Below, you will find my notes summarizing and reflecting upon the stand-up grappling practice that I led at Fit Factory Jiu Jitsu, 3814 Boyd’s Creek Highway, Sevierville, TN on April 15, 2024.
We finally struck the balance that I’ve been after for weeks
Lots of high quality reps AND ample opportunity for addressing novel challenges as they revealed themselves PLUS minimal lecturing by yours truly. The smoothness of practice was probably just our increasing familiarity with the format, but maybe a little bit to do with my improvements as a coach. Whatever the reason, the time I have to explain what we are doing, the more we can just get out there and do it.
Today I’m going to dig in deep on the Phase 1 drill that I first described in MATREP #28. We’ve been using this drill as our primary warmup for a few weeks and it is proving to be a good one.
Here is a more detailed description of the drill than the brief summary from the link above:
There are designated attack and defense roles. Roles are maintained for time rather than a specific number of reps. Because of the flow-y nature of the drill, discrete reps are distractingly difficult to count.
We’ve been working in the 2ish minute range. Today we did 2 min attack, 2 min defend, 30ish second rest, repeat two more times through.
Attacker begins in a tie-up, i.e. some controlling grip that they could use to begin executing a takedown
Lately we’ve been focusing on single or double underhook, arm drag with shoulder secure behind defender’s shoulder, any 2-on-1 variation, head hang (pre-snapdown), and various single leg orientations.
Defender’s job is simply to clear ties and get back to neutral. If that happens as a consequence of a counter-pummeling into a tie-up that’s fine, but the defender should then aim to quickly let go of their counterattack and let the attacker back inside.
Attacker’s job is to move as seamlessly as possible into the next tie-up any time the defender gets clear
Defender is instructed to be very forward, closing distance when in neutral and not retreating. They can clear the tie any way they need, but they should not be running from the fight.
A big reason I love drills like this is that they scale well to various skill levels, even if the paired trainees are at distinctly different skill levels. We designate who the drill is “for” and they get to dictate the levels of resistance and complexity. A quick conversation is all it takes and it can be reassessed continually throughout practice.
Recall that our goal is for practice to be challenging yet successful.
By default, I am using this drill is for the defender. But I don’t see why it couldn’t be switched.
Variations for modifying resistance and complexity
Hard reset every time neutral is achieved
This is for people very new to the game if flowing straight into the next tie is disorienting. Making each escape a discrete rep allows the inexperienced defender to keep from getting overwhelmed.
I’d generally like to see a person progress past this stage fairly quickly.
Defender “allows” tie-ups
This (and the next example) are less a matter of difficulty and more a matter of being specific about what you’re working on. This version emphasizes getting back to neutral from an already losing position since the defender allows free access to whatever tie-up and doesn’t fight hard to keep their elbows tight, their spine in neutral, and their downblocking arm in front of their legs.
Defender maintains good defensive posture
Contrary to the previous example, the attacker now has to fight to get their tie-ups. This version allows the defender to work on maintaining their good posture without having to worry about the added complexity of handfighting and counter-attacking.
Defender also hand fights
Similar to the above, except now the defender is actively handfighting. In the previous example, the defender was just maintaining posture, now they’re attempting to deny grips even earlier in the process.
(Examples 2, 3, and 4 can also be looked at as “timing” exercises. Where the defender gets into the fight earlier or later in order to protect themselves.)
Attacker attempts to maintain their tie-ups
This version insists that the defender put forth something closer to “live effort” to get free of the tie. It will feel distinctly different than the flowy versions where the attacker doesn’t fight too hard to maintain any one tie-up and instead abandons the grip early to make the transition to the next position. I’d consider this a more advanced modification.
No designated attacker/defender
This is functionally just Phase 1 sparring where both players fight for tie-ups but don’t attempt to finish them.
We haven’t been using this during practice (though as we continue to improve, we might). I’d expect this version to lead to more camping of advantageous positions or locking horns and stalling. This has the potential for people’s competitive impulses to edge out their willingness to learn, but perhaps there’s merit in learning how to manage those situations too.
Increase challenge by increasing complexity
Increased resistance is the default solution to the question of “How do I make this more challenging?” But if the training partners have a significant skill disparity (or one has poor cardio-respiratory fitness) increasing resistance may only work for one side of the partnership.
But by increasing complexity, the less skilled/fit person can provide a more meaningful challenge, and when it’s their turn, the complexity can be dialed back down. A quick chat at the beginning of the drill (or periodically throughout) should get things dialed in. Consider this example:
The drill is for finishing the single leg
“Expert (E)” is at a distinctly higher skill level than “Beginner (B)”
When on offense, “B” gets access to the leg “for free” in the sense that “E” provides only token resistance, enough to ensure that they aren’t sloppy but not enough to disrupt their access to the leg
On the contrary, when it’s their turn on offense, “E” has to go and get the leg and “B” is encouraged to handfight, maintain posture, and evade (without retreating)
It is expected that “E” will still get in on the leg because of their increased skill, but the extra steps provide a more meaningful training stimulus
The higher level of complexity would likely have been overwhelming for “B”, hence the decreased complexity during their turn on offense. But it allows “B” to be a more useful training partner than if they were instructed to simply give “E” free access to their leg and then “resist harder” to keep them from the finish.
There’s nothing wrong with increasing resistance. But consider making it the second variable for increasing challenge, only after manipulating the complexity variable
This training method is exploratory, and that’s a good thing
Even though the drill is designated as “for” the defender, there is ample opportunity for technical development on the part of the attacker. And, even though the primary goal of the drill is for the defender to clear the tie-up, there are still opportunities to develop secondary skills.
As the attacker, I’m finding myself chaining together attacks more smoothly. Because my aim is to be constantly seeking a tie-up, I am generally not camping grips and instead moving as the defender moves, trying to use their defensive movements to facilitate my next tie-up. I’m getting a lot of reps on different grips whether they be on the hands, wrists, elbows, armpits, head, knees, or ankles. And because we aren’t drilling set pieces, rather taking opportunities as they come, I’m getting to these grips via diverse pathways.
All the defensive work emphasizing clearing tie-ups is exhibiting a secondary benefit of learning to “protect myself” while on the feet the way I already can do on the ground. This is the skill I use at open mat in new places with strangers. Can you slap hands and bump fists with a stranger and quickly assess if you can keep them from hurting you, regardless of the specific aim of points and submissions? If not, you should put some thought into this skill.
Beyond this more-subjective skill, I’m also learning how to grip defensively in a way that is akin to the frames that we might use in the guard and I’m finding that many of those defensive grips lend themselves to a quick transition to offense.
This Phase 1 drill is definitely earning its keep right now as a staple of our practice sessions.
Good Hunting,
Charles