In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, staying ahead of your opponent at all times is an important aspect that every student must remember. Whether it’s by knowing more technique and the details behind it or developing instincts with more training time, your BJJ journey is always a work in progress, regardless of your level.
For BJJ World Champion and ONE Superstar Bruno Pucci, the fastest way to improve and stay ahead of your opponent is through constant drilling. In this video, Bruno shows 7 BJJ drills you can use to improve your guard game in BJJ.
Although drilling may seem boring to many people, there’s no doubt that its effectiveness shows in the finesse in how you perform your techniques.
Here are 5 ways to make drilling for BJJ more fun:
1) Drill with purpose
Before drilling, plan out what you’d like to drill – your half guard, berimbolo or guard passing; it’s all up to you, use your time wisely and plan it out. Otherwise, both you and your partner will feel like you’re wasting time.
Tip: Set a goal each time you drill. For example: if you’d like to do some passing drills, do 100 reps of 5 different passes on both sides.
2) Drill with a partner with similar goals
Nothing is better than drilling with a partner with similar goals. You can both motivate each other and drill more efficiently than you would have with another partner.
Tip: You don’t have to pick your favorite sparring partner or someone who’s a friend, pick someone who you know is interested in working on improving his techniques.
3) Drill the techniques you just learned in class
Drilling the techniques you just learned in class is not only a great refresher, but also a good way to make sure you perform them flawlessly in the next class.
Tip: If you don’t have the best memory or refuse to keep a BJJ notebook, drilling the new techniques you’ve just learned while they’re still fresh in your mind will help you improve by leaps and bounds!
4) Drill with different partners
When you’ve settled on a drilling partner, chances are, things can get predictable. You’ve probably memorized each other’s moves and reflexes that drilling with each other might feel useless. Break out of monotony and try drilling with a different partner every once in awhile. He’ll probably react differently to your techniques, which could provide a whole new challenge for you.
Tip: After or before your BJJ class, ask other students if they’re interested in drilling. Chances are, someone will probably say yes!
5) Drill both sides
When we train BJJ, we tend to prefer one side over the other. This is because we feel like we aren’t as strong or coordinated as we’d like to be on our weaker side. This problem is easily solved by drilling and training both sides. Doing so will help us gain confidence in using our “weaker” side and give our opponents more of a challenge.
Tip: Before you drill, tell your partner specifically that you want to train both sides. This way, you can’t back out of drilling your weaker side and neither can he!
In the game of human chess, plugging all the holes in your game and improving your techniques are goals that all students should have. The more we drill, the more confidence we can definitely gain. So tell us, when will you start drilling?
