JiuJitsu Schools - What Separates the Good from the Great
Drilling. For those of you that don't like backstories and great storytelling, 😜 the answer is drilling.I have had a couple of side quests while traveling, one of which has been to figure out what separates the good schools from the great. Then I could eventually replicate and reproduce it somewhere else. A couple of notes before we begin though:
- Many schools that I visited were only for a day, and sometimes for only one class. So I understand that you can't take a complete assessment of a school from a single class.
- Clarification for what I used for my grading criteria. I consider rolling/sparring/grappling (whatever you want to call it) to be the practical exercise of JiuJitsu. You can show the wildest, coolest techniques, but if you can't apply them against a fully resisting opponent, there's a good chance it probably doesn't really work. There are a lot of other factors that go into making a great school: environment, community, facilities and school cleanliness, and things of that sort. for this one though I strictly considered rolling.
- I have been really impressed by the quality of the schools I've visited. Sometimes in some very remote, random, locations that you wouldn't expect, came out to show some real quality of JiuJitsu. Only a handful of places I have visited demonstrated a low quality in this area. I think that's awesome! It's incredible to see how community-wide the level of JiuJitsu continues to evolve and develop.
- I was not happy with this conclusion. I'm not saying that I hate or avoid drilling, but if you gave me a two-hour open mat, I'd be rolling for two hours. 😆 The warmups and drilling are just the parts of the class that happens before we get to the really good part of a class, which is rolling. So I rather reluctantly have come to this conclusion.
That said, let's get into it! Most schools seem to have an overall good quality of practitioners, and all seem to have a certain number of standouts. The ones that exhibited a high number of great practitioners were the ones that did the most drilling. Not just drilling the taught techniques, but a devoted portion exclusively to drilling. It could be something like a partner working guard passing for two minutes before switching, or it could something like positional rolling were you have one minute to escape a bad position. The schools that participated the most in drilling like this demonstrated the highest quality of JiuJitsu throughout the student body, and the most challenging people to roll against.
The most recent schools that I experienced this at were Unity in Manhattan, NY and Revolution BJJ in Richmond, VA. Unity's comp class had 30 minutes of drilling were you spent five minutes drilling your best techniques, then switched back and forth with your partner. Revolution actually had a whole hour class devoted to drilling, also working whatever you wanted to with a partner. At both of those places, I didn't have a single easy roll, with everyone displaying rapid attacks and defensive responses, both of which I think is easily attributed to the high dedication to drilling.
A little less tangible than the time devoted to drilling, but was the attitude that was used towards drilling. People looked forward to it and worked hard to put in quality rep after rep. The attitude extended over to working technique and wasn't, I'm gonna get my 2-3 reps out of the way and then sit there and talk about my day, but was a this is important, so I want to get as many reps in as I can before we begin the next portion of the technique.
Personal Results from Drilling
At Wakizashi BJJ the competitors all had no gi super fights coming up that utilized EBI overtime rules. We spent about a month doing positional rolling from either spider-web or back control, combined with a healthy instructional focus on either escaping or submitting from those positions. That hard work was demonstrated on the big stage when two of the three matches went into overtime, and both teammates escaped the bad position they were put in, and then answered with rapid submissions when it was their turn. My teammate and great friend Terren Casson and I drew each other round 1 and ended up going into triple overtime, each escaping from bad positions all three of our rounds. Those results were a direct result of weeks worth of positional drilling!
Application of Drilling Outside of JiuJitsu
I don't skip classes for many things, but a couple of years ago I had an incredibly unique chance to train pistol shooting under one of the best instructors you could ever hope to train with. It was someone that had spent years teaching the military's best to hone the craft of their secondary weapon. Someone that would cost a fortune to hire, but these particular lessons were free, all I had to do was show up.
See I had carried a particular distaste for the Army's M9 pistol for years. When I was a brand new private in the Illinois National Guard I had a random chance to compete in the Illinois TAG shooting competition. It was an opportunity to win the Governor's 20 tab (Awarded to the top twenty shooters of the competition), something that I would be able to proudly wear for the rest of my military career and prominently display my shooting ability. The competition wasn't just my first time shooting the M9, but my first time shooting my pistol. I placed 22nd at the competition, just two places, and a mear five points shy of earning that tab. Points that I could have made up for on just one of the four anti-armor targets that I missed that weekend. Six years later I still haven't gotten a second shot at that tab.
So an opportunity arose, and armed with years of motivation, I jumped at it (Please note that quotations aren't perfect as they are only from my memory of two years ago). The lessons weren't quite what I expected. We spent a long time talking about the principles, or fundamentals, of pistol marksmanship. Then, my instructor put the target just 9 feet out and instructed me to shoot at it. 9 feet? It almost seemed insulting to shoot at something that close. Like how can you miss at 9 feet? Ah, boy was I ever in for a lesson. I hit the target but missed the black center by a good 4-6 inches. "If you can't hit the center at 9 feet, how are you going to shoot it at twenty?" My instructor asked me. I considered the logic for a moment and then nodded in agreement as I prepared to fire again.
Just 9 feet and a single trigger squeeze. "You are forgetting your fundamentals Steve, focus on your trigger squeeze." A single round fired. Corrections made. As I listened to my instructor's directions, the bullet holes in the target slowly crept closer towards the black center as the minutes turned into hours. Drilling the fundamentals were progressively putting me closer to where I needed to be.
Now for the positional drilling. "Steve you are anticipating the shot and flinching forward in anticipation." I didn't say anything, but the disbelief of that statement must have shown in my face. "New drill. I'm going to set a magazine down on the table in front of you, you are going to load it into the pistol without looking at it." Not quite sure where this was going, I nodded in acknowledgment of the instructions. I loaded the magazine and squeezed off a round. Another magazine was put in front of me and I reloaded and squeezed the trigger again. This time though, the magazine had been empty, and I felt and saw my hands push forward in anticipation of a round that hadn't been there. I looked at my instructor, who gave me a knowing look back. We continued this drill over and over, loading a magazine without knowing what was in it until my habit of flinching in anticipation had subsided. The funny thing about a pistol is that it shoots at whatever you point it at, so if you're flinching, it will end up somewhere other than where it is intended. The greater the distance, the larger that small mistake becomes.
We spent the next several weekends in this manner, progressively advancing in difficulty. Once the bullet holes were consistently in the black, the target moved a little farther back. Once continuous success was reached there, the iteration became two rounds instead of one. Every shot was focused on having pristine precision and the fundamentals were constantly reminded of when rounds missed the black center. After several Saturdays like this, we had progressed to magazine changes, responding to jams, misfires, and similar challenges that arise while shooting. The focus was always on maintaining the core fundamentals, and every shot being fired perfectly.
Putting it to the Test
About 8 months after that short training block with my instructor, I had a chance to put what I had learned to the test at the North Carolina State Best Warrior Competition. Loaded down with a roughly 30lb kit, I bounded, sprinting from covered position to position, drawing closer to the building front that housed the pistol targets. I dived into the last covered position and drew my pistol and loaded a magazine. The target silhouettes were roughly 100ft away from me, and all six of them were in different windows. My breathing heavy from the sprinting, the front sight swayed as I tried to take deep, calming breaths. My instructor's lessons echoed loudly in my head. "Stance, posture, grip, front sight post." I whispered in my mind as I prepared to fire. "Front sight post, front sight post, front sight post." I muttered over and over again, reminding myself to avoid the most common mistake I had made in the past.
I nervously fired the first round at the distant target, and excitement rushed over me as it dropped. I squeezed off five more rounds, gaining continuous confidence as each bark from the pistol was met with a target dropping. "Front sight post, front sight post." I continued to mutter to myself as I transitioned from one target to the next. "GOD DAMN you can shoot kid!" My safety shouted behind me. That really rather made me smile. I flipped the pistol on safe, re-holstered it and sprinted to the next firing position. These targets only 60ft away and out in the open. Another six shots met with another six targets dropping. The lane complete, I broke out into a massive smile and turned around to see my team leader and state Sergeant Major beaming at me with pride. I will admit my rifle shooting that competition left a lot to be desired, but I couldn't wait to call that instructor and tell him the results those lessons had paid off. I also felt a great sense of redemption that
JiuJitsu Takeaways from Pistol Shooting
Those early pistol shooting lessons were kinda mundane, a ridiculously close target seemed almost pointless. I wanted to do cool guy shooting and hear my pistol go bang! My instructor made a resounding point with me though, if I couldn't do it perfectly at a close distance, how could I expect to do it under increasingly difficult conditions. This is what drilling in JiuJitsu gives us, the opportunity to get our technique as close to perfect as possible against a non-resisting opponent. If a technique can't be performed perfectly in that scenario, how can we expect to execute it when under the stress of rolling or even the higher stakes of competing?
At those range day lessons, we utilized the push-pull method. We would push some aspect of the shooting and then pull back when the accuracy dropped, attempting to constantly improve and adapt to new challenges. JiuJitsu drilling can utilize the same method. Starting with a non-resisting partner, we can increase the speed, resistance, complexity, or challenge of the drill, and then pull back once the execution starts to degrade in quality.
Conclusion
I'm not saying I'm going to stop rolling as much, 😝 but the one thing I can confidently say after some traveling is that if you want to improve your JiuJitsu, drill more. If you want your team or school to get better, drill more. I'm a big fan of having fun at class, so mix it up too! It doesn't have to just be endless arm trap and roll mount escapes. Dial up the intensity, or mix it up with some positional drilling, and track as your game improves.
Anyway though, all see ya'll at open mat for some rolling 😝😂
Application of Drilling Outside of JiuJitsu
I don't skip classes for many things, but a couple of years ago I had an incredibly unique chance to train pistol shooting under one of the best instructors you could ever hope to train with. It was someone that had spent years teaching the military's best to hone the craft of their secondary weapon. Someone that would cost a fortune to hire, but these particular lessons were free, all I had to do was show up.See I had carried a particular distaste for the Army's M9 pistol for years. When I was a brand new private in the Illinois National Guard I had a random chance to compete in the Illinois TAG shooting competition. It was an opportunity to win the Governor's 20 tab (Awarded to the top twenty shooters of the competition), something that I would be able to proudly wear for the rest of my military career and prominently display my shooting ability. The competition wasn't just my first time shooting the M9, but my first time shooting my pistol. I placed 22nd at the competition, just two places, and a mear five points shy of earning that tab. Points that I could have made up for on just one of the four anti-armor targets that I missed that weekend. Six years later I still haven't gotten a second shot at that tab.
So an opportunity arose, and armed with years of motivation, I jumped at it (Please note that quotations aren't perfect as they are only from my memory of two years ago). The lessons weren't quite what I expected. We spent a long time talking about the principles, or fundamentals, of pistol marksmanship. Then, my instructor put the target just 9 feet out and instructed me to shoot at it. 9 feet? It almost seemed insulting to shoot at something that close. Like how can you miss at 9 feet? Ah, boy was I ever in for a lesson. I hit the target but missed the black center by a good 4-6 inches. "If you can't hit the center at 9 feet, how are you going to shoot it at twenty?" My instructor asked me. I considered the logic for a moment and then nodded in agreement as I prepared to fire again.
Just 9 feet and a single trigger squeeze. "You are forgetting your fundamentals Steve, focus on your trigger squeeze." A single round fired. Corrections made. As I listened to my instructor's directions, the bullet holes in the target slowly crept closer towards the black center as the minutes turned into hours. Drilling the fundamentals were progressively putting me closer to where I needed to be.
Now for the positional drilling. "Steve you are anticipating the shot and flinching forward in anticipation." I didn't say anything, but the disbelief of that statement must have shown in my face. "New drill. I'm going to set a magazine down on the table in front of you, you are going to load it into the pistol without looking at it." Not quite sure where this was going, I nodded in acknowledgment of the instructions. I loaded the magazine and squeezed off a round. Another magazine was put in front of me and I reloaded and squeezed the trigger again. This time though, the magazine had been empty, and I felt and saw my hands push forward in anticipation of a round that hadn't been there. I looked at my instructor, who gave me a knowing look back. We continued this drill over and over, loading a magazine without knowing what was in it until my habit of flinching in anticipation had subsided. The funny thing about a pistol is that it shoots at whatever you point it at, so if you're flinching, it will end up somewhere other than where it is intended. The greater the distance, the larger that small mistake becomes.
We spent the next several weekends in this manner, progressively advancing in difficulty. Once the bullet holes were consistently in the black, the target moved a little farther back. Once continuous success was reached there, the iteration became two rounds instead of one. Every shot was focused on having pristine precision and the fundamentals were constantly reminded of when rounds missed the black center. After several Saturdays like this, we had progressed to magazine changes, responding to jams, misfires, and similar challenges that arise while shooting. The focus was always on maintaining the core fundamentals, and every shot being fired perfectly.
Putting it to the Test
About 8 months after that short training block with my instructor, I had a chance to put what I had learned to the test at the North Carolina State Best Warrior Competition. Loaded down with a roughly 30lb kit, I bounded, sprinting from covered position to position, drawing closer to the building front that housed the pistol targets. I dived into the last covered position and drew my pistol and loaded a magazine. The target silhouettes were roughly 100ft away from me, and all six of them were in different windows. My breathing heavy from the sprinting, the front sight swayed as I tried to take deep, calming breaths. My instructor's lessons echoed loudly in my head. "Stance, posture, grip, front sight post." I whispered in my mind as I prepared to fire. "Front sight post, front sight post, front sight post." I muttered over and over again, reminding myself to avoid the most common mistake I had made in the past.
I nervously fired the first round at the distant target, and excitement rushed over me as it dropped. I squeezed off five more rounds, gaining continuous confidence as each bark from the pistol was met with a target dropping. "Front sight post, front sight post." I continued to mutter to myself as I transitioned from one target to the next. "GOD DAMN you can shoot kid!" My safety shouted behind me. That really rather made me smile. I flipped the pistol on safe, re-holstered it and sprinted to the next firing position. These targets only 60ft away and out in the open. Another six shots met with another six targets dropping. The lane complete, I broke out into a massive smile and turned around to see my team leader and state Sergeant Major beaming at me with pride. I will admit my rifle shooting that competition left a lot to be desired, but I couldn't wait to call that instructor and tell him the results those lessons had paid off. I also felt a great sense of redemption that
JiuJitsu Takeaways from Pistol Shooting
Those early pistol shooting lessons were kinda mundane, a ridiculously close target seemed almost pointless. I wanted to do cool guy shooting and hear my pistol go bang! My instructor made a resounding point with me though, if I couldn't do it perfectly at a close distance, how could I expect to do it under increasingly difficult conditions. This is what drilling in JiuJitsu gives us, the opportunity to get our technique as close to perfect as possible against a non-resisting opponent. If a technique can't be performed perfectly in that scenario, how can we expect to execute it when under the stress of rolling or even the higher stakes of competing?
At those range day lessons, we utilized the push-pull method. We would push some aspect of the shooting and then pull back when the accuracy dropped, attempting to constantly improve and adapt to new challenges. JiuJitsu drilling can utilize the same method. Starting with a non-resisting partner, we can increase the speed, resistance, complexity, or challenge of the drill, and then pull back once the execution starts to degrade in quality.
Conclusion
I'm not saying I'm going to stop rolling as much, 😝 but the one thing I can confidently say after some traveling is that if you want to improve your JiuJitsu, drill more. If you want your team or school to get better, drill more. I'm a big fan of having fun at class, so mix it up too! It doesn't have to just be endless arm trap and roll mount escapes. Dial up the intensity, or mix it up with some positional drilling, and track as your game improves.
Anyway though, all see ya'll at open mat for some rolling 😝😂
About the Author:
Steven McMahon earned his Kyuki-Do Black Belt in 2011 from Grand Master Kim at Kim's Black Belt Academy and his BJJ Purple Belt in January 2017 under Professor Charles Nunley. He currently trains out of Wakizashi BJJ in Oak Harbor under Professor Eli Trevino. He is an active competitor at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Army Combative tournaments
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