Drill To Win In the Jiu-Jitsu Laboratory

I found a pretty good blog with some nice writing call the Jiu-Jitsu Laboratory. I like it because the author writes like I try to – with some thought. I tend to stear clear of those blogs that just rehash stuff. I want analysis.

I read one of his posts called, “Drill to Win: The Quickest Path To Success” where he talks about the failure to warm up and drill by the higher belts. He says that some purple belts skip the warm ups and brown belts skip techniques all together. And then he goes on to talk about the importance of drilling. You should really give it a read – if you’re like me and just want to roll.

I know what he’s saying and I agree, I really do. Man, if we all drilled like we were supposed to, I suppose we’d all be really great. But what I think the author is forgetting or perhaps is not mentioning is that we all participate in Jiu-Jitsu for different reasons. I happen to know of a few guys who do it simply for the exercise and others who do it because they just feel guilty about doing nothing at all. Others do it for weight loss and maintenance, while some do it for the social aspect of things. So while I agree that we should all be drilling more, we all should be engaging in the reason we go to class more too.

But I’ll admit that I’ve fallen off the wagon (or got on the wagon – whatever) here and there. I’ve purposefully been late to class a few times in order to miss all that stretching that goes on. I’ve paid for it too, because those are usually the days I pull a muscle in my back. It always happens – I skip warm ups and I hurt my back. I ain’t getting any younger.

So read the article I linked to above. Perhaps it will inspire you to warm up properly and to drill more, but don’t forget the reason you are involved in Jiu-Jitsu in the first place and be sure to enjoy them as well.