually they are done in a very perfunctory way prior to partner drills before class as a warm up. There is none of the mindfulness, sense of technical perfection and most important – relevance to actual sparring – that was so evident in the shadow boxing of the great pugilists. This experience led me to develop grappling solo drills that were designed to improve movement in ways that would make a difference in live training just as quality shadow boxing improves the sparring of good boxers. Time invested in this project will serve you well – it will give you so much more than just a warm up. It will deepen your understanding of efficient movement in ne waza (ground grappling), reinforce good habits of posture and placement and enable you to workout effectively whenever you are alone. Here, young Nicky Ryan goes through his solo drills just prior to stepping on to the mat in competition
