GRAPPLING CONCEPTS LESSON 23: T.R.I.G Most of the other concepts we've covered in this course have been principles which help you, kick butt on the mats right away. Learn them today and use them tomorrow. Today's concept is more about how to train and get better so that you can kick butt better after a week or a couple of weeks. It's doesn't have that immediate gratification aspect to it, but it's still really important. Let's say that you have a specific move or technique that you want to get better at, how do you do it. Here's a training method or a concept that I got from Erik Paulson it's very simple, which is a good thing, and I use it all the time when I'm trying to get good at a new technique, or brush the dust off of an old one. T. R. I. G. T = Technique. First you have to learn the technique. Where do your arms and legs go? How do you develop power? What do you do if your opponent counters your technique.
To be able to tick of the 'T' part of TRIG, the Technique part, you need to understand the technical details of the technique, the entries, the counters and recounters. We covered a lot of this in the Hourglass concept of lesson 5, so go and review that lesson. Let's move on to the 'R' in TRIG... R = Repetition. Now you have to go and repeat the technique until your body understands it as well as your mind does. To ingrain a technique and make it natural can require hundreds to thousands of repetitions How do you do hundreds to thousands of repetitions of a technique? Well, there are a few different strategies you can try... BRUTE FORCE REPETITION You can simply repeat the technique, left and right, alternating with your partner, but usually this ends up in you chatting about the weather, or about a movie that you want to see, etc. So if you're going to do this, be disciplined about your training time. It's valuable. Train! REPETITION DRILLS Many people find it easier to train repetition using drills. In Judo, most fighters will do tens of thousands of repetitions of a throw before they break it out at a big tournament. Judoka call this throw repetition practice 'uchikomi' and they'll just do the entry again and again. It's built into the structure of Judo classes in a way that it ISN'T at most BJJ schools. Now we'll take a look at a few different armbar repetition drills...
THE SWINGING ARMBAR DRILL This is a classic drill for developing the armbar from guard. It's a great drill to make sure that beginners have correct body mechanics, but intermediate and advanced players can also benefit from it! Get to the armbar from guard using any entry or method you like. The specific hand grip doesn't matter; this is just the starting position for the drill. The leg that was over his head opens up and swings wide to generate some momentum......which carries you around to the other side......where you can elevate your hips, step over his head and get to the armbar on the other side. Now repeat this side-to-side for 30 to 100 repetitions!
There are different gripping options for the swinging armbar drill, but this is primarily a drill to develop leg, hip and body movement, so don't get hung up about gripping 'this way' or 'that way.' Here are three common options you can use: At the elbows. At the wrists. No grip at all. The most common error in the swinging armbar drill is having your hips and back flat on the ground. This creates much too much friction to move smoothly! To do the drill correctly stay a bit curled up when you're moving from side to side keeping only a small part of your back on the ground at any one time. Also concentrate on LIFTING YOUR HIPS OFF THE GROUND at the apex of each movement. This is easier to train if your partner maintains a slightly erect posture, as opposed to him slumping over forwards. Incorrect: hips flat Correct: hips elevated!
S-MOUNT ARMBAR SWIVEL DRILL The armbar from S-mount is a high percentage attack. First I'll show you the attack, and then I'll share a drill that will help you develop the attack Starting in regular mount you slide one knee forward, under his arm. The front of your knee should be level with the top of his head. Now flip your other leg so that your heel is beside his ear. Swivel your hips so you get to S-mount. Hook his arm, shift your weight forward so you can step over his head......and sit back to the armbar.
S-MOUNT ARMBAR SWIVEL DRILL This drill will really help you become smooth and fast with the Smount armbar attack we just covered: Start out in the armbar control position. Your partner is clasping his hands together, simulating an armbar defense. Your hand closer to his legs cups his far elbow and pulls it towards you. Your arm nearer his head posts on the ground behind you. Pushing off of your planted hand withdraw your top leg, bring your hips over his body and pivot 180 degrees. Sit back and step over his head to get to the armbar control position on the other side... (drill continues on next page)
...then you push off again, swivel your hips, and go back to your original side. Repeat from side to side, trying to be smooth and fluid! This movement has a direct application when your opponent has completely buried the arm you're attacking. He's defending his right arm, so switch your grip......post your hand, swivel your hips and armbar his OTHER arm!
REPETITION THROUGH LOCK FLOW DRILLS Another way to get a lot of repetition for the technique and the entry to the technique is to insert that move into a flow drill. Since we talked about this in an earlier lesson (Attack By Combination) we're not going to discuss it again here. ISOLATING THE CRUX OF THE MOVEMENT As a general rule, the more complex and complicated the technique, the more repetition it will require to become smooth and instinctive. But if it's a really complex technique you might have to break it down into its core movements. Many complex techniques have a single movement which will cause you a lot of grief often this is perceived as a sticking point, where, when you get to it, you screw up the technique almost every time. The answer here is to identify and isolate the core movement the 'crux' of the technique for you. And then you drill just that problem movement for a while, and get it down, before you go back to training the technique in it's entirety again. Now we're going to look at some examples of drills that isolate the crux of a movement, thus making the entire movement much easier to learn.
First I'll show you a bridging escape from mount that lands you in an advantageous position for leglocking. You are trapped in the mount. You grab his belt with both hands (or put your hands on his hips). Bring your heels in to your butt, and then bridge your hips up explosively while pressing his body up, over your head. Swing your legs into position: your left knee comes up between his legs and your left foot comes up onto his hip. From there you spin into a leglock position. Now you can attack with straight ankle locks, heel hooks or a variety of other leglocks.
The preceding technique can be difficult for some people. The crux of the movement and sticking point usually is getting the legs into place. This drill isolates and develops just the problem motion. Start flat on your back, legs straight, with your partner standing over top of you. Swing your legs up into the basic leglock position on his right leg. Clamp your legs tight and make sure your butt is off the mat. Straighten your legs and drop them back down to the mat......then swing them up into position on the other side. Repeat left and right, at least 30 to 50 reps.
If a movement is particularly difficult for you, then you might even need to find a way to drill it by yourself. The so-called 'hitchiker' escape to the armbar provides and excellent example. This is a high-percentage escape, but it requires coordination, speed, fluidity and commitment. All of which improves with repetition. First, here's the technique with a partner: My opponent has caught me in an armbar. As he pulls on my arm I twist my hand thumb down, look away, and run my hips away from him pivoting on my shoulder. I end up on my knees, facing my opponent and out of the armbar. Now let's take a look at how you can train and get repetition of this technique on your own!
To drill the hitch-hiker armbar escape on your own start flat on your back, holding your own wrist. Straighten your arm towards the mat, keeping your thumb up until the very last moment. Just before your hand touches the mat flip your hand over so that your thumb and index finger hits the mat, NOT your little finger. Keeping your thumb and index finger glued to the mat run your legs away from your hand, pivoting on your shoulder. Run your legs until you end up on your knees. Your fist should still be in the 'thumbs down' position. Repeat this left and right until it is smooth and instinctive.
I = Isolation. Once you've learned the technique ('T') and you've put in the repetitions ('R') then you start using the technique in isolation, which is the 'I' of TRIG. Here are some ideas on how to isolate a particular technique or strategy in your sparring training. Let's say that you you are working on an escape sequence for a particular position. Simply start every sparring session pinned in that position. This is good, because even a sparring partner who is less experienced than you will eventually figure out what you're doing to escape, start countering your escape, and force you to evolve your game further. You can also use isolation training to develop your attacks. For example, here is a drill I got from Marc Laimon for taking the back. We start with one person in the turtle position, and the other person (me) on top, my chest on his back and holding him with the over-under grip. The bottom guy starts moving to start the drill: he's trying to escape, and I'm trying to take his back and choke him.
If I am the aggressor then there is only one way I can win: staying on his back and choking him out. The way my training partner can win is if my chest comes off of his back. Even if I end up in full mount, about to take the armbar, then he still wins because that's not the goal of the drill! White wins: I'm off of his back! RNC locked in: I win! Another example of isolation training might be deciding only to use one submission the triangle choke for example in sparring. This is especially useful when you're sparring people of lesser skill than you. Once your opponent has figured out that you're only really going for one thing then he's going to get MUCH, MUCH tougher to catch with it. If he's a blue belt then it will feel like you're trying to tap out a brown belt or a black belt with your triangle choke Make sure to HELP HIM with his defense. Show him some good counters to the triangle choke, and offer him feedback: e.g. you're doing this wrong, it would be more effective if you gripped here instead of here, and so on...
The better his defense, then the more evolved your offense will have to become. It's not about tapping out some whitebelt or bluebelt again and again that's good for the ego in the short term, but it won't help you very much in the long term. Make it a challenge, and your game will respond to the challenge, and grow! And growing your game is the point of all this training, isn't it? G = Grappling. Once you've done the 'T', 'R', and 'I, then you can incorporate that technique into your grappling ('G') arsenal! Depending on your training goals, the amount of resources (like partners and time) that you have, you should still continue doing some repetition, and isolation. And of course, as you get better, you'll also continue to discover new technical details, new entries, new counters, and so on. TRIG is an ONGOING process of refinement. Good luck incorporating it into your training! Lesson 24 Preview: Next week we'll focus on avoiding a very common trap that you see in almost every submission grappling competition, BJJ tournament and UFC event Stephan Kesting www.grapplearts.tv