I think every one of us at some point has to take responsibility for our development in bjj.  I have found having an instructor invaluable, but in the end, they can only do so much.  They have to tailor classes for a broad group of people and keep the content fresh.  Additionally, they will never know as well as you where you are weak or strong.

As I have stated many times before, I am a big proponent of using time effectively.  I can only speak personally, but I don't have 5x a week to train.  I have a job, a family, and other things I like to do besides bjj.  So the few hours I get on the mat need to be used well.  It is very similar to working out.  Some people like to go for hours and chat it up - I'd rather get my 40 minutes in and head outside.

Currently, I train 3x a week.  Two days in formal class with Dave and then one day of open mat and rolling with a few friends.  This works well and  I think both of these are very important.   The part that I find missing in my current approach is volume drilling (ie. outside of class).

So in order to work all the aspects of my game completely I am going to set up a kind of Drill Club.  Just an hour a week where me and a few buddies can drill moves.  Not roll - just drill.  No formal instruction, nothing fancy.  A few friends on a mat working hard on every area of the game.

So the big question is, what do we do, and how do we do it?  Now, I am a huge fan of SBGi for their training methods.  They were the first I saw talking in detail not just about drilling in general, but about HOW to do it.  I still think the "I Method" is as good as it gets and represents the pinnacle of training methodology.

Here are my 5 simple rules I plan to use with our drill club:

1. There is always a primary person - The drill is for both people of course, but there is a primary person.  If you are drilling side control bottom, the focus is on the bottom guy working that aspect of their game.  It does not mean the guy on top isn't trying or is a dead fish - it just means that the goal is to help the other person work their escapes.
2. The objective is binary - I like to keep it simple.  Options like escape or finish are clear and don't require too much thought. 
3. More than two people is preferred - I have found that if I drill moves with one person we get bored easily and end up rolling pretty quickly.  If we have guys rotate in we will get different energies.  We will also keep the group more focused on the stated purpose - drilling.
4. Mandatory debrief sessions - After a round or two we should pause to see what is working or not working.  The idea is to share what success we have had to make everyone smarter and better over time.
5. Separate Attacks and Postures - Allowing people to just focus on posture is great.  Then allow people to attack.  This gives people a couple of different feelings and let's them really feel the posture before getting overwhelmed by defending 17 different attacks.

Ok so here is what I was thinking of doing for a position like Closed Guard.

• Round 1: Posture from Broken Down
• Round 2: Maintain Posture from Good
• Round 3: Open Legs to Safety (combat base or framework)

Do three rounds @ 2m each with no attacking allowed.

Repeat the above but allow for attacks (ie. subs or sweeps)

Ask the group what worked and what didn't.  Share successes and failures.

If anyone wants to stay and roll, do it from the closed guard to start.

That's it and it will fill about an hour!  I would love to have a rotating schedule that repeats say every 2-3 months.  Maybe Closed Guard, Open Guard, Side Control, Mount, etc, etc.

Hopefully we can get this going soon.  If you are training with Dave and want to be a part of it, let me know...