Drilling BJJ Techniques is a Waste of Time

[@marcusballard2550]

Drill without resistance, then moderate resistance, then attempt in positional sparring, then in live rounds. That’s what I find works best For me.

[@kmatz09]

As a Former D1 Wrestler and do BJJ now it’s wild to me someone even asked this as a serious question.

[@Jimi1124]

Hard to drill...without relationships. Your cohorts have to be willing...alot of times...people are stuck between humoring the technique of the day until its time to roll, their belt levels, off the mat personal issues, and personal game/ or bjj perspective. So when you get to the drilling mindset...it almost has to be a perfect storm...OR....if you're lucky enough to have great relationships where others will drill with you. It's not as simple as walking onto the mats and wanting to drill.

[@TapsNapsSnaps]

As a blue belt, I find flowing through a movement or series of moves crazy at times. I realize my body has never moved in THIS certain way/direction. Drilling allows me to feel that transition or movement and someday it might be muscle memory😂

[@jimnickell]

I'm a pretty fresh white belt (8 months or so). Drilling for me, is enormously beneficial. ESPECIALLY when we drill the same moves on consecutive days. The first day is spent just figuring out how to start. I may be extra dumb but there have been plenty of times coach goes over a drill multiple times, we then clap our hands to begin drilling and I'm at a complete loss as to where to even start. As time has progressed, I have gotten better. However, as a person advances through the belts, I can see how monotony may set in. As a spectator of the upper belts and their drilling I see that there are a multitude of extremely fine sub-techniques within every technique. We have a few black belts who are not afraid to ask questions of our head instructor who is a wealth of knowledge. I always think, "hmmm, if this black belt is asking questions, who am I to NOT?". This is an example of the humility we all must not lose.

[@TapsNapsSnaps]

@jimnickell It's definitely a continuos learning process even for the upper belts. I love that my coach is super interested even in stuff we might be drilling or learned from some KZbin video/instructional. He might have his 2 cents...but he still loves to learn even at black belt.

[@shadymilkman443]

Love the intro, gotta be honest. Simple and clean

[@kellenwaters9087]

To me, drilling is all about reducing your reaction time during a live situation. The more you drill the more seamless the reaction and subsequent transitions will be. I tell our wrestlers it's like we're updating your software, or downloading new movements into your nervous system.

[@jeremiahstemple3880]

I've been training off and on since I was 27 and I'm currently 45. I've trained triangles from guard often over the years and in the past couple months I've noticed small things that have taken my triangles to a different level. So like you said there is always room for improvement even in core techniques. Stay humble and receptive to all aspects of training we truly never stop learning Oss! 🙏🏻

[@pingislife2653]

Drilling for repetition is one thing. Drilling with deliberate movements and goals is different. Even if the goals are small and almost insignificant, that attention to detail can make a major difference i.e. when using an optimal grip placement or weight distribution.

[@joshjitsu6730]

The no drilling argument is being misrepresented. Yeah if you stop drilling and just roll every day with nothing in your head, it's not going to help you. Instead of spending half of class drilling, we could be practicing things like, not letting the top person control your torso from open guard. Keeping good head position in wrestling. Clearing the feet in passing. These things are so important but coaches expect students to just "figure it out".

[@TunaBagels]

Those are drills my man

[@joeysantoro4835]

​@@TunaBagelsnot necessarily.. it doesn't have to be choreographed like a drill. Making them games with less specific objectives is how you split the difference and get the best of both worlds.

[@TunaBagels]

@@joeysantoro4835 we may just be using different definitions of drills then. When you say "unstructured maintaining good head position game" I say "head position drill". Drilling isn't all choreographed in my mind

[@Matt2299]

​@@TunaBagelsin practice drilling is choreographed though. Many schools do the show move x and perform it 3 times on both sides. This is the model the ecological guys pushback against.

[@michaelhoffman2011]

I think the people that say drilling is bad is usually talking about old traditional drilling aka an unwilling training partner. I 💯 agree with the idea of different types of drilling.

[@aaronlynde9146]

Constraint led approach and ecological approach to learning is far superior to typical drilling. It’s science based and as a coach I’ve seen the clear advantages. Not only do we not “drill” - we don’t even really show “techniques” or “moves”

[@tededo]

Intresting video. I've trianed freestyle, greco, boxing, name em, for years and years. BJJ is the only martial arts where I've noticed absence of drilling, or lack of long time consistent drilling. High level grapplers say things like, look where drilling got me (Keenan), or drillers make killers (Galvao), and there you have the average bjj students going like drilling is boring I want to roll. No wonder most students don't improve that much, since most techniques arent the product of habit repetitive move we call drilling. I remember when my boxing coach asked me to jab 300 times as a lefty, and 300 as a righty. Hard you say ? You bet, but my jabbing game made leaps and bound reaching new levels that allowed me to spare with pro boxers. In BJJ the moves that I drilled hundred times are the ones that work on a consistent basis, and the ones I don't drill, are the ones that get me a lot of trouble.

[@miguelpagan8436]

Hello everyone 🙏 Well this is one of the reasons BJJ has the highest dropout rate of all the MA. This elementary Watson: Crawl before standing Stand before you can walk Walk before you can run, I’m sure you get the point. Outside of the crazy infomercial example that the professor was saying, if you listen to his reasoning, and experience, drilling is they most up importance. No need to refresh you memory just watch it again. Drilling has some much value, and because so many want to devalue it for the quick fix it becomes a topic of conversation in the JJ world. Ladies n Gents if you truly think like an athlete or understand what it takes to be athlete in your craft, you must repeatedly drill and dig deep into making the move yours and that only happens with DRILLING. Enjoy JJ and train for life🙏, by the way im 57 and started JJ at 52 and still going strong. Good night 💤

[@jonatho85]

All I gotta say. Is boxing has drills, karate, Kung fu. Even tai chi has drilling with a partner. Talking synapses. But that alone won’t work. Free sparring is where it is truly practiced. So I mean, it has its merit. But again. You said something poignant. Always love the videos.

[@DanielIvan707]

I have been concentrating on positional sparring over drilling with great results. You figure out what is the most important thing to focus on pretty quick.

[@befferypesos8377]

Eye opening video for me (white belt), as I've trained at 3 different gyms and only 1 did drilling. Most times after the drilling I'm able to hit the technique in the rolling the same day and it felt effortless, my body just reacts and its just another rep from the drill. The gyms that didn't do drilling I can't even remember the steps during the rolling, and would forget it entirely in a couple weeks. Looking back on that I realize how important drilling is.

[@BG4life13]

drilling and situational rolling is the way to go, great for progressing and understanding the techniques in a finer detail.. plus trial and error,

[@RictorIAG]

For what it's worth, Gracie Jiu Jitsu demands essentially a full year of drilling before introducing students to sparring. White belts only drill.

[@EpherosAldor]

In Filipino Kali we do various drills all the time. The thing about drilling techniques is not only getting your reps in so the movement becomes instinctual but it develops awareness and skill with the nuanced application of the technique. You end up finding improved or refined delivery of movement and technique, cross capability and synergy with other techniques or components of the art, and - most importantly for me - you develop the kinesthetic response to micromovements of your opponent. There might be multiple techniques you could use in a given situation but if the opponent seems to be providing slight force one direction rather than another for example, then that might be the fraction of time you need to react to use the one specific technique that would work in that moment. Gaining that awareness is only done through constant practice. This is what drilling does, you should be paying attention to your progress and the input you get from practicing, all the while getting your reps in. It's a much, much slower progress without it.

[@bryanjohnson8162]

John donaher said it best you can drill until you get the technique down but any drilling you're doing after that is pointless

[@chriseff8740]

Yes, Matt Thornton said the same thing 20 years ago. A dead/compliant "drill" to introduce a "technique"/movement may be ok, but just getting in reps against a compliant partner is little help. Matt and other SBG coaches have talked about this a ton.

[@liamdoes8580]

I think drilling for reps is somewhat pointless after a certain amount of time but drilling for understanding is hugely important at all levels

[@brianfisher4701]

I learn best through situational grappling and live rolls.Helps problem solving skills.

[@LordGrimlok]

I've drilled a ton with some teammates pre-class and off days to build muscle memory. More specifically, sequences/threads of one position/move to another. The more we've done them, the greater the likelihood we'd pull off the moves we practiced during live rolling. But we also drill positional sparring with task centered goals. I think they call it ecological learning? My professor sometimes starts classes with that and teaches techniques in response to what we're having difficulties with. Like others have said. Drilling is expected and valued in all other sports/games. Olympic wrestlers, tennis players, skateboarders, billiards, etc... When the pandemic hit and bullets were expensive, dry firing was huge (and is still important). It may not be for everyone, but it shouldn't be called a waste of time.

[@Bogusjargon69]

Its just called situational. Situational training/drilling/live or anything similar to that. But definitely not that bogus jargon you tried to spew. Ecological whatever the fuck😂

[@davidcronenwett2381]

Hey Chewy. Good stuff! What is lacking in most of the discussions about “drilling” is how it is defined: what is your working definition? There doesn’t seem to be any universally accepted understanding of what it is and how it is implemented. We need effective definitions to have a discussion. I think Danaher has disparaged the definition of “mechanical/numeric drilling” in a recent interview, but doesn’t get into the methods he actually uses to develop his athletes. (And likely he never will as the holy grail of jiu jitsu is how to maximize still acquisition for most people in the shortest amount of time possible). Awesome to hear that you’re coming out to Montana soon: maybe see you then!

[@Hector-bj3ls]

Personally I prefer the Kit Dale, and Greg Souders approach. Never static drill because every time you move you build muscle memory. Static drilling is when your training partner offers no resistance at all. That will probably never happen in a fight or competition situation, so why bother training for it. What they do instead is chop up BJJ into many small games that you can play. Eventually moving up to full positional sparring. The point is to explore the space. Kit Dale says he experimented to "learn the language of Jiu Jitsu". His point is that you wouldn't drill sentences, you don't need to. He says he's the same with Jiu Jitsu.

[@shaunpapanuihigh]

I’m a brown belt, I fucking hate drilling without resistance. I like either games based learning with full resistance or just straight rolling. I don’t even care if thats the best way or not, its the way I like and I just wanna play the game I like. Warm ups and cold drilling are just the dumb things that happen before I get to play my favourite game. I don’t care about getting to black belt or competing either, I just wanna roll. Its just a game.

[@VLfeldwood]

As someone who doesn’t drill very often. There is a noticeable difference between my game and those that do so consistently.

[@skeezymike2305]

warm ups, testing techniques and then rolling.. literally how i my class is and was

[@nathanielbernados4466]

why does the audio sound so good 😂

[@jahwingding3711]

Drilling is good to get the reps in and get familiar with a new movement. I think drilling with a "wet noodle" partner or with no resistance isn't very good. During drilling, once I started asking my partner to react like how they would in a live roll and give me different levels of resistance, I got way better

[@TevenOG]

Damn the microphone quality is really good, nice video as always

[@thejacobanderson1]

I don't think you need to drill to get good at anything. but if you want to get better at anything, drilling is super important. "Drillers make killers" is a saying for a reason.

[@styrofoamsoldier]

I find the biggest issue with drilling in jiu jitsu is really about us not agreeing on the fundamentals. Everyone has a million different ways to do things that everyone certainly knows how to do, but we've never really articulated movement fundamentals as well as judoka and wrestlers have. The aforementioned generally also benefit from their sports being sub sets of everything jiu jitsu is _supposed_ to entail, but still my point stands. So judo and wrestling have a narrower focus/domain in grappling than jiu jitsu, which makes it easier to communicate to people. It's so fucking hard to actually get effective drilling in when you don't know what you're doing. So the first thing that needs addressing is how fast you can get the new people up to speed on what/why/how the drilling works. After that what's left is just hard training and the need to focus. Most people who train have no desire to actually make the effort to train in a way that requires more than a minimum effort and no wonder since most of us train after a long day spent at work. Drilling 100% works and is definitely the best way to learn and incorporate new things into your game. I'm not as sold on always drilling techniques you use frequently anyways but I don't think there's any other way to make fast gains in a new area than very focused drilling.

[@jamilsoward5555]

I subscribe to the 10,000 hours of practice to master any human skill. I believe it was by a guy named Anders Ericsson who created the theory. Talent may help you acquire skill more quickly, but consistent practice can allow the untalented to close the skill gap. Just my humble opinion. OSS

[@Xzontyr]

Broke my heart reading the title. I cant think of a reason not to drill. You can mix it up in so many ways and include up to 4 part scenarios, which is almost getting Krav maga'ish but when it's grappling it's alot different and can actually play a person into that trap with accuracy rather than flailing and randomness, and yelling, than they try run from you, until you pull out the batarang and get their feet and say, "not today bucko! Mr. 5 steps for one punch master is gonna show you the way!" because in grappling you can infact control where the fight goes. If you feel obliged Chewy, I have a throng of questions I would like to ask you. So, the first. Why is there not a single video online that details the reverse grip americana from side mount. It's not a complete reverse grip in essence, but infact a similar resemblance that beholds different placements of the hands. In all honesty, it is a wonderful submission that we have come across. To find ones self in side mount, say it be with your torso facing their left arm, it is with the utmost ease to grab onto their left wrist, with your right arm, whether it be tucked or bent, its just a matter of whether you grab it with a palm facing up or down, the result all remains similar. If needed, a bit of a sprawl can be used to than keep weight apon the torso, and arm if being pressed directly overhead, where it than finds itself in the same position with a traditional grip. However, this is where the left arm snakes underneath the upper arm, and while not grabbing onto your other arm, you infact continue to snake it through so that the meaty part of your forearm gives it more leverage. From there, it's just basic mechanics. From mount it's similar, and there is a video, but our variation is a bit more open for more leverage. As we all know, and as Ramsey Dewey stated in a video, the americana is utilized very so rarely. However, I stated that I will protect it's name, and see that it never perishes, much like a plastic bag in the ocean. It's one of my favorite subs. However, as mentioned, it's evil twin is much more seductive. Wondering what your thoughts may be on it if you so oblige. Also, sumo takedowns. Many are ofcourse similar to judo and even freestyle and greco roman wrestling, and Glimma.. my ancestors art. However, some are ingenious in no gi grappling. Do you have thoughts on them? Also I hope this doesn't cause any heat in the comments section, I apologize if it does. I'm a sambist, but due to circumstances, myself and our team have been frequenting bjj based mma gyms. Maybe I'm not in any position to say this, but do you think grappling arts need a Renaissance? I'm serious, I love bjj, I mean it no disrespect, but from what iv witnessed by going to a few different gyms is it has completely lost its tachi waza roots, and lacks wrestling severely. You guys are monsters on the ground. I cant deny that. I just personally think alot of schools are lacking. In our sambo we had a heavy emphasis on wrestling. Our instructor wanted us to always try acheive top position. We also drilled alot of unorthodox wrestling takedowns that seem to be forgotten. I could go on a long rant about them, simple quarter Nelson's, snap downs to single underhook turns, just basics that work but are never seen. When we came around, most guys just simply tried to pull guard on us, and it ended terribly for them. We're not pros or anything, but speaking about drilling, that's one thing we really had down pat, was passing the guard, and feet, especially when trying to be forced into it. Since our gym closed down, we've combined alot of material into our practice, most of it being from bjj. We came from very traditional sambo, which meant no chokes. Guess what most of us found ourselves in when we first when to these gyms.... ya. We also got a ton of catch wrestling in aswell. Some of those tips are great. Shout out to Mark hatmaker. A few people think his stuff it out dated, but we found some great hidden gems in his stuff. End point being, should grappling arts go through the furnace and mold what matters together and burn off the chaft before it's too late and competition takes them down a road to lies and nonsense like what happened to some arts already, won't say any names. Thank you.

[@SalsaBailaProductions]

Let make an analogy with dance… if you dont repeat moves you just wont get good at them… repetition will make your body integrate and relax;) I dont think theres a way around this

[@saintoflastresorts2272]

Thing is drilling at the lower levels is cumbersome. Drilling became better for me once we chained moves like flower sweep into mount escape.

[@TheRealNiruz]

I like the chill/slow intro :) that's all lol

[@bujindork]

Drilling and rolling must fo together. A.driller who never rolls will get smashed and a roller who never drills will take triple time learning since they'll learn from their mistakes but wont knkw how to correct them right away.

[@Seegie16]

They are drilling though, just not the traditionally way. Instead of doing a full technique with 10 steps and doing it 10 times, they are doing smaller chunks of the technique maybe 1-2 steps 50 times. So in affect they are actually drilling more and breaking the techniques down into small chunks. This way is easier to remember and improve speed and timing.

[@Fisj]

Just pick someone lower in skill when rolling and spam that move, move up in level. "Drill" to learn the move, roll to proof the move works

[@andrewdesmond5347]

I find drilling incredibly useful. Of course, nobody’s going to let you get what the class just drilled because it’s on the forefront of everyone’s mind. Lol

[@kravmagaCDK]

Exactly

[@determinedlyunmotivated4300]

Thank you!

[@ChristopherBlieka]

It's not that the "drilling sucks" people never have any good points -- they do -- it's that the good points they have are always more nuanced than a statement like "drilling sucks" will allow. But this is the internet and short, bold, contrarian statements get more pull than the longer, tentative, nuanced ones which tend to be more accurate. There's this popular Lex Fridman / John Danaher clip for example where they were talking about drilling, and everybody remember the part where John says "that's rubbish! how are you going to better with that?" They tend to forget the underlying argument, which was less like "drilling sucks" and more like "thoughtless, unconscious repetitions for the sake of repetitions suck, especially if you don't add in resistance as you improve." That second thing is much more thoughtful, but it's a lot less catchy.

[@OnTheEdgePodcast]

The new, endless debate, of drilling versus ecological.

[@blazejsroka4319]

Oh you got a new mic, nice! You could use a count and clap to sync the video and audio before you start talking, and cut it out

[@chadbrambers8346]

Chewy, I have a question. My name is Brad. I live in Florida. I train at a great academy and we have a pretty good culture aside from the new drop in students who don’t return after a few classes. Do you think there is more toxicity in No Gi competitors than Gi? If so, what do you think the solution is? Ive seen a considerable lack of honor and respect in other No Gi schools I have briefly attended. I think it is very important that students are taught to be respectful and humble. What are your thoughts? Love the channel. Hope I can drop in one day to meet you.

[@BillyBlanks-qm5yt]

I think the no gi guys are disrespectful because they don't see gi bjj as practical and they probably suck in the gi too.

[@thomaslekhanya3888]

Me as a white belt, I only started landing triangles after drilling them. But yeah finding people to drill with is a pain the ass. No one drills lol.

[@makingkidsgreatagain3043]

At a youth level they go from technique to technique. Some stick with certain kids and others don’t. They don’t drill. Then we come from wrestling where we have a few really good moves and the jujitsu kids (some not all) have a hard time figuring it out. In jujitsu it seems they value low level but high volume of technique, in wrestling they preach to make your wrestling “smaller” and to really hone your few good attacks, and then have some on the back burner. Over drill and under teach. Drill to kill.

[@Fairwarningsday2day]

What is drilling? Doing a set technique over and over?

[@caleb6595]

Drilling is literally a waste of time for blue belts and below. You need HOURS of just rolling and flowing. From time to time, when you’re stuck on bottom or can’t finish any submissions, then obviously you need to drill some things related to those situations, but drilling random b.s. from random position you’ve never even found yourself in, is a MASSIVE WASTE OF TIME

[@d-tvfoodapps9100]

Well it was my second day of BJJ yesterday.. IM LOST IN A SAUCE IN BJJ CLASS... IN OTHER WORDS.. I aint got clue wt is going on.. but.. it will come slowly

[@DRJTUBECHANNEL]

Hard to believe that drilling is a debate. No doubt drilling has to be part of your training.

[@highsoflyify]

Everyone uses this word 'Drilling' but everybody means something different. So the main problem is the language and missing specific definition of drilling. Thats why there is a heated debate now between ecological approach guys vs Drillers. Mindless repeating a movement for reps will not make you better but never moving i this way will also not make you better. Therw are many layers on between

[@bruss4580]

I want that 80s throwback shirt. I guess you forgot to make it available in the store…..😉 just sayin…

[@poddubotsky1]

Dont know if you change smth, but sound right now way better

[@ebahtimaikata]

From what I have seen drilling is up to the weight class. More heavy, less drilling

[@sofaking1627]

There's a picture of Boogie at my gym, Whenever I see it I think "Drillers make killers"

[@slick222]

A lot of things become trendy to say that aren't strictly true. "Drilling sucks" is one, the big one now is "teach concepts, not techniques". Take them all with a grain of salt. The BJJ community is addicted to revolutions and will invent them when they don't happen for a few years.

[@tinalowell3045]

Bruce Lee said I don't fear man who practices 10000 moves one time I practice I fear a man who practices one move ten thousand times

[@kravmagaCDK]

Coaches that say you don’t need to drill are the same coaches that don’t really know how to teach.

[@SKRATCH1988]

dont have to drill to be good. knowing a movement doesn't do shit for you if you dont understand how to think. If you are gonna drill, drilling situations is better than drilling single moves.

[@techniquejiujitsu8832]

Drilling is the core of the false equivalency issue in learning Jiu Jitsu.

[@phx4closureman]

2:28 - 2:29 , 2:39 - 2:55 *INCREDIBLE FOCUS AND COMMITMENT!! 3 hrs ONE WAY to drive to a gym to learn how to success*

[@jesseeden5751]

It would be funny that BJJ would be the only martial art / fighting that didn’t require it to get better.

[@EndrChe]

Just down here in the comments getting my engagement on. Don’t mind me.

[@jmiahTNT]

Drillers make killers! In short not necessarily but you it is something you Should do.

[@jpjp3873]

6 minutes abs!

[@yew2oob954]

The amount of "bro science" in BJJ is hilarious.

[@johanjofo]

How can one learn a new tecnique without training it with someone….a.k.a drilling

[@frankygreen1572]

Russian wrestlers spend more time drilling and look how they do

[@tededo]

This, THIS and more T H I S. Russians wrestlers, Iranians and US wrestlers drill like animals, sometimes till they get fed upand coaches begin yellin at them.

[@evrose]

Yeah, well a long cultural history of jacking them all up on every steroid known to man helps a little too...

[@apaiva788]

All you need to get into shape is a susan summers thigh master....3 easy payments of $39.99

[@tpolo2050]

Drillers make killers

[@trenthatt2944]

I always thought drilling was a have too. Why wouldn’t you? Lazy 🤷‍♂️

[@jairbear2000]

Drillers make killers 💀

[@cesaralvesdemoraes3187]

This anti drilling dude is doing a disservice. His aproach is okay but far from tested let alone as much as drilling

[@XKenny77]

It's all about the type of drilling. When you learn something new, I think you need to do a bunch of reps to get the movement down. Those should be pretty low resistance at first, then building up a bit. After that, I'm not convinced that a ton of drilling makes you a lot better. There's another kind of drilling for me though, which is really more like trouble-shooting. You get a partner who'll give you a bunch of different looks, then figure out what the best response is in each situation you two come up with. Then there's positional sparring, which is like drilling with a bit more play. You can use that for all kinds of stuff, either spamming a move with high resistance, switching between different options, or even just spending a round fighting grips. You need all kinds of training to get good at anything.