More steps in the bridge ...

There is a bridge that must be crossed - between our initial 'exposure' to a technique - and the 'internalization' or 'ownership' of that technique. Most often, on most mats, there are no steps between these two states. That is, we learn a brand new technique by drilling it a little - and then we are left to our own efforts to try to make it work in sparring. If we are successful in our early attempts to do this ... the technique becomes part of our regular arsenal ... if not, it is usually consigned to oblivion.

I would like to offer a suggestion as to how we can improve our odds of making 'new' techniques 'our own'. Basically - putting in a couple of extra steps between 'initial exposure' and 'ownership'.

The first step, after having initially drilled a new technique ... is to KEEP IT IN THE FOREFRONT OF OUR MIND. We can do this by running through the new technique a couple of times immediately before each each grapple in the 'rolling' portion of the class. Ie: every time we get a new partner, run the new technique a couple of times each before we begin wrestling ... this keeps the new idea at the forefront of our mind ... and make it more likely that we try it during the 'roll'.

The second step is this: we can co-operate to some extent with our partner - by offering him (and he likewise) at least one opportunity to try the new technique during our free-rolling session. This allows us to 'dovetail' the new technique into our game - or into the chaos of the 'free-roll'.

Adding these two extra steps - allows us to more effectively cross that bridge between 'initial learning' and 'ownership. I hope this helps: JBW