>i agree. its only worthwhile in conjunction with other
>teaching methods. in the past, i have taught classes where i
>wanted to pack in so much information that all we got to do
>was rote technique and then spar. in hindsight, those classes
>was some of the more disjointed classes i've ever taught and
>add to that the fact that my students didn't really gain
>anything of substance that they could apply.

This is like 99% of the classes I have taken so far into my 3rd year doing this. 1) Warm ups. 2) Practice technique(s) of the day with variations w/ partner (2 and 2). 3) Sparring.

If you're in tune and open minded in your training you can successfully bring the technique into the sparring, but your partner kind of has to be 'in on it' i.e. not just going for his A game. Good sparring partners will do this but those are kind of few and far between.


>recently, i have found drilling to drill to be beneficial. I
>use a set up where me and a partner drill whatever a technique
>or sequence of moves for 2-3 mins a piece. minimal to no chit
>chat, just solid foundational stuff that we can plug into our
>games or fortify our games. after we both had a turn, we
>positional spar our technique or position for an additional
>2-3 mins a piece, then we either switch partners or move on to
>different technique. an hour of that feels worse than an hour
>of sparring and the benefit to your game is greater, imo.

yeah. that is something I was very impressed with when I visited Cobrinha's Las Vegas academy. They did 2-5 minutes straight, one person, one technique, BOTH SIDES (so key). Then switched. Then they added a wrinkle and added resistance etc. Those guys mopped me up! (I was a brand new blue belt at the time)

>finally, being one of the few black belts in my gym, i try to
>set the example that you have to put in some real dedicated
>work to see gains. i grab the most lost looking white belt and
>drill technique with them. i don't talk much, just drill. by
>the end, we're both pretty lathered up and ready to move on to
>positional sparring.

Very cool. I always appreciate when a black belt takes the time to work with me. At my school it's kind of rare.