Two-person drills are important training methods to develop skills on the mat. They can be used to warm up at the beginning of your training session, as part of your conditioning program, or as a finishing exercise. You can do these drills to improve your bridging power, refine your hip movement on the bottom, speed up your submissions, or to develop many other skills and attributes.
Today I will give you two examples of two-person drills. Keep in mind that not every drill is useful for every skill level or body type, so there is an onus on every grappler to choose appropriate drills. My ultimate goal is that you will use these examples to develop new drills, specific to your body, your game, and your grappling goals.
In the “kneemount spin armbar drill” (click here to download a QT preview) you are doing repetitions of the 180 degree armbar. This is a fundamental attack in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission grappling, but requires lots of repetition to make it smooth and fast. This drill is one way to get lots of repetitions, in a fairly painless manner.
In the final drill, “turtle flips” (click here to download a QT preview) you are developing the back arch, spatial awareness and athleticism. Turtle flips are easier to do if your partner is wearing a gi, but I first saw this exercise in a Shooto class, so it is possible to do them without the gi. This is obviously a fairly advanced drill, and requires that you have put in your time with more basic back arch/bridging drills.
Have fun with these drills.