The Artist Paints the Picture

Recently, at ECU, JoJo has had us relentlessly drilling a series of submissions from the guard. The first in the series is a rather slick arm-bar. JoJo has given us a very specific way to drill the technique - AND IT WORKS!

But I had small problem, while trying to drill the technique, my instincts kept screaming at me to deviate from the specifics of the drill. I trust JoJo so I've been drilling the technique the way he's taught us.

Given that my first instinct in BJJ is often wrong, I decided to ask JoJo. When I spoke with him, he said that my instinct wasn't wrong, but that I should drill the techniques as taught. When it comes to sparring, however, JoJo delivered what I consider a true classic, "When you're drilling, do it the way I teach it, but when you're going 'live' you're the artist and you need to paint your own picture."