Drills: Sidewinding

There are numerous ways to improve your game which don't involve actual work with a partner.  This is particularly useful if you're unable to get to class, have a minor injury which prevents full participation or simply want to improve outside of lessons.  Aside from revising technique details / running orders and visualisation, there are a number of physical drills that you can do as well.  Quite a few of them, like this one, don't necessarily require a lot of space, which make them ideal if you travel a lot and wind up cooped inside a hotel room.

You can watch a live action demo from one of my students in the video clip to the right.  Although he moves across a room, this can be done backwards and forwards on the spot just as easily.  You can also make the excerise harder or easier by changing the surface you work on.

The sidewinding action simulates the movement of a snake and allows us to develop a natural movement on the ground without the direct use of our hands and legs for leverage or traction. So why is this useful?  Two main reasons: 1) Especially whilst executing BJJ / ground-based techniques, our arms and legs may well be busy; and 2) Throughout all the different aspects of martial arts, shoulder and hip rotation / twist is a vital movement.  Sidewinding is also excellent for building core strength.

If you go back to the video, you will note that Max actually employs his arms and legs quite a lot to generate movement in a circular action.  Bear in mind that if you're busy holding onto something (and hence are unable to use them to generate movement as we see here) then you'll be able to use your grips to help generate that movement instead.

The drill looks very simple and is, in reality, very simple to perform.  However, almost all students that are new to this drill will struggle at first.  The trick is to keep trying, although the drill can be very tiring when it's not done correctly.  Don't be tempted to use your hands, feet or elbows as this defeats the point of the exercise and will just slow you down by interrupting the natural flow of the movement.  Begin by transferring your hips out to the side and following with your shoulders.  Repeat and gather speed.  Allow your arms and legs to move, don't try to keep them rigid.  I find the movement very similar to doing the Twist (first 20 seconds only) in a horizontal position.

Students sidewind as paart of an LTMA warm up

Both as an Instructor and a student you'll find that this drill rings a bell with a lot of techniques on the floor.  To increase difficulty, perform the drill with one ankle locked under the opposite knee to simulate the leg positioning during a Sangaku Triangle submission.  Be sure to alternate the legs each time you run through the drill.