Stickgrappler's MMA page - BJJ - Frank Benn's Becoming a better grappler -- Drills for BJJ, Wrestling, etc. page

Becoming a better grappler -- Drills for BJJ, Wrestling, etc.

dalee wrote:

> 
>
> Hey all
>
> Being only a recent addition to the world of grappling (via Judo) I
> accept that my skills are limited - however my curiosity and zeal are
> not. I train regularly (3 times a week) but for me that simply isn't
> "enough of a good thing" . So what I want to know is how  can I
> practice at home?? What innovative ideas can the likes of FB, Gichoke
> etc pass on to a newbie??

Hello, dalee.

A lot of the drills and exercises would be very hard to explain in text only. Solo drilling, however, is an important key to becoming a good grappler. In drilling, you are developing the *skills* and attributes which build into many techniques. Drilling develops body movement and finesse that will lend this same finesse to your execution of techniques and transitions when you grapple.

I'm an avid collector and creator of drills for advancing skill, and in general it is a sought-after commodity to have or offer good drills. I plan on putting some grappling drills on the IA website later this year.

For wrestling, you have drills for both standing motion and par terre (on the mat). There are *hundreds*. I'll just list a few.

Solo standing drills include:

1. Center penetration stepping (step-in as well as drop step).

2. Low outside.

3. Circling with posture from cowboy stance.

4. Sprawling (hips squared, hip in against a single, etc.).

5. Spins -- These can also count as par terre, since you're over a man who is on all fours, even though you are on your feet. Get yourself a ukemi ball from Century for 20-something dollars, and you can sprawl and spin on it 'til the cows come home. Very useful.

6. Back arching with a dummy.

7. Pop and penetrate with the grappling dummy.

8. Duckunder with or without a dummy.

9. Shooting against a solid wall -- Teaches you to keep your head up and shoot with your chest. Contact the wall with your hands, back up, repeat.

10. Back step with a dummy, or without.

11. Solo movement with posture, circling and snatching a single or low outside to both knees.

12. Inside ankle pick (with collar tie) and drive. This is a high percentage takedown you can work solo. Circle away from the ankle with weight on your collar tie to make him step that foot forward before penetrating.

13. Feinting, attacking, etc., with stagger stance.

14. Double leg and flair as a solo drill.

15. Center shot, double, lift, and 180 turn to finish.

etc.

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Some par terre solo drills for Wrestling:

1. Hip heists, and 4 corner stepping.

2. Granby rolls.

3. Shoulder rolls.

4. Switches and escapes.

5. Left to right sit-outs (180 degrees opposite sides in succession)

6. 45 degree sitouts.

7. Kneeling to post and 45 sitouts to 180 turn, repeat.

8. Switching base and 90 degree stepover turn from turtle.

9. Bridging (on shoulder, on head).

10. Bridge to turtle.

11. Walk around head/hand stand -- feet walking 360 degrees around you with head/hands stationary

12. Seated to hip heist to whizzer.

13. Knee-walk posture drill (with or without a partner).

14. Kneeling to post (with or without a partner).

15. Kneeling to post and double or go to the back.

etc.

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BJJ drills for groundfighting and grappling:

1. Two leg push and slide (on your back).

2. One leg push and slide (on back).

3. Pull and slide (on back).

4. Shoulder crawl (on back).

5. Upa.

6. **CROCODILE WALK** -- very important drill. Enhances your space-creating ability in conjunction with the upa for many bottom position escapes.

7. Basic "shrimping".

8. Elbow/Knee escape.

9. TOP CONTROL POSITION DRILL WITH MEDICINE BALL -- VERY important drill. Chest to medicine ball. 100 kilos position, walking around. Also, Side control B (cross body), reverse scarf, hip heist and step through to North and South, hold down, sit through to reverse scarf to other side, come out to side B or 100 kilos, repeat.

10. Repeating open transition cross armlock from mount, from knee on stomach, from side control -- rapid succession or slowly, back somersault and scramble back to position, with or without grappling dummy.

11. Sweep recovery drill with ukemi ball.

12. Circle orbit with ukemi ball -- belly down, feet to hands.

13. Lying on back, turn to shoulder, circular walking, switching toe-facing direction, turning the hips over.

14. Lateral kick-hop on your back.

15. Lying on side, shoulder hop in an arc.

16. Turtle to guard.

etc.

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**BJJ Guard drills:**

1. Windmills (aka egg beaters)

2. Sit up, hips back, and reach over cross grab, side to side, simulating setup for some variations of reverse entangled armlock (Kimura), cross grab turn sweep, guillotine, etc.

3. All grips with gi-clad dummy (same side sleeve and lapel, double sleeve, sleeve and pants, sleeve and belt, sit up and belt grip behind the back, double overhook, spider guard, butterfly, single leg wraparound, arm wrap-over, etc.) Many more to mention

4. Inversion shoulder spins against a wall.

5. Seated to tripod advance -- this is your follow up motion for most backward tripping sweeps, which enables you to transit to the mount, etc.

6. Inverted outrigger position.

7. Forward and backward shoulder rolls.

8. Stack

9. Stack and clock circles -- straight knees, feet touching the mat.

10. Circling on your back, kicking (straight to knee and high bicycle), post and stand.

11. Circling, post and drive to takedown -- double, sweep double, sweep single, etc.

12. 3 step triangle -- with or without a dummy.

13. 2 step cross armlock -- with or without dummy.

14. Thigh squeezing with medicine ball.

15. Knees to chest with medicine ball.

16. Monkey in the tree -- this is generally a partner drill, although you can also do it with a hanging heavy bag, or on a set of monkey bars.

17. Shoulder rotations -- on your back, 90 degrees left, 90 degrees right, reach over your head (setting up some variations of Kimura, etc.).

18. Rocking chair setup.

19. Four-point setup.

20. Leg inside, step over and roll -- drill for setting up knee bar from the guard. Repeat slowly, or in rapid succession.

21. Scissor sweep / Knee Elevator / Kick Sweep combination -- solo or with a dummy. Developing proper movement and position of the hips, turning the hips after the scissor, etc.

22. Feet on hips with dummy suspended -- to a roll, knee elbow lock, getting the back, or cross armlock.

23. Leg lace and heel hook solo drill -- slow to rapid.

24. Double knee sweep setup and follow-through.

25. Backward rolling shoulder stand to spin, land, scramble to back, repeat -- very good drill.

26. Belt and inside elevator roll solo drill -- to the side, and straight over the top. Developing "roundness" in your rolling sweeps.

27. Cross grab and tuck -- legs and arms tight (with or without dummy).

28. Side door transition -- getting the back mount from the guard. Developing hip motion, elevating, etc. With or without dummy.

etc.

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-- Judo Takedown Drills --

1. Working all grips in shadow randori.

2. Uchi komi for all throws (too much to mention) with a hanging dummy, or with a belt around a pole or tree.

3. All unbalancing, entries, and follow-through executions.

4. Foot placement in all stepping, box step, etc.

Many, many more of these to mention. Judo drills for tachi-waza are well-documented, and can be found in books and other sources. If other arts were as organized and documented as Judo, the world would surely be a better place. :)

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> For example, I've just recently hit on the
> idea of filling a pair of mechanics overalls with sand, stitching the
> holes closed and using it to practice throws.
>

Sand might make it a bit heavy to move around. I would suggest stuffing it tightly with cotton rags, and you can add a medium-sized sand bag at the core -- preferably center hips.

>
> Also what would be helpful  are tips on grappling and  actual solo
> drills (with a judo or BJJ emphasis), similar in flavour to Khun Kao's
> recent postings on muay thai or Frank Benn's postings on boxing.
> Similarly pointers to good online resources, good videos (I'm a fan of
> Geoff Thompson's stuff although I haven't seen any vids. Has anyone
> here?? What were your impressions? How about UFC, NHB etc ) and
> especially books ( so far I've got The Judo Manual by Reay & Hobbs.,
> Skills of the Game: Judo by Inman and Winning Wrestling moves by Mark
> Mysnk).
>

Mark Mysnyk's book is very good. However, it doesn't really cover the basics of wrestling in detail, which build into the setups, finishes, and counters he shows. A good complement to this book would be a resource on the basics of wrestling -- a book covering posture, penetration, movement, change of levels, lifting, back arching, back stepping, etc.

Good luck to you.

Frank Benn
Integrated Arts
Submission Grappling/Boxing and Kickboxing/Filipino Martial Arts

Austin, Texas

Posted to Usenet's rec.martial-arts Thu, 30 Mar 2000 16:27:08 -0600