Yesterday I talked about how going Zombie Drilling can ultimately not help you learn  moves. I talked a lot about not just moving through the moves slowly.. I know it seems like I’m against slow drilling but I’m not. In fact I need to drill slowly at first when I learn a new move. I never try a move at 100% of my speed the first time. I like to slowly walk through the move and make sure I know all of the little details. I would encourage you to do the same at first. Sometimes a small detail like your head placement on a double leg takedown can be the difference between finishing the takedown and geting your takedown stuffed.

With that being said, once you get the concept down it’s time to turn up the speed. Again let’s look at how this applies to the double leg takedown. Start by first increasing the speed of your level change. After you feel like you really have the level change down then increase the speed of your shot. From there increase the speed of your leg grab. By this point you now have most of the move down. All you have to do is increase the speed of your finish and congratulations you can now hit a double without pausing! Now when you get into a live setting you know the movements for the double and you have confidence in your ability to finish the move.

So what can your partner do to help you? Well a good partner should never just be a rag doll. Your partner should offer resistance. I’m not condoning your partner using 100% of their defense. A good drilling partner should give you enough resistance so you can figure out where the holes are in your movement. For example in the double leg if my partner keeps noticing that I leave my head out for a guillotine they should grab it!!!! By not grabbing it they are basically telling me that it’s ok for me to put my head there. By grabbing the guillotine my partner is helping me become aware of a bad habit. From there it’s my choice…Do I fix the habit and improve my move or do I keep making the same mistake? I have learned a lot about my movements because partners have done this to me.

Tomorrow we are going to look at some other ways that you can avoid becoming a zombie and some different ways a good training partner can help you improve your game.

Want to learn more about the philosphy behind jiu jitsu? Make sure to check out 10th Planet Van Nuys.com for more information about the best MMA and Jiu Jitsu gym in the San Fernando Valley area.