Situational sparring and positional drilling is a training method used by virtually every single black belt and high level BJJ competitor.
In this type of training you start out in a certain position or situation and define specific end points where you reset and start again.
For example, if you were to start in the sitting guard then you might stop if the guy on the bottom gets the sweep or the guy on the top gets the guard pass. As soon as one or the other condition is achieved you reset in the original position and go again.
Or you might start with one guy in the turtle position and his partner on top with his arms locked in the seatbelt. The top guy wins if he takes the back and chokes the bottom man out, and the bottom guy wins if he manages to dislodge the other guy’s sternum from the middle of his back.
Being this specific in your training allows you to explore a position much more deeply than if you just did regular sparring.
Don’t get me wrong – regular sparring is incredibly important in BJJ. But all high level jiu-jitsu guys spend time doing situational sparring and positional drilling in addition to regular, anything-goes sparring.
In the video below you’ll see examples of me drilling both the sitting guard position and the turtle position with my good friend and training partner Ritchie Yip, so check it out!
P.S. Ritchie teaches both Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and kickboxing in Vancouver, BC. Check out Infighting.ca for more information about his schools.
P.P.S. Did you know that I send out the most kick-ass email newsletter in all of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu?
These email lessons are also 100% FREE – you will never be charged for them.
Below are a just a few topics that I cover in my emails. Most are applicable to any kind of ground fighting, whether you do BJJ, submission grappling, MMA, Judo, etc.
- The guard posture mistakes that’ll get you killed on the mats,
- The six positions you must know in groundfighting
- The biggest mistake people make with their chokes
- How NOT to do the closed guard (and how to correctly transition to the open guard)
- How to stay injury free in a highly physical sport,
- The seven things every blue belt must know,
- Why talent is totally over-rated in BJJ
- How to triple your endurance on the ground,
- And a ton more.
If you to receive these tips by email and get a copy of my Roadmap for BJJ Book as an instant download, COMPLETELY FOR FREE AND WITH NO OBLIGATION EVER, just enter your name and address below
The Roadmap for BJJ, downloadable checklist of positions and techniques