Technical skill development and the art of drilling in Jiu Jitsu has evolved substantially in the last decade. The act of repetition is an important one, however, it is important to also counter-balance repetitive movements with the law of diminishing returns which can plague out-dated drilling practices. The law of diminishing returns is defined as a principle stating that benefits gained from a task will represent a proportionally smaller gain as more energy is invested into the same task which in the context of Jiu Jitsu can result in a narrow mastery of a small amount of techniques. Utilizing a scaffolded approach to skill acquisition includes technical study to build cognitive knowledge, mindfully moving through biomechanical movements, learning how to properly drill using cooperative resistance, and lastly, practicing newly refined techniques in rolling rounds that are specifically structured to help new grapplers evolve into skilled teammates. Evaluating technical progress can also be broken down by Bloom’s Taxonomy which is an educational classification system used to define different levels of learning and understanding which can then be used to guide instruction and assess students in real time. A dynamic pedagogy in Jiu Jitsu schools that emphasizes proper skill development, formative student evaluation, and structured rolling will lead to long term technical growth and enjoyment of the sport while avoiding stagnation in skill acquisition and development.
At novice levels of development students will spend a significant amount of time processing information in order to build a knowledge-based framework to experience success while rolling. This knowledge must then be used to learn appropriate physical movements that will guide newcomers though the basic hierarchy of positions in Jiu Jitsu (see appendix a). Moving through the positional hierarchy of Jiu Jitsu isn’t always routine and doesn't account for the chance of submissions, sweeps, and counters in each position, however, knowing the hierarchy will be essential for logistical clarity while learning the sport. A common problem that new students experience is that basic grappling movements can be mimicked but it is difficult to decipher how the movement can be applied within the hierarchy in order to improve positioning. With this in mind, a practice that is a helpful stepping stone before live sparring is ‘flow rolling”; this is the act of working with another training partner in order to transition through techniques in a controlled and non-competitive scenario. Flow rolling allows students to comfortably identify lapses in knowledge, build context, and solidify past learnings. New students are placed in a grappling match but without the risk of injury and without the increase of anxious energy (the biological fight, flight, or flee response) that can accompany a live sparring session during early development. Once a beginner has achieved a satisfactory understanding of a movement through “flowing” the student can then learn to utilize these movements against resistance. For example: if you are drilling a standard guard pass and the physical mechanics have already been learned, a student must then learn how the guard pass can be used against standard counters (a basic frame, hip-out, a movement to turtle, a transition to another guard style); this can be experienced during flow sessions where numerous technical pathways from a single technique will be discovered. Following this practice will greatly reduce the impact of diminishing returns as neuronic pathways are continually challenged to build upon newly acquired skills as the brain is constantly encountering new problems to solve with each flow round.
At Authentic Jiu Jitsu Calgary, specific training is introduced early in development as a means to practice techniques against resistance, build excitement for the sport, and to facilitate a healthy competitive spirit that will enhance one’s motivation to learn. If an entire session is spent only viewing and practicing basic movements on non-resisting partners, students will quickly grow tired of class, especially as the law of diminishing returns will eventually set in and steady progress with simple movements will begin to slow. It is important to have an optimal balance of developing “book smarts” and “street smarts” throughout a training session. Although the following examples are not-related to the sport of Jiu Jitsu, they highlight the need for a practical outlet for skill development: If you are studying to become a wildlife conservation officer will one hundred percent of learning be spent in the confines of a lecture hall without sufficient time outdoors in the wild? Likely not. Or how about a lacrosse player that shows up to practice and drills ball skills to an advanced level but never gets the opportunity to perform these skills in a daily scrimmage against others trying to thwart their efforts? This will ultimately limit the player’s ability to work with and against others under the stress of a real game. In most cases, students will look forward to moments where they can safely test their newly acquired skills. Live training provides teachable opportunities that will highlight glaring weaknesses that can be improved upon; creating a constant feedback loop that leads to greater skill acquisition over time. The aforementioned process directly correlates with developing and moving through various levels of understanding (see appendix b). An instructor, however, must be careful not to add too much sparring into the mix with students who are not ready as this can also be defeating… like sending a well-intentioned and eager soldier into a fortified castle to fight a blood-thirsty dragon without the tools or knowledge to fight such a beast. With this in mind, it is critical to maintain a balanced training environment that emphasizes experimentation, self-control, and safety at lower belt levels. A planned and careful approach to live training will lead to fewer injuries amongst grapplers versus teaching novice students the latest “meta” submission and sending them into a full-on training round before they can understand the foundational knowledge that will protect them from undue hardship.
At an advanced level there are many practices that have become routine in Jiu Jitsu schools that should not be. The first is speed drilling to exhaustion, the goal should be to drill at a constant speed without making errors. As students become more competent, they can increase the pace but this increased speed should never come at the cost of losing the integrity of the technique. Skill acquisition is not about conditioning the body; these are two different things. Conditioning is a very important part of becoming a better athlete but if a student is exhausted from drilling, the goal changes from learning technique properly to trying to survive the class. If students are drilled to exhaustion too early into a session this greatly impacts an individual's ability to learn as their cognitive capacity will be greatly diminished. Learning requires a significant amount of energy and focused attention; don’t waste it on conditioning at the beginning of classes especially if advanced skills are being introduced later on. Secondly, students will often get caught up on the amount of repetitions versus the quality of those reps; just because a student has done 1000 reps of a single technique does not mean they are correctly performing the movement, understand the technique, or can apply it properly. It is critical to teach students to do things slowly but as close to perfection as possible then build up the speed. Once progress has slowed (law of diminishing returns) and a respectable level of speed has been achieved it is beneficial to begin adding common counters that the student will need to solve while executing the technique. Advanced students can take learning into their own hands by connecting the lesson into their existing repertoire of skills in order to build sophisticated movement pathways; this action requires students to formatively assess their own progress in real time. This will create “problem solvers” versus “copy cats” and will teach students how to drill correctly; always straddling the line of the importance of repetition and experimentation while maintaining the integrity of the technique as speed and confidence increases. Once experienced students reach an acceptable level of proficiency, cooperative resistance can be added to the drill or another set of relatable skills can be introduced; this process can be inquiry based and student-led depending on the experience level of the athlete. This balanced approach will provide steady and continuous progress that will result in maximum skill acquisition while avoiding boredom and cognitive burn out.
The pathway to mastering a skill is predictable. Acquisition of cognitive knowledge will lead to the development of the biomechanical skill through movement and eventually mastery of the technique through increasing levels of resistance while training. Acquiring knowledge requires an individual to identify a movement and how it relates to Jiu Jitsu in order to solve problems in real time; this cognitive effort will help new grapplers identify when to use the technique at the proper time while grappling. Physically acquiring the basic skill is optimally done through drilling the body mechanics of the movement and then learning to use the technique in different scenarios through progressive and cooperative drilling which will eventually lead to performing the technique during flow rolling and specific training. Once the technique can be executed against controlled resistance it can then be tested in an actual sparring session where training partners are no longer being cooperative and their goal is to defeat the technique. The goal is then to execute movements under stress, uncertainty, and against the combined cognitive and physical attributes of another grappler. Skill building will always be honed over time and this process can take many months or even years to master every detail of a single technical concept. As a result of this reality, consistency in training over time will always be more effective than intensity in the short term. Learn how to drill properly, build positive training relationships with teammates who will help you succeed, maintain a consistent training routine, and if something isn't fun or “clicking” at the time, come back to it later or focus on learning a new skill to keep skill development fresh and interesting.
Until next time, be kind and keep rolling.
Benjamin Kool is a content creator and the head instructor/owner of Authentic Jiu Jitsu in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Before founding Authentic Jiu Jitsu Calgary, Ben worked in Alberta as a school teacher and is an alumni of the University of Calgary (B.A. European History, B.Ed. Master of Teaching Program).
Website: www.authenticjiujitsu.com
Twitter: @authenticbjj
Instagram/Facebook: @authenticjiujitsu
YouTube Channel: Authentic Jiu Jitsu
Appendix A:
Hierarchy From Top Position (Perspective of Guard Passer):
(WORST) Open Guard | Closed Guard → Half Guard → Side Mount → Mount/Back Mount (BEST)
Hierarchy From Bottom Position (Perspective of Guard Player):
(WORST) Bottom Side Mount | Bottom Mount | Back Mounted → Half Guard → Full Closed or Open Guard → Sweep (Transition) to Top Position → Transition to Back Mount (BEST)
Takedown Hierarchy (Both Students Starting in Standing Position)
(WORST) Taken Down OR Attempting Takedown Landing in Bottom Position OR Turtled → Guard Pull (NEUTRAL) → Completing Takedown Landing on Top (BEST)
APPENDIX B:
Bloom's Taxonomy: A pedagogical classification system used to define and distinguish between the different levels of human learning and understanding which many curriculums use as the framework to greater understanding in order to guide instruction but also evaluate learning in the classroom.
(BASIC UNDERSTANDING) Knowledge → Comprehension → Application → Analysis → Synthesis → Evaluation (ADVANCED UNDERSTANDING)
OR (in actionable terms):
(THE STUDENT) Remember → Understand → Apply → Analyze → Evaluate → Create (THE TEACHER)
