Interview with Cobrinha

Courtesy of Jiujitsu Kingdom Blog

JJK: When training and teaching Jiu jitsu, how important is it to spend time drilling the techniques learnt? And roughly what percentage of time do you spend drilling techniques verses live rolling with team mates?

RC: I cannot stress enough how important it is to drill technique over and over. I think this is one of the most common errors individuals make in training. Everyone wants to learn a whole bunch of moves but no one wants to spend the time drilling and practicing each one in order for it to become automatic for them. It is no wonder I see blue belts who are aware of many, many moves but unable to execute more than a handful in sparring or competition. They are just aware of the move – they often really don’t understand the details of the position, and they definitely do not drill it enough to be able to execute it without thinking. If they would spend 1.5 hours drilling just 2 or 3 positions … that would really help their game. In terms of overall percentages, I’d say that you should drill about 45% of your training time, spar 55%. If you are just a leisure participant in the sport or do it purely for fun or fitness, you can drill a higher percentage of the time.